50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 841 Picking up the leaks
For example, this: In order to solve the problem of difficulty in finding a place to sit during picnics, someone invented "picnic pants" with a built-in cushion, but their practicality is questionable.

And this, the "multi-functional peeler," he's sure the person who invented it never even used it.

There's also the "full-body waterproof umbrella," which can actually block rain, but the side effect might be that it makes you sweat profusely.

There are many similar inventions in this folder, no wonder Christie's manager, Smith, was prepared to reject all these patent payments.

He doesn't know if anyone will buy these patented products once they're made; he certainly won't buy them himself.

Sun Zhiwei had initially thought there would be some useful high-tech stuff inside, but it turned out to be just this kind of thing, which was enough to shatter his worldview.

He randomly flipped through a few more pages of the stack of patent documents and found that the later patents were all similar, so he lost interest.

He casually tossed the patent documents aside and picked up the parts he had pulled out earlier.

This includes three islands, as well as three gold mines, one gemstone mine, one platinum mine, and several copper, nickel, chromium, lead, and uranium mines located in South Africa and Botswana, totaling 16 mines.

With these mines, Robert Group's mining division will experience a major boom.

However, at the same time, the security requirements for Pinkerton will also increase significantly after these mines are taken over.

However, he currently lacks sufficient manpower to deploy to regions like South Africa, which will pose a challenge later on. He needs to further consider how to handle this situation.

Afterwards, Sun Zhiwei called a subordinate to take the documents on the table back to Christie's on the 22nd floor and hand them over to their general manager, Fran Smith.

At the same time, he made a phone call to the group's headquarters in New York, asking them to take over ownership of the various industries.

The islands and mines he selected this time are worth more than $20 billion.

But the most expensive item wasn't a gold or gem mine, nor the 254-square-kilometer Weddell Island, nor shares in Microsoft or Apple.

The most expensive item was surprisingly an unassuming uranium mine located in the desert region of western Namibia.

The data shows that the uranium mine has reserves of 2 tons of metallic uranium, but because peace has not yet been achieved in Namibia, the mine cannot be mined for the time being.

Of course, if we calculate based on the actual value, 2 tons of uranium is equivalent to 4400 million pounds. Currently, the international price of pure uranium metal is $30 per pound, so the total value of this mine exceeds $12 billion.

Of course, mining has costs, and mining in the desert regions of war-torn countries is even more expensive. It requires not only strong security forces but also a separate road leading to the mining area.

Even so, the compensation price for this uranium mine reached $5 million.

The reality, of course, cannot be viewed that way, because there are only a few countries that need uranium, making it a buyer's market.

The current international price of uranium is only $30, which is lower than the cost of mining. The normal cost of mining uranium ore is around $40 per pound.
This results in a loss of $10 for every pound of uranium mined, and a loss of more than $2 for every ton mined.

Unless it's one of the few nuclear superpowers that has a rigid need to produce nuclear bombs, no one would be so wasteful as to mine resources at a loss.

If the uranium mine is fully mined and then sold, Sun Zhiwei should be prepared to lose $4 million.

This is why the uranium mine was given to Christie's; any mining company that acquired it could only use it as a reserve resource.

But this isn't a few million, it's 5 million. No mining group would tie up 5 million in this mine.

But when Sun Zhiwei saw the name of the mine, he decided to acquire it without hesitation, because the mine was called "Hushan Uranium Mine". He had heard of this name before; it was the world's third largest uranium mine, with total reserves of 29.3 tons of uranium octoxide.

That's right, not 2 tons, but 29.3 tons.

It's normal for the data to be incorrect; many mines originally had low reserves, since exploration also costs money.

Therefore, many mineral deposits are paused after initial exploration reveals a portion of the reserves, while waiting for funding.

But once they start mining and make money, they will continue to drill deeper, which often increases the total reserves of the mineral deposits.

He would be completely out of character if he didn't take advantage of this opportunity.

He remembers it so clearly because the mine was later jointly developed by China and Namibia.

The reason why China was able to secure the mining rights was actually due to Namibia's gratitude for the 4000 tons of rice that China provided as aid.

It was because of this legendary story that he remembered the detailed data of the "Hushan Uranium Mine".

It was precisely because this legendary story was so accidental that he decided to take over the mine directly.

Because he didn't know if this accidental, legendary story would repeat itself years later. Since his arrival, so much has changed in this world.

Now that he has the opportunity, he might as well just take over the mine and donate it when his family needs it in the future.

After handing over the resource assets that Christie's was about to transfer, he set off again to cross the border back to China.

This time, he plans to visit all five of the monkey's naval bases, as well as the 180 MiG-21 fighter jets provided by the bear.

The MiG-21 has a small bomb load when used for bombing; its greatest threat comes from the third-generation air-to-air missiles it carries.

Fortunately, our air defense capabilities are very strong, and the MiG-21 never dares to cross the line easily.

This time, Sun Zhiwei crossed the fire line from the Fangcheng direction again. He noticed last time he passed through this area that the atmosphere wasn't very tense.

When he went there this time, he saw a strange sight: many monkeys were riding bicycles carrying supplies such as salt and rice, sneaking in through a side path.

Out of curiosity, Sun Zhiwei followed the cycling team to see what they were up to.

He then discovered that after the bicycle convoy arrived, it went to a small market near a village.

They traded the salt and rice they brought with them to the local villagers for goods such as plastic slippers, soap, and cigarettes.

He also clearly saw a young monkey wearing glasses solemnly write in a notebook: "1 jin of rice for 3 cigarettes".

Good heavens, in his memory, isn't there still a war going on here? How can residents on both sides be exchanging goods?

After exchanging their supplies, the monkeys in the bicycle team rode off with their goods back home, intending to return via the small path before dark.

(End of this chapter)