Rebirth of the Mining Tycoon

Chapter 43: Technology Is Vitality!

Chen Jinhe picked up the document. There was no cover page, no title sheet, and it was clear the material was incomplete.

But seeing the solemn expressions on Hao Zhengzhi and Lü Fengnian's faces, he said nothing further and began reading silently.

As his eyes moved down the page, a growing radiance appeared in them.

It was a visceral reaction—a response only an engineer could have. When a new piece of technology appeared before him, it stirred a powerful excitement from deep within.

The joy of a tech-minded person—so unique and intense.

Suppressing his excitement, he turned to the final page—there were just over ten pages in total. He flipped through them three times, finally confirming there was nothing more, then reluctantly put the document down.

"Dean Hao, Director Lü—this is the result of your recent experiments?" He looked up, eyes sparkling as he stared at the two familiar faces across from him.

Though he was now the highest-ranking leader at Purple Mining, the technical blood still ran deep in his veins.

He still revered technology. He worshipped it like a sacred totem.

That was a key part of his personal charisma.

And it was precisely due to this shared passion that Hao Zhengzhi had accepted his invitation years ago—leaving the research institute where he had worked his entire career to help build the fledgling Purple Metallurgy Research Institute.

Now, the emotions of these three older men—the way their feelings blended into the atmosphere—were... unusual.

It was like three diehard fans watching the World Cup Final.

Their blood pressure was practically shooting out of their foreheads.

Hao Zhengzhi understood Chen Jinhe's excitement, but still shook his head. "This is not our research result."

"What?" Chen Jinhe was stunned.

The burning excitement in his veins instantly cooled. He stared at the two men before him with a face full of confusion.

Then Hao Zhengzhi and Lü Fengnian took turns explaining—how Zhao Hepu and Li Tang had come to discuss scientific cooperation, and how they had spent the past few weeks verifying the material.

"Based on your verification results, this document's technology is very reliable?" Chen Jinhe asked again as he reopened the file, flipping to the sections with specific operational guidelines.

"Yes. Our experimental results confirm that this technology is not only advanced but also highly practical," Hao Zhengzhi replied with certainty.

Lü Fengnian added emotionally, "We could even say that this technology was custom-made for refining low-grade brass ore in China. Judging by what we have here, it's a perfect match for the ore deposits at Purple Copper-Gold Mine."

"If this document is just a fragment—and a complete version exists—we could skip the entire first phase of research and jump straight to large-scale metallurgical trials. Maybe even go straight to factory construction using bioleaching copper extraction!"

Chen Jinhe exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.

When they had first begun the project, the plan had been as follows: spend three to five years mastering the technology in phase one.

In phase two, they would build a pilot refinery with an annual capacity of 1,000 tons to test the theoretical model in practice—planned to take no more than three years.

Phase three would be the construction of a full-scale bioleaching refinery capable of producing 10,000 tons of electrolytic copper per year!

And as the technology matured, they would scale up production further, possibly refining all the ore produced at Purple Copper-Gold Mine.

Currently, their research was still in the second year of phase one.

The revolution was far from over—it still required great effort.

Hao Zhengzhi resonated deeply with Chen Jinhe's words. "Even if we use Li Tang's technology only as a reference, it will still cut down at least three years of research time!"

Time is money!

In mining enterprises, technology is life!

"We must secure this technology," Chen Jinhe said with unwavering resolve.

He understood the importance of technology all too well—but he was also confused. "You keep talking about this incredible technology and this guy named Li Tang. Where is he?"

"You've been too busy lately—you might have forgotten. About half a month ago, I submitted a cooperation proposal to your office," Hao Zhengzhi reminded him.

Chen Jinhe quickly went behind his desk and began rummaging through stacks of paperwork. Finally, he found the document—buried under a towering pile and completely forgotten.

"I've really been swamped out of my mind lately."

He smacked his forehead in regret. "Did we miss our best opportunity?"

Hao Zhengzhi and Lü Fengnian exchanged a look. Hao Zhengzhi nodded, "Yes."

Chen Jinhe re-read the proposal. "Wukuang Mining and Metallurgy Co., Ltd.?"

At this point, Purple Mining was still just a local player—hardly known outside its region.

But Wukuang Group—now that was a household name. Among state-owned enterprises, they were a giant.

"I'll handle this personally. You two have worked hard enough. It's getting late. I'll ask Logistics to arrange dinner—please, take some rest."

After sending off Hao Zhengzhi and Lü Fengnian, Chen Jinhe returned to his office and sat down.

…

During this same period, Zhao Hepu was feeling quite anxious.

On one hand, the Demen Copper Mine's issues still had no solution. On the other, his position as acting general manager was still not official. After repeatedly sounding out the higher-ups, he realized the situation was grim.

These two problems boiled down to the same core issue.

Work was stressful, and things weren't much better at home. His wife was always nagging him.

So he called Qin Jianshe out for drinks to vent. As it turned out, bros were always more reliable.

"Nothing beats beer and grilled skewers!" Zhao Hepu bit into a lamb skewer, juices running down his chin, his chubby face full of joy. "How many years has it been since we had this kind of carefree meal together? Reminds me of our early days at the company."

"We had barbecue together just yesterday," Qin Jianshe said bluntly, smacking Zhao's bulging belly. "Your wife's scolding is right. You seriously need to take care of your health."

"It's just that the pressure's been huge lately."

Zhao looked down at his own gut and hesitated. He wanted to eat—but at the same time, a little voice in his head said no. "I envy you! You eat what you want. Work's easy. Me? I've worked like a dog for over a year, and when I go to HQ, all I get is criticism."

"You think I've got it easy?"

Qin Jianshe snorted. The skewer in his hand suddenly tasted bitter. Every family has its problems. "Didn't your Mining & Metallurgy Company decide to use bioleaching at Demen Mine? Why the lack of follow-up lately?"

"Jiujiang Copper just wants to milk us dry. Then we turned to Purple Mining—some county-level company. The management lacks vision. I personally went to discuss cooperation, and their general manager didn't even show up!" Zhao was so angry he downed half a glass of beer in one gulp.

Qin lifted his glass and clinked it against Zhao's with a crisp ding. "Who dares to ignore President Zhao! A company like that shouldn't dream of doing business in Yanjing!"

"It's been nearly half a month with zero response. I'm pissed. Looks like we'll have to look for other options. If nothing else works, we'll go with a foreign company."

"Foreign companies aren't exactly eager to transfer core technologies…"

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