Chapter 193: The Grade Is Ridiculously High!
When Li Zaiqiang failed to find emotional resonance on Li Tang's face, he felt a tinge of regret. Still, he picked up another section of deeper core and, unable to contain his excitement, declared, "From 700 to 830 meters deep, the mineral content in the core samples is absolutely insane!"
A nearby technician had already run analyses on the core samples using precision instruments and handed over the data.
Li Zaiqiang couldn't hold it back any longer. He nearly shouted, "Look at this hundred-meter section — copper grades average above 1.3%, and in the richest parts, reach up to 4.8%! The gold grades are equally astounding — this section averages 3.6 grams per ton, with peak values exceeding 12 grams per ton!"
Finally, a reaction registered on Li Tang's face.
A faint smile, as warm and gentle as a spring breeze.
The drilling crew nearby didn't quite grasp the significance of those numbers, but they could feel Li Zaiqiang's overwhelming enthusiasm. One of them asked, "So… what does this all mean?"
It was a Chinese worker.
To ensure proper drilling operations, they had brought several skilled workers from China, assigning one or two to each rig. The rest of the crew was from Mengguo, with skill levels varying widely.
"What does it mean?"
At last, someone voiced the question Li Zaiqiang himself had been dying to answer.
He looked at the man gratefully.
"Qinglong is China's only confirmed supergiant copper deposit. Its average copper grade is 0.6%. The gold there is barely considered a byproduct," Li Zaiqiang said, his voice trembling slightly. "And Qulong, where we led early exploration, had an average copper grade of just 0.4%."
Hearing that, everyone could grasp the difference in numbers.
Just the copper content: Qulong averaged 0.4%, Qinglong 0.6%.
But the drill hole they were standing over? From 80 to 600 meters, it averaged 0.6%. From 600 to 700 meters, 1.1%. And from 700 to 830 meters — a staggering 1.3%.
Qulong and Qinglong were massive but low-grade.
This — just based on this one drill hole — was clearly a high-grade deposit.
By China's standards, the cutoff grade for copper is 0.3%, and the industrial grade threshold is 0.5%.
This drill hole's results were, simply put, phenomenal.
What thrilled Li Zaiqiang even more wasn't just this one borehole. In a radius of several hundred meters, multiple other drill holes had also intersected mineralization.
He pointed at another rig perched on a distant slope, "That hole over there — it hit ore at around 100 meters. It's over 300 meters deep now, and the mineralization is nearly identical!"
"In other words, this hole is not an isolated case!"
Zhang Tao, who had been silently studying the core, finally stood up, clearly stunned. He followed Li Zaiqiang's gaze toward the other rig.
"This is a massive orebody! And the deeper we go, the richer the grades. Just based on this drill hole, anything below 600 meters is a high-grade zone!"
Zaiqiang was now almost certain: they had discovered a major deposit. What they'd seen so far was likely just the tip of the iceberg.
As for how massive it truly was—whether it could rival or even surpass Qinglong—more exploration would be needed.
"The gold grade is off the charts!" Zhang Tao said, almost in disbelief. He grabbed the analyzer from the technician and started scanning more core samples himself. "Even at 700–800 meters, gold values are over 3 grams per ton, and the thickness is incredible! Just the gold alone — ignoring the copper — has enormous economic value!"
"It's shocking," Li Zaiqiang agreed. "The surface samples didn't show much gold. Who would've thought the deeper layers would be this rich in both copper and gold?"
"And the thickness — it's outrageous," Zhang Tao said, awestruck. "I've been in geology for decades and never witnessed the discovery of such a supermassive deposit firsthand."
By Chinese standards, the industrial requirement for copper is a 0.5% grade and a minimum thickness of 0.8 meters.
0.8 meters.
And this deposit? It was over 700 meters thick.
Even just the high-grade section exceeded 200 meters!
He'd been to Qulong and Qinglong. He'd never seen something like this.
"Maybe only in places like Chile — the true copper paradises — would you expect to find a deposit like this," he murmured.
"My hope," said Li Zaiqiang, still grounded despite his excitement, "is that this high-grade zone shows continuity."
A single drill hole doesn't make an orebody — that's just a mineralized spot.
But if multiple drill holes connect into a consistent zone — that is a mineral deposit.
The two veteran geologists were giddy over the cores.
Then they looked up at Li Tang, standing off to the side.
This young man in his twenties was calmly observing, hands behind his back, leaning slightly as if out for a leisurely walk.
"You're not even a little excited?" Zhang Tao asked.
"I am excited," Li Tang said. "I'm just not showing it."
He was excited. But the speed of this discovery had been within his expectations.
And for good reason.
Historically, Aiwanhao had also discovered a major deposit here in its first year. When they announced it, the news shook the global mining world.
Li Tang had been mentally prepared for this.
So his emotional state wasn't as volatile as Zhang Tao's or his father's.
"I heard you found a hundred-ton gold deposit and a million-ton copper deposit in your project in Tibet?" Zhang Tao asked.
"Yes. Gongcun Copper-Gold. The grades aren't very high—about 0.5% copper and 0.6 grams per ton gold," Li Tang replied with a smile.
"Well, our current project is several times richer in both copper and gold," Zhang Tao said, doing the mental math. "And even that low-grade Gongcun project had so many state-owned enterprises fighting over it. If this turns out to be a large deposit with grades like these, it won't just be domestic companies competing—every major mining firm in the world will jump in."
"Let's hope it really is a big deposit," Li Tang laughed lightly. "You all did the hard work. You deserve the credit."
"I heard you were the one who insisted on drilling this deep hole?" Zhang Tao looked from Li Zaiqiang to Li Tang.
Li Tang hesitated, worried it might embarrass his father.
But Li Zaiqiang was unfazed. "We'd drilled more than thirty shallow holes—100 to 200 meters. Most intersected ore, but grades weren't that impressive. We hesitated to go deeper. But one 200-meter hole showed promise, and it lined up with BHP Tuo's old mineralized hole. So Li Tang decided to drill a deep one between them."
Deep holes mean larger rigs, more people, more logistics, more cost.
This 800-meter hole cost over a million yuan.
They usually couldn't justify taking such a risk.
But Li Tang had insisted, and Zaiqiang agreed—it was time.
And they'd hit the jackpot.
When the hole passed 600 meters and ore grades began to rise, Li Tang ordered a second deep hole 200 meters away.
That one also hit ore.
The main orebody in the southwest sector had now been confirmed.
The next step was infill drilling—to clearly define the extent and begin resource estimation.
Li Tang understood the geology well. He turned to Zhang Tao and said, "Chief Engineer Zhang, based on geophysics and surface mapping, I think the far-north zone looks promising. Especially at depth."
"You're more optimistic about the far-north zone?" Zhang Tao asked, knowing Li Tang's instincts were sharp. He paid close attention.
"I'll join you tomorrow for a site visit," Li Tang said. "Let's take a look."
Now that he had a general picture of the first major orebody, there was no need to continue blindly groping around.
It was time to shine a floodlight underground and illuminate the full picture.
This would save time, and more importantly, save money.
Historically, Aiwanhao discovered the first rich orebody in the southwest during year one. It took them three or four more years to find the deep high-grade zone in the far-north.
This time, Li Tang intended to uncover everything at once.
He had stayed with his father in the southwest zone not just to assist, but to ensure the first big discovery happened there.
Now that this goal was achieved, his sights were set on the far-north.
Friends, if you enjoyed the novel, you can subscribe to my Patreon channel.
Until November 30th, get 40% off your subscription and the purchase of the novel.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Johanssen