Chapter 473 - 238: More Valuable Than Gold?

Chapter 473: Chapter 238: More Valuable Than Gold?

The caller was none other than Team Leader Li from the survey team. Su Chen picked up his phone and answered.

"Yeah... I’m not at the patrol camp. I’m already back at the ranch!"

"Something important to report? You can’t explain it in just a few words over the phone?"

"Alright. Have a few patrol members escort you back. Just say I arranged it." With that, Su Chen hung up.

"What’s going on? Did Team Leader Li and his men find something unusual during their survey?" Xiao Chen, who was sitting beside him, asked in confusion.

Su Chen shrugged. "I’m not entirely sure. Team Leader Li sounded a little excited, but my gut tells me it’s probably not about the gold. It must be some other discovery."

Hearing this... Xiao Chen nodded thoughtfully.

’If it were about the gold mine, Team Leader Li could have just explained it over the phone. They’d already mentally prepared themselves for that, so they wouldn’t get too worked up over the news.’

Unless... they had discovered something even more exciting than a gold mine. But neither Su Chen nor Xiao Chen could imagine what that might be. They could only wait for Team Leader Li to return with his report to find out.

Su Chen and Xiao Chen sat in the villa’s living room, drinking coffee and petting the little white tiger while they waited for Team Leader Li. Meanwhile, Chen Fei and the Mel brothers had already returned to their large wooden cabin to prepare for departure.

In less than half an hour, Team Leader Li rushed in, clutching a black tote bag. His hair was soaked with sweat, and the plaid shirt he wore was plastered to his skin.

Seeing Team Leader Li in such a state, Su Chen immediately set the little white tiger aside. He frowned slightly and asked, "Team Leader Li, what happened? Quick, come and sit down!"

As he spoke, he thoughtfully poured Team Leader Li a cup of warm tea.

Team Leader Li didn’t stand on ceremony. He sat down, picked up the tea, and began to drink it down in big mouthfuls. He drained the cup in just two or three gulps—GULP, GULP—so Su Chen quickly poured him another.

After downing three or four cups of tea in a row, Team Leader Li finally caught his breath, leaning back on the sofa with a long sigh.

"Mr. Su, Mr. Xiao, it’s a huge discovery! We’ve made a major discovery this time!" Team Leader Li, now recovered, said to the two of them, his face flush with excitement.

"So you found something else?" Su Chen asked quickly, his gaze naturally shifting to the black tote bag Team Leader Li had brought in.

"Yes, we did!" After speaking, Team Leader Li glanced around. Seeing that there was no one else in the room, he placed the black tote bag on the table and carefully lifted its contents out.

A stone about the size of a man’s head appeared before them. It shimmered with all sorts of brilliant colors, but the flecks of gold embedded within it were especially eye-catching.

"Is this gold ore? You really found a gold mine in that mountain?" Xiao Chen asked excitedly from his seat.

Although the mountain was only about twenty to thirty meters high, it was two to three kilometers long and over three hundred meters wide, making the formation quite massive.

If the entire mountain really was gold ore, the amount of gold to be mined would have to be measured in tons.

At this, Team Leader Li first nodded, then shook his head.

’Yes and then no? What the hell is that about?’

This display left both Su Chen and Xiao Chen completely baffled. Did they find a gold mine or not? Or was it some other kind of discovery?

Just as Su Chen was about to ask what was going on, Team Leader Li cradled the ore and brought it closer to them. He pointed to a less conspicuous, grayish-white area on the stone and said, "The most important part of this ore isn’t the gold, but its associated mineral—rubidium ore. And the ore content is extremely high!"

"Rubidium ore?" Xiao Chen cried out in astonishment, his gaze locked on the piece of ore in Team Leader Li’s hands.

"Team Leader Li, are you serious? This is no laughing matter!"

"Of course it’s true. I stake my years of professional experience on it. It’s the absolute truth, and the deposit is massive. According to our survey, there’s at least one to two kilograms of rubidium in every ton of ore!" Team Leader Li replied to the question, his expression exceptionally resolute.

"One to two kilograms!" Xiao Chen excitedly pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, trying to calm his nerves.

The conversation between the other two left Su Chen completely in the dark. ’So I’m the only one here who has no idea what this rubidium ore stuff is.’

"Ahem... So, can one of you fill me in on what this rubidium ore is? Why do you both look so serious all of a sudden!"

Seeing Su Chen’s baffled expression, Xiao Chen exhaled a cloud of smoke and said with a grin, "It’s something that’s going to make you filthy rich!"

Team Leader Li also quickly chimed in to explain, "Mr. Su, rubidium is an exceptionally rare metal. Because of its excellent resistance to high temperatures and corrosion, it plays an indispensable role in many high-tech fields like quantum computing, aerospace, nuclear power generation, and petrochemicals."

"Add to that the fact that global reserves of rubidium are extremely low, and you get a very high price tag!"

"High price? Just how valuable is this stuff?" Su Chen asked, pointing at the ore in Team Leader Li’s hands.

Xiao Chen rubbed his nose and said, half-jokingly, "Eh... it’s not that expensive. A single ton of raw rubidium ore is only worth about six hundred million... US Dollars. That’s roughly 4.6 billion in Huaxia currency!"