Chapter 8: Stratabound Gold Deposit
"Not far from here—just thought I'd stop by."
In reality, Qin Jianshe had received direct instructions during a call with the general manager the day before. He'd been told the Guanling Gold Mine project had hit a snag and that he should head over to provide technical support.
One more person meant one more perspective—maybe a breakthrough.
"Perfect timing! A local brought over two fat white geese today. We're making stewed goose. Director Qin, you've come just in time for a delicious meal!" Yang Xueping laughed, masking the frustration that had flared up just moments earlier.
"How's the Guanling project going?" Qin asked directly. He hadn't come all this way for a bowl of goose stew.
"Pretty well. We've got positive mineralization results—what's the type again?" Yang looked toward Liao Xinjie.
"Stratabound gold deposit!" Liao quickly replied.
"Stratabound gold—many large and even super-large deposits are of this type. The nearby Jinyindong Gold Mine is the same."
Qin Jianshe didn't want to waste time with pleasantries. He got straight to the point. "President Zhou sent me. He said you ran into some serious problems here."
Yang Xueping felt a bit embarrassed. "Please, come inside and sit. You—give Director Qin a full update."
Liao Xinjie launched into a long, half-hour explanation of everything that had been done so far.
Qin occasionally nodded or made brief sounds of acknowledgment.
"That's the situation," Liao finally concluded, glancing at Yang with a timid look before sitting down.
"I understand," Qin said.
He reviewed the notes he'd taken during Liao's explanation and summarized, "You've found gold-bearing strata on the southern side—the grade and thickness are decent. Estimated reserves are around three tons, enough for a small deposit. But there's a major fault running east-west across the area. You drilled on the northern side and found the same rock formations—carbonates intact—but gold grades dropped significantly. Is that accurate?"
"Yes."
"This is a Carlin-type deposit," Qin added.
Being a trained geologist, Qin immediately recognized the problem.
But understanding it didn't mean solving it would be easy.
"Minister Liu, any thoughts?" he asked, turning to Liu Kaisheng.
"Carlin-type gold…"
Liu frowned, clearly struggling. "We all know the Jinyindong Gold Mine is a super-large deposit—it even made national headlines three or four years ago. It's a classic Carlin-type deposit, the first of its kind in our country. For China, this is a cutting-edge topic."
"I've looked everywhere for research on this. In China, there's almost nothing on Carlin-type deposits. Aside from Jinyindong, no other such project has released an exploration report."
Liao Xinjie chimed in again. "We're basically feeling our way in the dark—figuring things out as we go."
The discovery of the Jinyindong deposit a few years ago had shaken up the mining world. It was a super-large deposit, and the Wukuang Group happened to hold exploration rights in the surrounding area—initially for lead and zinc.
But then they pivoted toward gold and launched the Guanling project.
Sure enough, they hit gold-bearing layers not long after work began.
"Carlin-type deposits were first discovered in the U.S. back in the 1960s. There are lots of international papers on them," Qin said, turning to Liao.
"We've reviewed some of those foreign studies, but China's conditions are different—geological age, ore genesis, structural controls—it's not something you can just copy and paste."
"Have you reached out to the experts from Geological Team 105?" Qin asked. He always preferred to work with local technical teams—they had a natural advantage in understanding the area's geology.
Team 105 had been in charge of the Jinyindong project.
"We have," Liao nodded.
"What did they say?"
"They're unwilling to help, and their attitude wasn't great."
"If we could get their report, it would help us tremendously," Qin said.
What they were lacking now was localized knowledge about Carlin-type gold.
The technicians currently at Guanling were groping in the dark. Without guidance, it could take years to gather enough data and achieve results.
Liao's silence spoke volumes—clearly, Team 105 had refused to cooperate.
An outside exploration team digging for gold in someone else's territory? No wonder there was hostility.
Why would they hand over their report?
And technically, they had no obligation to help at all.
Local protectionism was still widespread.
Besides, gold exploration reports carried confidentiality restrictions—they weren't just handed out casually.
"I've said it many times—wherever we launch a project, we should prioritize local technical teams," Qin said with emphasis.
Of course, he had a personal reason for that too—he'd wanted to assign the project to Li Zaiqiang's Team 101.
At this moment, everyone was at a loss, struggling to find a breakthrough.
The long silence hung in the air, even the cicadas outside seemed louder and more irritating.
"Why not explore along both sides of the fault?"
A voice broke the awkward stillness.
It was Li Tang, who had been quietly studying a project layout map for some time.
The map was filled with contour lines and detailed geological data—strata, structures, trenches, drill sites—all marked clearly.
Just from the layout, one could glean much about the project.
Seeing that no one had spoken for a while, he voiced his doubts.
Yang Xueping glanced up and saw that it was a young man talking. She didn't pay him much mind and went back to daydreaming, legs crossed.
Liao Xinjie barely paid attention either. He replied offhandedly, "From what we know, Jinyindong is mostly a stratiform deposit."
Li Tang nodded slightly and went back to studying the layout map.
This kid had ideas.
Qin Jianshe suddenly recalled Li Tang's keen insights on the Qianshan project. He realized—here was someone whose opinion hadn't yet been heard.
"Li Tang, stop looking down—what's your view?" he asked, clearly hopeful.
"What view could I have?"
Li Tang glanced at both Qin and Yang.
From his vague memories, he recalled that these two were likely rivals within the company.
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