50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 609 Taking from the surplus to give to the deficiency
The breakfast at this grand hotel is naturally much more refined than what Clark eats at home. He usually stays at the mine and rarely takes his wife and children out to eat.

Before Sun Zhiwei took over the gold mine, his salary as the mine's deputy was just so-so.

After Sun Zhiwei took over the gold mine, his family's financial situation improved, but he had never actually eaten breakfast at a five-star hotel before, so Clark thoroughly enjoyed this meal.

After eating and drinking their fill and resting for a while, the two set off. Newmont Mining only had one gold mine in the vicinity, about 300 kilometers from San Francisco.

According to Clark, it was an open-pit mine where huge mining machines were digging 24 hours a day.

Although the exact output is unknown, it is certainly higher than the combined output of Sun Zhiwei's several mines.

Sun Zhiwei guessed that this was a Grade I gold mine. There are many standards for Grade I gold mines, but the most important indicators are pretty much the same for everyone.

First, the grade is generally above 1 gram per ton of gold ore.

Secondly, the total reserves must reach at least several million ounces.

For example, the Hermi gold mine in Australia has an average grade of 1.1-1.4 grams per tonne and total reserves of approximately 680 million ounces.

The gold mine they're heading to is called the Einmonting Mine.

Sun Zhiwei had never heard of this name before, which meant that this was not a world-renowned mine, and it certainly couldn't compare to the super-large gold mines he had visited in Africa.

The two drove for several hours to reach the vicinity of the Ainmonting Mine. Getting any closer would be inappropriate, so Sun Zhiwei directed Clark to drive up a nearby mountain.

There are no roads here, but fortunately the hills are relatively gentle and the forests are sparse, so off-road vehicles have no problem going into the mountains.

The two arrived at the opposite hilltop and looked towards the Ainmontine mining area not far away.

A huge pit, tens of meters deep and hundreds of meters in diameter, has been dug out there. Countless machines and mining carts travel along the rock walls of the pit, transporting loads of ore to the surface.

Railcars beside the mine transport truckloads of ore to nearby ore processing plants for rounds of beneficiation and refining.

Clark was very envious of such a large open-pit mine. This kind of open-pit mine is the favorite of all miners, because there is no need to worry about many safety issues, and large-scale machinery can be used directly for excavation.

The mining of underground deposits presents numerous challenges, including ventilation, gas, water seepage, and landslides. There are too many factors to consider, which leads to a significant increase in mining costs.

Sun Zhiwei was also observing, but what he was observing was completely different from what Clark was observing. At this moment, he had opened up the entire space and was looking down along the mine pit.

The underground mineral veins were clearly visible in his mind, and with a quick estimate, he knew that there were at least 3 to 400 million ounces of remaining reserves.

If he were to mine in his own mine, it would probably take decades, but if he were to use the open-pit machinery here, the reserves in this mining area would be depleted in about ten years.

However, these were not his concerns. After all, the mine didn't belong to him; he was just taking some ore with him.

While Clark was still marveling at the situation, Sun Zhiwei was already rapidly cutting through the underground mineral vein.

After cutting off each section, he would dig out a rock or soil of roughly the same size from the ground of the adjacent mountain to fill the gap and prevent the mining area above from collapsing.

Before long, he cut away most of the underground veins of the Ainmont mine.

"Clark, let's go. This place is different from ours. Open-pit mining is all about brute force; there's not much technology involved."

"Indeed, but their mining speed is too fast." "That comes at a cost; do you think those large machines are cheap?"

"However, I suggest you learn about open-pit mining and also understand the procurement methods and prices of the latest mining equipment."

"In the future, our mining operations will continue to expand, and your position will rise accordingly."

"We'll have our own open-pit mine then. It would be embarrassing if a new mine came and you didn't know how to mine it."

Sun Zhiwei is now used to being a boss, and he's become increasingly adept at making grand promises.

His casual words invigorated Clark, inspiring him to embrace a second spring in his life and return to begin a new academic journey.

After inspecting the open-pit mine, the two headed down the mountain and arrived at the Swil Gold Mine office around 3 p.m.

After resting for a while, Sun Zhiwei met with the heads of various departments and then distributed this year's commissions.

In the workplace, simply making empty promises won't get you employees to work hard; the most effective way is to provide tangible increases in salary and commissions.

Every time Sun Zhiwei came over, the most popular thing was to give out commissions. Holding a piece of gleaming gold in your hand was more effective than any other incentive.

This is the biggest difference between Sun Zhiwei's mine and other gold mines. Some other gold mines also give commissions to management, but only Sun Zhiwei's mine directly pays out gold.

Although gold prices have fluctuated in recent years, none of the management at the Clark mines, including themselves, have ever proposed issuing dollars directly.

After finishing his business at the mine, Sun Zhiwei, led by Clark, went to inspect several mining areas.

Because of sufficient funding, all three gold mines are currently using relatively advanced mining equipment, and safety measures are being implemented very well.

Although there have been several accidents in recent years, none of them have resulted in injuries or fatalities.

Sun Zhiwei didn't care whether there were actually no casualties or not; as long as they handled things perfectly and were worthy of the gold he had given them, that was enough.

After circling the mine, he dispersed the veins he had cut from the Ainmont mining area beneath several other mining districts.

This new batch of gold ore will extend the mining period of each of the three mining areas by ten years, which is great.

In a few more years, he will further increase the reserves in the mining area, and in his lifetime, he can ensure that these gold mines will never run dry.

After returning from the mining area, it was already the 10th. Sun Zhiwei made a point of waiting at the airport today to carefully check several flights from Asia.

As it turned out, he did indeed discover three men behaving strangely.

Their appearance and clothing seemed normal enough, but two of them had dragon and tiger tattoos on their chests and backs, which were typical insignia of gang members.

He hadn't noticed the other middle-aged man in a suit until the three of them met outside the airport, at which point he realized they were together.

He already knew the names of the three men from their passports: Chen Qili, the man in the suit, and his subordinates Wu Dun and Dong Guisen.

Of the three, Chen Chi-li was the head of the Bamboo Union, and the other two were members of the Bamboo Union's elite gang. This combination convinced Sun Chih-wei that they were the people he had been waiting for.

(End of this chapter)