Chapter 30: Three Steps
Li Tang and He Runqi quickly followed behind and entered the deputy general manager's office.
"I signed off on your reimbursement request without really looking at it earlier," Qin Jianshe began, his tone clearly one of displeasure. "But I thought it over afterward and realized there's a problem with the report you submitted."
This was clearly a rebuke.
He Runqi had two sets of forms earlier. One had already been handed to the finance department and they'd received the funds; the other was to be submitted to Mining and Metallurgy.
The two documents were nearly identical—the only difference was the amount: one set listed 5 yuan per person per day, and the other 30 or 50 yuan.
"Hand the file to Director Qin," Li Tang said.
He Runqi passed over the document.
Li Tang wasn't worried—he hadn't tried to manipulate anything.
Qin Jianshe reviewed the reimbursement report carefully, and his suspicion was confirmed.
"You two were present for all 16 days. Wei Shixing missed four days. And Hu Yangyu—he missed 14."
His first reaction was to assume Li Tang was playing favorites by denying Wei and Hu their full fieldwork allowances.
But then he reconsidered.
Even if Li Tang did that, he didn't benefit financially. He didn't pocket the difference.
So what was the point?
Qin's concern shifted: was Li Tang abusing his authority? Was he being unfair to his team?
But Li Tang showed no sign of guilt. On the contrary, he calmly and confidently explained, "No work—no allowance."
"What do you mean?" Qin asked, starting to pick up on something deeper.
Li Tang hesitated briefly but didn't answer directly.
He Runqi, who had long been frustrated with Hu Yangyu, couldn't hold back any longer. This was the opportunity he'd been waiting for.
"Hu Yangyu just eats and sleeps. He's lazier than the sow at my house. Never lifts a finger. Why should someone like that get the same allowance as us? I'm telling you right now—if he gets the same fieldwork allowance as me, then next time we're out, I'm sleeping all day too!"
He was practically spitting with rage, but what he said was 100% true.
Qin looked at the two sun-darkened faces in front of him and immediately understood what was going on.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked.
"Well, now you know," Li Tang replied simply.
"What's Hu's excuse? Does he resent you for becoming team leader? Is he ill? What's his reason for not cooperating?"
"That, we don't know. You'd have to ask him."
"Did he file a leave request?"
"No. He never mentioned it," Li Tang answered truthfully.
Qin's expression grew more serious. He studied the report in silence for a while.
"And Wei Shixing's four missed days?" he asked.
"He likes to sleep in," He Runqi said bluntly.
"Understood."
Qin nodded, then handed the document back to Runqi. "Submit this version. Let's go—I'll go with you to the Mining and Metallurgy offices upstairs."
Upstairs, Zhao Hepu was hosting a meeting with the middle and upper management of Mining and Metallurgy Co. When he heard a knock and saw Qin Jianshe enter with Li Tang and Runqi, he invited them in.
"No rush—we can wait outside," Qin said, trying to be polite.
"The meeting just started. You're right on time. This topic involves you," Zhao said with a more serious tone than usual. "Let's continue. Director Lu, go ahead."
Lu Kanqing nodded to Qin and resumed where he'd left off, speaking from his notebook.
"I'd like to briefly introduce the bioleaching process. It uses microorganisms to oxidize chalcopyrite and extract copper and iron ions.
"Based on what we observed at the Jiujiang Copper bioleaching plant, this technology involves three primary steps.
"Step one: leaching. You lay a mesh base on the ground, heap up crushed ore, and regularly spray it with a leaching solution containing microorganisms. The solution that drains from the bottom contains dissolved copper ions.
"According to our findings, Jiujiang's leaching rate is around 60%, but the cycle takes about 800 days. That's quite long. And the process hasn't seen much technological improvement in recent years."
Lu flipped a page in his notebook and continued.
"Step two: extraction. Copper ions are extracted from the leachate.
"Step three: electrolysis. The extracted solution undergoes a reverse-extraction process, and then copper ions are electroplated into pure copper."
"The most critical and expensive part," Zhao added, "is step one—the leaching itself. It takes the most time and consumes a lot of oxygen. Just supplying oxygen is a major cost."
Zhao continued, "This technology isn't perfect. But it's proven to be effective in processing low-grade chalcopyrite. Jiujiang's bioleaching plant has successfully produced A-grade electrolytic copper."
"That's a solid result," Lu Kanqing agreed, though he didn't dwell on the technical side too much.
"I've discussed it with Director Lu," Zhao said, "and we both believe this method suits Demen's situation. We plan to adopt it. Frankly, Demen has no other path forward."
"Oh, and one more thing," Lu said, raising his notebook again. "We've completed a reevaluation of the tailings. The mine has about 68 million tons of recyclable copper waste. The average grade is 0.34%, yielding approximately 230,000 tons of copper—worth about 4.6 billion yuan."
Zhao looked directly at Li Tang. "That matches the estimate Li Tang and his team calculated earlier."
"What about the smelter if we transform Demen's production model?" someone asked.
"The smelter will focus on foreign ore for the time being," Zhao said. "We'll negotiate for more raw material from international suppliers. Next year, the smelter will mainly handle imported ore."
"But copper processing fees are heavily influenced by global supply and demand. With copper futures prices climbing for the past two years, domestic smelting fees keep dropping. These foreign suppliers are cutting our margins more and more. I expect the next round of negotiations will only make it worse."
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