Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 543: Super Giant Tantalum-Niobium Mine, the unexpected goal achieved first

"How do you want to cooperate?" Lin Yuan asked.

Since Kano has taken the initiative to come to him to discuss cooperation, he can't just pretend to refuse.

"Let's start with the mine I took over today," said Kano.

"What kind of mine did those beasts steal?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Gold mine."

"Gold mine? As far as I know, gold mines are not easy to dig, right? They have so few people and don't even have heavy excavation equipment, and they think they can dig gold mines?" Lin Yuan asked in confusion.

He knew a thing or two about gold mines.

When it comes to gold mines, many people's first impression is that when the gold rush came, someone would pick up a piece of gold nugget weighing several kilograms while walking on the road, which would change their fate.

Or a group of people stood in the river, shook the golden sand in the water with bamboo strips, and sifted out a lot of broken gold, becoming rich overnight.

But that is only a very rare exception. If you come across a super gold mine, the probability is no different from winning the lottery jackpot.

But even if it is a super-rich mine, there are only very few such opportunities. Once the enriched gold layer is mined, the remaining gold mines will return to the normal mining difficulty.

If you want to know how difficult it is to mine gold normally, you must first answer a question:
In a gold mine that is worth mining, how much weight of gold can be extracted from one ton of ore?

1 kilogram? 1 jin? Or 1 liang?
The correct answer is quite outrageous. There are only 3 to 5 grams of gold in one ton of ore.

This is truly finding grams in tons. If there are 5 grams of gold in a ton of ore, it is considered a high-grade gold mine.

The world's highest-grade gold mine is the Fire Creek gold mine in Buck Mountain, Nevada, USA, with a gold grade of 44.1 grams per ton.

Most of the gold mines are full of fun, as they can produce 3 grams of gold per ton of ore.

This means that in order to obtain a few grams of gold, a whole ton of ore must be dug out, screened, and refined, which places very high demands on mining equipment and processing technology.

No wonder Kano needed to cooperate with Lin Yuan instead of choosing to dig it himself.

"That's not right. How did those beasts in the camp dig out the gold before?" Lin Yuan asked in confusion.

"Once you get there, you'll realize it's a rare open-pit gold mine. The top layer is a rich gold ore layer that's very easy to mine, so anyone with a strong laborer and a shovel can dig it out.

"They've been digging for over a year and have taken nearly 30 tons of gold. They're almost emptying the entire gold-rich layer," Kano said bitterly.

Hearing Kano's words, Lin Yuan was also surprised: 30 tons of gold!
The entire U.S. Central Bank's gold reserves are only around 8000 tons.

In 2004, the People's Bank of China's gold reserves were only 1929 million ounces, equivalent to 600 tons.

They stole 30 tons of gold from this gold mine!
How much is that?
Lin Yuan's mind was working quickly. The price of gold at that time was about US$50 per gram.

Then the total value of 30 tons of gold is more than 15 billion US dollars.

"Don't worry, I will find a way to help you recover the stolen money." Lin Yuan said.

"Really? You can really get her back?" Kano asked in surprise.

Originally, Kano thought that after clearing out the camp, it would be great if he could rescue the slaves and take back the mine, but Lin Yuan told him that he could recover the stolen money, which made Kano overjoyed.

"It's not just about recovering the stolen money, but also about thoroughly clearing out the mastermind behind the scenes. Do you think I'm asking you for these evidences just to help you clear your name through the media?" Lin Yuan replied.

He and Betty had just finalized their plan over the phone not long ago, and had not yet communicated with Kano.

Therefore, Kano naturally didn't know that Lin Yuan actually intended to get to the bottom of the matter and uncover the mastermind behind it.

After hearing Lin Yuan's explanation, Kano said with emotion: "Lin Yuan, I won't say much to thank you. I really have never met anyone like you.

In the past, I have come into contact with many Westerners who claim to be from a civilized world, but I can feel the arrogance in their bones even with my eyes closed.

Only you truly treat us as human beings and as friends.

I also promise you that as long as our cooperation goes smoothly, I will be willing to cooperate with you in the future on all the mineral resources in the Kisangani region."

Kano has really made a big bet. As the metallurgical center of northeastern Congo, Kisangani naturally relies on the rich mineral resources in the surrounding area.

According to Lin Yuan's conservative estimate, the strategic resource reserves in the Kisangani area account for about 30% of the entire Congo, which can be said to be an important mineral resource area.

"Don't be in a hurry to make promises to me. You have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. Let's first tell me how you plan to cooperate now?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Although the rich layer of that gold mine has been hollowed out, the preliminary conclusion given by experts after exploration is that there are still huge gold reserves underneath. I want you to take over the development of this gold mine." Kano said.

"What is the estimated reserve volume? What about the grade?" Lin Yuan asked the two questions he was most concerned about.

If these two data do not meet the standards, then the trouble of mining will not be worth it.

"A conservative estimate is 1200 tons of gold, with a grade of around 10 grams per ton," Cano replied.

When Lin Yuan heard the answer given by Kano, he was stunned: Isn’t this too arrogant?
Although the grade of the ore is around 10 grams per ton, which does not reach the 44.1 grams per ton of the Fire Creek gold mine in the United States, it is still far higher than the 3 to 5 grams per ton level of ordinary gold mines.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is a gold mine with super high grade. Add to that the reserves of up to 600 tons, it is really outrageous.

What is the level of 1200 tons of gold reserves?
The world's annual gold mining volume is about 3000 tons.

The total value of these 1200 tons of gold exceeds US$600 billion.

Of course, in order to obtain this gold, the total weight of the ore to be excavated will exceed 120000000 tons (1 million tons), which is definitely a super huge project. No wonder Kano has to find someone to cooperate.

But don’t be scared by the total workload of mining. After all, this gold mine is a super-rich mine with a gold content of 10 grams per ton, and the mining cost is already very low.

After deducting the costs of mining, screening, smelting, etc., this gold mine will definitely bring huge wealth to the owner.

"What kind of cooperation method are you planning to use?" Lin Yuan asked.

"I will provide the minerals and deal with the various forces. You will provide the technology and personnel and bear the mining costs. We will split the profits 50-50." Kano replied.

After hearing Kano's answer, Lin Yuan's previous concerns immediately disappeared.

After all, this is a project of great importance. Even if Lin Yuan believes in Kano's character, he will not easily reach a consensus with him.

Lin Yuan has two main concerns:

First, what if the gold reserves are not that high? What if the gold grade is not that good?
Second point, the cooperation plan will not be a buyout system, right?

There is no need to say much about the first point. In business cooperation, there is bound to be some exaggeration. No one knows how much it is without personally checking it out.

The second point is a nightmare often encountered by countless people who come to Africa to invest with the dream of finding gold.

In Africa, when negotiating resource extraction cooperation with local governments, a buyout system is often adopted.

That is to say, a rough total value is calculated based on the reserves and prices of the minerals.

Then the mining rights of the entire mineral are packaged and sold to the buyer.

This method is the favorite method for governments of many African countries.

Because they can get the money immediately and then convert it into real armed and economic strength to stabilize domestic rule or the economic situation.

At the same time, you don’t have to bear any risks and you can get a guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood.

However, the result of doing so is that buyers of mineral mining rights will have to bear various unpredictable risks:

What if the price of minerals plummets and you buy them at too high a price?
What should we do if we discover halfway through mining that the grade is not that high and the reserves are not that large?
What should we do if a coup occurs during the mining process and the government that signed the contract is overthrown?
What if war breaks out and the mined resources cannot be transported, or the equipment and personnel are damaged?
This series of uncontrollable risks must be borne by the buyer.

However, the local government that sold the resource mining rights has already pocketed the money.

Maybe you think that while taking risks, you can also take benefits!

Don’t always think about what to do if mineral prices fall. What if prices skyrocket?
Don’t always think that the reserves are not that large or the grade is not that high. What if it is even higher than expected?
If you have this idea, remember the first sentence: the buyer is never as smart as the seller.

Information asymmetry gives sellers a natural advantage in transactions.

Even if the buyer gets a bargain occasionally, do you think the seller won’t cheat and go back on his word once the profit is too great?
Throwing a tantrum and claiming to have been cheated and asking to renegotiate the contract is a more civilized approach.

The normal practice is to directly let various unidentified armed forces create trouble, making it impossible for you to mine with peace of mind, and eventually forcing you to compromise.

Many Chinese companies that later engaged in mining in Africa suffered greatly from this problem.

At this moment, the plan proposed by Kano perfectly dispelled all of Lin Yuan's concerns.

The cooperation plan he proposed was not a buyout system, but a profit-sharing system.

That means sharing risks and benefits.

Lin Yuan doesn't have to worry about the various problems that arise during the mining process. Kano and he share a common interest, so he will naturally be responsible for solving those problems.

The more gold was mined and the higher the price, the more profits he would give to Kano.

If the gold mine is not mined well and the international price drops, he can get a smaller share and does not have to bear the cost alone.

It is impossible for Kano to be unaware of the benefits of a buyout system, but he still proposed a profit-sharing system, which shows his sincerity.

So Lin Yuan nodded readily and said, "Deal, let's do as you say."

"what?"

"What's wrong? Any other questions?"

"Why don't you fight for a better share of the profits? In Africa, those European and American mining investors take the lion's share of the profits."

"That's enough. This ratio is fair. There is a famous saying in our country that if you let your partners suffer losses, then all the signed agreements will be waste paper." Lin Yuan replied with a smile.

"I'm glad you're so straightforward. I wish us a pleasant cooperation." Kano extended his hand.

"Pleasant to work with."

The two shook hands, marking the official completion of the cooperation.

"By the way, when we were discussing the cooperation agreement, I seem to have forgotten to leave a copy for President Kabila," said Lin Yuan.

Although the mining area is located in Kisangani, the minerals must be transported across the Congo River to Kinshasa for shipment to the sea. That region is President Kabila's territory. Furthermore, as he is the nominal president of Congo, such a large-scale mining development theoretically requires state approval and endorsement, making it impossible for him not to share profits with President Kabila.

Kano smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry, we just have to follow the regulations and pay the full amount of tax. That's what he deserves."

After hearing Kano's answer, Lin Yuan nodded in agreement. If the tax was paid in full, it would be a 10% tax, which was also a considerable amount of money.

After confirming that there were no other issues that had been missed, Lin Yuan said, "I'll make arrangements shortly. I'll first organize a professional technical team to come here for an inspection, and then we'll deliver the necessary mining equipment."

The mining team's affairs must be handed over to Betty, as Lin Yuan does not have ready-made equipment and personnel.

The mining industry has developed into a high-tech industry with extremely detailed division of labor.

Mining equipment alone can be divided into:

Equipment used for mining, including drills, shaft drills, raise drills, tunnel boring machines, mining excavators, charging machines, loading machines, etc.

Equipment used for hoisting in mines, such as mine hoists, sinking winches, dispatching winches, etc., are used to lift materials.

Equipment used to crush ore and grind powder, including crushers, grinding machinery, etc.

Screening equipment, such as vibrating screens and classifiers, is used to separate materials of different particle sizes.

Washing equipment, including gravity separators, flotation machines, magnetic separators, etc., are used for washing minerals.

Other auxiliary equipment, such as cranes, conveyors, ventilators, drainage machinery, etc., are used for auxiliary work in mining operations.

There are so many devices that sound complicated just by hearing their names. In fact, they correspond to a series of processes in the mining process: mining, transportation, crushing, sorting, washing, etc.

Without such a complete set of equipment, it would be impossible to mine ore in large quantities, quickly and at low cost.

For African countries with poor mining industries, choosing to cooperate with European and American mining companies is also a last resort.

"By the way, remember that when you form a mining technical team, you should not only have gold mining experts, but also experts in tantalum and niobium mines," Kano reminded.

"Tantalum-niobium ore? Why?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Because strictly speaking, that gold mine is actually a companion ore of the super-large tantalum-niobium mine. Compared with the value of the tantalum-niobium mine, the gold mine is actually a small part," said Cano.

After hearing Kano's words, Lin Yuan felt that happiness came a little too suddenly and he felt a little dizzy for a moment.

A large gold mine with 1200 tons of gold reserves and a value of more than 600 billion US dollars is just a bonus?

The real owner turned out to be a "super-large" tantalum-niobium mine?

When Lin Yuan came to Congo, his initial goal was to obtain some mining rights for tantalum and niobium mines.

Congo can be called a country sitting on a mine cart. There is almost no mineral that Congo does not have. Moreover, not only are there many types of minerals, but the reserves are also very large.

其中铜7500万吨（占世界15%）、钴450万吨（占世界50%）、钽铌3000万吨（占世界80%）、钻石7亿克拉（居世界第二）、锡45万吨、锂3100万吨、铬镍2250万吨……

These resources, whether copper, tantalum, niobium, lithium that determines future new energy, or chromium and nickel used for metal processing, are all very important strategic resources.

But when it comes to the king of Congo's minerals, it is undoubtedly tantalum and niobium ore, which accounts for 80% of the world's reserves.

Tantalum-niobium refers to the general term for minerals containing tantalum and niobium, of which there are more than 100 types.

Tantalum (Ta) and niobium (Nb) are both rare metals with high melting points (2996°C for tantalum and 2468°C for niobium) and high boiling points (5427°C for tantalum and 5127°C for niobium). They have properties such as gas absorption, corrosion resistance, superconductivity, unipolar conductivity, and high strength at high temperatures.

Among them, tantalum-niobium alloy, a high-strength, corrosion-resistant, and high-temperature resistant material, is a vital raw material in the fields of aerospace, chemical industry, electronics, etc.

It is also an essential key raw material for the manufacture of superconducting cables and superconducting magnets.

It can be said that controlling tantalum and niobium mineral resources means, to a certain extent, controlling the lifeline of a part of high-end manufacturing.

Now, Kano handed this power to Lin Yuan. How could he not be surprised?
But Lin Yuan's mind remained calm. He needed to first find out how much reserves this tantalum-niobium mine had.

"How large are the reserves of this tantalum-niobium mine?" Lin Yuan asked.

"It could be as high as 150 million tons," Cano said.

150 million tons...

It accounts for one twentieth of the world's proven reserves!

What kind of magical super mine is this!

This result made Lin Yuan feel mixed emotions. He was happy because the profits were so huge. No wonder those French guys would occupy the mineral resources and do things worse than beasts.

The worry comes from the fact that his interests have become bigger, and he is a little unsure whether he can hold on to such a big cake.

However, this worry soon disappeared. Behind him was not only the Adams family represented by Betty, but also the support of several old-established financial groups such as the Morgan Financial Group and the Boston Financial Group. If necessary, Lin Yuan even had ways to introduce state-owned capital from the mainland.

At this time, he was no longer fighting alone, but had countless interest groups behind him, which was enough for Lin Yuan to firmly grasp this huge wealth.

So Lin Yuan said with emotion: "Kano, you really gave me a big surprise."

"Same here, you always give me the same surprises." Kano replied.

"I will ask the technical team to arrive as soon as possible. If all this is confirmed, it will probably not just be a matter of mining." Lin Yuan said.

"It's not just about mining?" Kano didn't react for a moment.

“Such a large-scale mineral resource, from mining to transportation to smelting, requires infrastructure that cannot be met in Kisangani at present.

By then, the shipping port of Kisangani should have been rebuilt.

The runway of Kisangani Airport must also be widened and lengthened to provide better conditions for takeoff and landing.

The dilapidated road network also needs to be repaired," said Lin Yuan.

Kano immediately understood what Lin Yuan said. This meant that he was going to carry out large-scale infrastructure construction in the Kisangani area.

Kano's heart immediately became excited. He knew that if he seized this opportunity, not only would the Kisangani region develop rapidly, but the economy of the entire Congo would also be boosted.

The economic driving effect brought by large-scale infrastructure is so strong that it will create countless jobs and enable countless people to live a good life without worries about food and clothing.

So Kano looked at Lin Yuan with an increasingly fiery gaze:

The descendants of European and American colonists who also came to Africa to grab resources only brought war and unrest.

They are like troublemakers. Today they support the weak to challenge the strong, and tomorrow they turn around and suppress the growing weak. They try their best to maintain the balance and give them the opportunity to intervene and make profits.

But after Lin Yuan came, he not only had to bring them spiritual and cultural satisfaction, but also had to trade resources with them at fair and reasonable prices, and even prepared to carry out large-scale infrastructure construction in the local area.

This is something they would do if they truly wanted to do good for you.

How could Kano not be moved by this?
Lin Yuan said sincerely: "This time I came to Congo to film, I experienced the beauty of this country up close, and also deeply felt the suffering of the Congolese people.

I got what I wanted here, and I should do something for the people here.

Only when we are connected by blood and share the same destiny can we move forward hand in hand for a long time.

So you don't need to thank me, this is what I should do, and I have also gained a lot, it is not a one-sided effort."

As Lin Yuan was speaking, the scenes he had seen in the past few days emerged in his mind again: the market at the port of Kinshasa, the "hell ship" on the Congo River, the slums of Sap, the floating slums of Barkawi, the extremely inconvenient life in the village of Xala... and the black slaves who appeared in the 21st century!
All of this truly tells Lin Yuan about the country’s suffering and also shows the country’s hope.

Lin Yuan believes that through his own efforts, he can make the lives of local people better, and the fate of countless people will be changed because of his actions.

Of course, he is not doing good deeds without any conditions.

As he told Kano, he also got what he wanted.

Being able to control Congo's strategic resources means that he has a greater voice in the world and can better control his own destiny.

All of this requires the support of the Congolese people.

Without the support of the Congolese people from top to bottom, his control over these strategic resources would be like a mirage and could be easily overturned.

But when all the Congolese people stand on his side, even those European and American giants with deep backgrounds cannot intervene and take away his job.

That night, Kano, on behalf of the Congolese people, and Lin Yuan completed a two-way journey of great historical significance. Perhaps many people will still talk about this night many years later.

After eating a few more slices of barbecue, Kano left contentedly, his steps lighter.

He had just wiped out the French camp and still had a lot of things to do. It was already very difficult for him to go and meet Lin Yuan in person.

After Kano left, Lin Yuan immediately picked up his phone and called Betty.

Betty had been waiting for news from Lin Yuan. When she learned that Lin Yuan had acquired a high-grade gold mine with a reserve of 1200 tons and a super tantalum-niobium mine with a reserve of 150 million tons, this young lady who had experienced countless big scenes was also stunned by surprise.

"You really did it. It seems I have to come to Kisangani in person. There is no need to make excuses. There is no greater benefit than this, and nothing is more important than this." Betty said.

"You are welcome to come as soon as possible. When you arrive, I will take you to hunt in the tropical rainforest and pick the freshest fruits." Lin Yuan tempted with a smile.

"Just wait! I'll gather the technical team right away and bring them straight here!" Betty said excitedly.

After the two talked for a few more words, they hung up the phone.

Until this moment, the old director, who had been listening silently, finally spoke.

"I really don't understand you. In just a week or two, you've achieved a breakthrough in Congo that many people only dream of," the old director exclaimed. "But when I think about it, it makes perfect sense. Because you're truly thinking about them and firmly aligning the interests of both parties."

Lin Yuan replied with emotion: "Because I feel the same way."

"I feel the same way?"

"Although I am Chinese, the humiliation China has experienced in modern times is deeply engraved in my heart," Lin Yuan said. "Everything the Congolese are going through today, my compatriots also went through in the past."

“People who have been caught in the rain always want to hold an umbrella for those who come after them.”

"But what I can do is limited. If I want to stand up again, I still have to rely on myself."

(End of this chapter)