Chapter 19: A Hopeless Situation
Li Tang walked straight to Qin Jianshe's office.
Qin was hunched over his desk, studying a stack of documents. Papers were scattered in an organized mess.
When he heard footsteps, he looked up. "You're here. Have a seat for a moment."
As he spoke, Liu Kaisheng walked in. "Director Qin, Li Tang's here too."
"Great—everyone's here," Qin said, gathering the documents related to the Demen Copper Mine in Jiujiang Province and heading over to the meeting area. "Before we get into technical matters, let me first give you both an overview of the mine's current difficulties."
Li Tang had walked into this office once before—yesterday—just as Qin and Zhao Hepu were discussing the Demen Copper Mine. At the time, he was preoccupied with helping He Runqi resolve his contract issue and hadn't paid much attention.
Now the coffee table was covered in documents. He casually picked one up and started flipping through it.
"Minister Liu has visited the Demen Copper Mine before, so he knows a bit about the situation." Qin looked over at Li Tang. "But Li Tang hasn't been there. He's just graduated from university, so I imagine his understanding of copper mines is limited. This is a good chance to deepen your knowledge. For us in exploration, being familiar with mine operations and management can really broaden your perspective—it elevates your thinking."
"Mm," Li Tang nodded politely.
Truthfully, he didn't entirely agree. Not that Qin was wrong—but Li Tang himself already had considerable experience with mine operations.
"You're new to the company, probably not very familiar with your supervisors and colleagues. Normally, new employees are given some time to adjust and integrate into the team."
Seeing Li Tang's rather reserved demeanor, Qin added a few reassuring words. "As the saying goes, 'With great ability comes great responsibility.' You'll need to grow quickly—not just technically, but also in how you navigate workplace dynamics."
"I'm good," Li Tang said with a smile.
He'd been keeping his head down because he was reading the material carefully.
"Let me give you some background on the Demen Copper Mine. It originally belonged to the Jiujiang Provincial Mining Bureau. Back in 1979, during the Fifth Five-Year Plan, non-ferrous metal mining in China entered a favorable phase. But the local bureau lacked capital, experience, and technical capacity, so they brought in Huaxia Mining and Metallurgy to jointly develop the mine. In recent years, after multiple company mergers, Huaxia Mining and Metallurgy and others were absorbed into Wukuang Group."
At this point, Liu Kaisheng handed out three cups of tea. Qin took a sip and continued: "In recent years, Demen has been one of the few active mines in our group."
"It's made a huge contribution—not just to Wukuang Group, but to the nation's economy," Liu Kaisheng added.
Qin nodded. "But just like people, mines have a life cycle. Resources are depleting, equipment is aging, production capacity is dropping, and profits are shrinking. The mine is now running at a loss. But it still employs thousands of workers, and just paying their salaries each month is a massive expense. Many of these workers have been there since day one—hardworking, dedicated. They may not have extraordinary achievements, but they've given years of their lives."
Li Tang understood. "So you're saying… the mine can't shut down."
"Exactly. Leadership at group headquarters is deeply worried. Shutting it down means figuring out how to reassign thousands of employees—and their families. It's a massive social issue."
As a leader, Qin knew this was no small task. Mishandling it could spark unrest or worse.
He sighed. "And then there's the problem of idle assets. The mine still has equipment and buildings worth tens of millions. Letting them rust and rot would be a terrible waste."
Li Tang raised the document in his hand. "This exploration project is focused on deeper sections of the mine. I guess leadership is hoping the mine can continue operating. If they strike ore at depth, it would be the perfect solution."
"Exactly. If deep mining becomes viable—and profitable—it'd be a win on all fronts."
"But," Liu Kaisheng interjected, "nature doesn't care about human needs."
He glanced at Li Tang. "The Mining and Metallurgy Company brought in the local geological bureau for the deep exploration. You've read the key chapters of the report, right?"
"I skimmed them," Li Tang said, flipping to the reserves analysis section.
"The results aren't promising. There's about 100,000 tons of copper ore, with a grade barely above the cutoff. I think the average grade is…"
"0.38%," Li Tang supplied.
"Right—not even industrial grade," Liu nodded. "Demen has always been a low-grade mine. Before mining started, the average grade hovered around 0.5%. Over the years, they've only extracted the richer sections. The lower-grade peripheral ore was left untouched—understandably so, given the lack of technology and funding back then."
"Using traditional methods, there's no way to profit from this ore," Li Tang said, having already pinpointed the core issue.
On one hand, shallow resources were exhausted. On the other, deeper ore had a low grade.
Traditional mining methods were costly—only viable for high-grade ore.
But deeper mining meant even higher costs than surface mining.
No matter how he looked at it, the mine was a losing proposition.
If Li Tang were the owner, he'd shut it down without hesitation.
The more they mined, the more they lost. No sane person would run that kind of business.
"A dead end," he muttered.
Qin agreed. "That's right. Based on current data, no matter what you do, it's a loss. Unless copper prices suddenly double while costs remain unchanged, there's no way to make a profit."
"If it's that clear-cut, why are we still discussing it? Is the Mining and Metallurgy Company just refusing to accept reality?"
"Exactly," Qin said with a laugh. "They've invited multiple geological and mining experts, plus the local geological bureau, to hold a 'three-party review' soon in the Jiujiang provincial capital. They're still hoping someone will come up with a miracle plan."
"With all those experts, why do they need us?" Li Tang asked.
"Because we're a sister company—it's about mutual support."
Qin was clearly taking this seriously. He and Zhao Hepu were close, but more importantly, he was holding an official invitation in his hand.
"Take a look."
Li Tang accepted the document. A number caught his eye. "A reward of one million yuan for a viable plan?"
The wording was vague—what exactly qualified as a "viable" or "constructive" proposal wasn't specified.
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