Chapter 199: A Great Accomplishment!
"A major deposit?"
Niu Fu, Ouping Guo, and the others exchanged glances, a mixture of excitement and skepticism in their eyes.
They'd only been working for a few months—what kind of major deposit could they have possibly found?
Seeing that the leaders didn't quite grasp the significance of what he'd just said—or that they hadn't been swept up by his enthusiasm—Qin Jianshe quickly realized he needed to elaborate. He pulled a document folder from his briefcase and handed it over. "I only brought one copy of the midterm summary report with me. The rest of the data is still at Zhongcheng Mining. But this report clearly outlines the results of the project so far."
"Really?" Niu Fu took the report and immediately flipped to the reserves analysis section.
"Tell us what you found," Guo urged, leaning over to glance at the report, but not wanting to crowd in too much. He was impatient to know and motioned for Qin to summarize.
Without hesitation, Qin began, his voice full of pride and excitement. "The Taluge Copper-Gold Project has, to date, completed over 400 drill holes, totaling 97,000 meters in cumulative drilling!"
"Whoa—"
Zhao Hepu couldn't hold back a shout. "So that's where all the money went! Over a hundred million yuan spent in just a few months… You guys drilled nearly 100,000 meters!"
"We brought in every rig in Mengguo—some of them even from Russia. Several of them could drill over a kilometer deep. We had no choice but to move fast," Qin laughed.
"How did you manage such a crazy pace?" Zhao asked in disbelief.
He knew the exploration industry. Even with strong financial support, projects typically started slow, spent months drilling exploration holes, and maybe ramped up after a year.
But Taluge? Just a few months, and they'd done enough drilling to set a Guinness World Record.
"Li Tang was pushing us non-stop to drill. It was relentless—he ordered deep holes, including several over 1,000 meters," Qin said. As the person in charge of all drilling operations, he had been under immense pressure. "Li Tang demanded daily drilling progress of over 1,000 meters. I spent every day scrambling across Mengguo, looking for more rigs. I practically hauled every last drill in the country to the site!"
"That kid…" Niu muttered, still reading the report. Hearing Li Tang's name, he looked up, his voice filled with both admiration and disbelief. "That guy might actually be a madman when it comes to mineral exploration."
"You said it, Director Niu!" Qin agreed, laughing. "Li Tang is a total lunatic! We all advised him to slow down—take it step by step, reduce risk. Even his own father tried to talk sense into him. But once he sets his mind on something, nothing can stop him."
"He really just does whatever he wants on the project?" Niu asked, pretending to be annoyed.
Qin hesitated for a moment. The phrase "does whatever he wants" wasn't exactly flattering.
But he still nodded. "To be honest, yes. But his decisions were all the right ones. Like using reverse circulation drilling—it turned out to be an absolutely brilliant move. It was like he knew the geology of the Taluge deposit from the start. Every decision was targeted, precise."
Both Niu and Guo had interacted with Li Tang multiple times. Their impression was that he was quiet, almost invisible at times.
But Zhao knew how different Li Tang became on-site. "Technically, he sees things no one else does."
His track record already spoke volumes—bioleaching copper, Qulong, Gongcun, Qinglong… all major accomplishments.
"So what you're saying is, this huge discovery at Taluge is thanks to Li Tang's leadership and vision?" Guo asked.
"That's exactly right," Qin replied with a nod.
"You've been talking for a while, but I still haven't heard exactly what kind of 'major deposit' you've found," Guo pressed, now visibly impatient.
Realizing he had buried the lede, Qin quickly added, "We drilled nearly 100,000 meters—and yes, we found a major deposit. According to current data, we estimate 23 million tons of copper, 760 tons of gold, and 5,400 tons of silver!"
"What?" Guo froze.
"That means," Qin explained, "the proven copper reserves at Taluge have already surpassed Qinglong."
He nearly shouted the last part, throwing his hands up, his face flushed with emotion.
This was the kind of news you held inside for days, just dying to share.
Everyone in the room fell silent.
Unsure whether he had been unclear, Qin continued, "The 23 million tons of copper is just from the known orebodies. In the far-northern area, there are two rich ore bodies that haven't been fully outlined yet. One of them lies below 1,000 meters and hasn't even been revealed in its entirety."
His voice grew louder as he spoke, filled with pride. "Once those far-north orebodies are fully delineated, Taluge's total copper reserves will definitely surpass 30 million tons!"
Still, no one spoke.
"The far-northern orebody has an average copper grade of 3%, and the gold grade exceeds 3 grams per ton!" Qin said, as if he couldn't believe the numbers himself.
He had never encountered such a massive and rich deposit. Every day felt like witnessing history.
This kind of discovery had never happened in China before.
Globally, only in copper giants like Chile did such rich deposits exist.
"A 3% average copper grade—that's nearly unheard of worldwide," Zhao murmured, stunned.
The others were equally speechless.
They were quiet not because they didn't believe it, but because the numbers were so shocking it took time to process.
Everyone in the room understood the significance of those grades.
In China, large copper mines were rare. The few that existed usually had very low average grades—often below the 0.5% industrial threshold.
When Qulong was discovered, the domestic non-ferrous metal industry erupted with excitement. It even made the national news.
Why? Because China had never found a copper deposit over ten million tons.
And Qulong only averaged 0.4% copper.
Qinglong was supposedly the largest undeveloped copper deposit in the world, with estimated reserves of 30 million tons.
But based on this year's exploration data, even Qinglong only confirmed 18 million tons—barely a 4-million-ton increase from the previous year.
That was already a remarkable feat.
But compared to Taluge?
The contrast was staggering.
Qinglong averaged 0.6% copper. Taluge's rich zones averaged 3%.
Hearing Qin's report felt like a torpedo exploding in their minds, sending waves of shock through the room.
Even after a long silence, the emotions didn't subside.
Guo finally broke the silence. "Are you sure these numbers aren't… exaggerated?"
"Absolutely not," Qin said firmly, pounding his chest. "These results came from actual drill holes. I was there the whole time. There's no way they're fake!"
He looked at Niu, his tone growing even more serious. "With Li Tang leading the project, this result may be surprising—but it makes sense. His instincts, his technical judgment—no one can match them."
"Qinglong, Qulong, Gongcun… all astonishing finds. And now this." Zhao couldn't help but sigh. "He's found yet another world-class deposit."
"We should be proud that Li Tang was once part of Wukuang. And proud that we treated him well," Guo said. But then his tone turned wistful. "It's just a shame… he's no longer with us."
"He may have left, but he's still in China. He's still our guy. That's enough," Niu said, passing the report to Guo as he looked back at Qin. "You've all done something great in Mengguo. And Li Tang… he's a great geologist. One for the history books."
Fresh from being snubbed by BHP Tuo's CEO, this success tasted even sweeter.
"This deposit is not only huge—it's a rich deposit," Guo added, imagining the future. "It's easier to mine than Qinglong or Qulong. It'll generate value faster."
Niu nodded. "If Chinese mining firms want to reduce our reliance on imported concentrate, we need two things. One, better tech—to make use of low-grade domestic ore. And two, to go global and acquire rich deposits."
"But rich deposits are mostly controlled by international giants. They'll never sell. Not even for billions."
The others nodded in agreement.
"That's what makes this so incredible," Niu continued. "Li Tang organized the investment, took the risk, and succeeded. His approach is a model for the entire industry. Going abroad can work. And this way—his way—is efficient and potentially transformative."
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