Chapter 13: Gold Discovered
The one million yuan in new funding was primarily allocated for drilling—targeting zones with potential underground gold mineralization.
Once the money came through, the idle drill rigs and workers sprang back into action in the mountains.
Though the additional funding wasn't a large amount, Yang Xueping used it even more cautiously. When the first borehole was about to begin, she flew from Yanjing to Qianzhou Province and made the long trip to North P County to personally supervise the operation.
When she arrived at the project site, she didn't say much, but everyone could feel it—the project had reached a critical moment.
If the next few holes failed to hit gold, it would be time to pack up and leave.
Five days later, the first shallow borehole, fifty meters deep, penetrated the fracture zone. But after examining the core samples with magnifying glasses, the technicians were disappointed.
Still, they collected samples immediately and sent them for chemical analysis as a rush job.
By the eighth day, three more boreholes—each around one hundred meters—had reached their geological targets.
Again, upon visual and magnified inspection, the core samples didn't appear to contain anything noteworthy.
Carlin-type gold deposits are typically finely disseminated; their gold particles are so tiny they're invisible to the naked eye.
The only way to confirm anything was by sending the core for chemical analysis.
Two longer boreholes—one over 200 meters and another over 300—were still being drilled.
Of the million yuan budget, very little remained.
Yang Xueping was still in North P County, anxiously waiting in this remote mountain town.
She had a habit of taking a nap in the afternoon. Lying in bed at the guesthouse, she tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
Knock knock knock!
A frantic pounding on the door suddenly broke the silence—as if there was a fire outside.
Startled, she jumped out of bed without even putting on her shoes and rushed to open the door.
There, she saw several familiar faces.
They were dripping with sweat, panting heavily—but their expressions were lit with excitement.
"Director Yang!"
Liao Xinjie and Zheng Shan practically shouted in unison.
Zheng Shan held up the chemical analysis results, so excited he could hardly form words. "Director Yang—we found gold!"
The shout was loud and piercing.
Seeing it was familiar faces, Yang finally relaxed a bit. She turned around to put on her slippers, but suddenly realized what they had just shouted.
She spun back, stunned. "What did you just say?"
"We found gold!" Zheng Shan waved the report in his hand. "The results from the first four boreholes are in!"
"Let me see!"
Yang Xueping quickly took the chemical report. The rows of numbers blurred her vision—she didn't know which figures indicated gold content.
"Here," Zheng Shan pointed quickly. "Two boreholes hit gold. This one, ZK404, has several samples showing mineralization—about 1.3 to 1.4 meters thick, with an average grade of 5.3 grams per ton. And this one, ZK403, has two mineralized intervals, each around 0.4 meters thick, with an average grade of 3.8 grams per ton."
"Is that good or bad?" Yang was still confused; the numbers meant little to her.
"The cut-off grade for gold is 3 grams per ton; industrial grade starts at 5. These are very good intersections—with decent thickness too!"
Zheng Shan was practically trembling with excitement. "I'm confident the drill hit a vein within the fractured zone. Right now, it looks like we're just on the edge of the vein—the core might be thicker and richer!"
As she listened, Yang's eyes grew brighter. Her breathing quickened.
At long last—Heaven hadn't turned a blind eye to their efforts. Under immense pressure, with nearly 9 million yuan already spent—a record-high for any Wukuang exploration project—she finally had a breakthrough.
She took several deep breaths to calm herself. "Since we've hit gold, then keep up the momentum—delineate the entire vein, and see if there are others!"
"We came not only to report this discovery," Zheng Shan said, having calmed down a bit, "but also to ask how you'd like to proceed."
"Now that we know there's real promise, we'll need more drilling to map the full extent of the deposit."
Liao Xinjie added cautiously, "Since Li Tang's exploration method has proven so effective, I think we should continue to apply geochemical and hydrogeological techniques across the whole project area."
Yang Xueping looked past them toward the outside. "Where's Li Tang? Why didn't he come?"
"He's still at the project site," Zheng Shan replied.
"For the next steps, you should really listen to Li Tang's input."
Even Yang sounded a little regretful as she said it. Why isn't Li Tang part of the Mineral Exploration Department?
"I've already talked with him," Liao explained. "We're aligned on the direction."
"Be sure to communicate more with him. Don't let his age fool you—he clearly understands Carlin-type gold better than we do. Learn from him, and show some respect."
"Understood."
"Since the drilling's going well, go ahead and keep working. Don't waste time hanging around here."
"Director Yang," Liao said hesitantly, "we'll definitely start large-scale drilling in the mineralized area—but that's going to be expensive. At the moment…"
"Don't worry about money. Your only job now is to find more gold!" Yang declared, suddenly feeling as though all the pressure on her shoulders had turned into momentum.
If they could prove the existence of a major deposit, even 10 million in exploration costs would be worth it.
"Oh, and fax that chemical report back to the company," she instructed Zheng Shan.
…
After lunch, Li Tang had no intention of following the exploration techs out into the field.
It was August, and the sun was blazing hot.
As the client, they had some flexibility.
In the shade outside the project office, a Chinese chessboard had been set up.
"I'm telling you—just move your elephant already! What's with all the hesitation?"
"I'm not moving my elephant—you're baiting me. I'll move my chariot instead!"
"Check!"
"Now I'll move the elephant."
"Captured your chariot…"
"Wait a sec!"
He Runqi suddenly grabbed Li Tang's hand and pulled his piece back. "I slipped. That was a misclick."
Not only did he return his piece, he took a step back too.
"Who taught you this cheat move? You're young and already playing dirty!" Li Tang hadn't realized how shameless his buddy could be.
He Runqi ignored him and, after staring at the board for a long time, eventually followed Li Tang's advice and moved his elephant.
"Check!" Li Tang dropped his chariot onto the enemy base and laughed. "You lose."
"Huh?" He Runqi looked confused. How had he lost?
"Pay up."
Li Tang reached into He Runqi's pocket and snatched his last crumpled half-yuan note.
In just one afternoon, Li Tang had already won three and a half yuan.
He Runqi was almost in tears. No wonder even the most honest people eventually started cheating at this game.
That crumpled note had been all he had left—and Li Tang had taken it all.
Watching Li Tang counting his winnings, Runqi's eyes welled up. That was his hard-earned money!
"I saw a guy selling grapes in town yesterday. Sweet and sour," Li Tang said cheerfully. "When we go back later, we'll buy some. My treat!"
"My money…" He Runqi sniffled, almost sobbing.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/johanssen