Chapter 305 - 156: Various Progress

Chapter 305: Chapter 156: Various Progress

「March 25th.」

The temperature in Eastern Monan was rising, bringing a hint of spring, but the local sandstorms were still intense.

Jiang Miao met with the 47 employees who had rushed over from headquarters, including Lin Yonghua and Lu Mingyuan.

「Inside the temporary office.」

"Boss, I’ve never managed an enterprise this large. I’m a bit worried I’ll fail to live up to your trust." Lin Yonghua’s face was etched with anxiety.

Lu Mingyuan, on the other hand, showed no signs of worry. This might have been due to his introverted personality, or perhaps because he was younger and had a broader perspective than Lin Yonghua.

Pouring them each a cup of salted milk tea, Jiang Miao said with a smile, "The business of United Mining Company is very simple. You don’t need to worry about the operational side of things, because plenty of people will be approaching you for partnerships. Old Lin, you have an honest and steadfast character. You can resist temptation. I wouldn’t be as confident with anyone else."

Lin Yonghua gave a wry smile. "Since you have so much faith in me, Boss, I can only give it my all. But, if a more suitable candidate comes along in the future, please arrange for someone to replace me!"

"Your management job is very simple. Just follow my plan step-by-step, and everything will be fine. You can delegate other matters to the rest of the management team. If you’re ever unsure about a decision, you can communicate with General Manager Jiang or me," Jiang Miao thought dismissively.

United Mining Company might earn tens of billions in profit annually in the future, but managing the company was incredibly simple. It only had two core businesses: reclaiming land to lease out, and mining.

With no other operations, the management difficulty wasn’t high. Even if they were to expand into other areas, they could just add a division manager specifically for new business.

Lu Mingyuan was silent for a moment before asking directly, "Boss, what exactly does United Mining Company do? I read the documents you sent over, but some parts weren’t clear."

"The company currently has three main business lines, or to be more precise, two industries." Jiang Miao began to explain the details:

"The first is the desert reclamation industry. This industry can branch out into farmland leasing, agricultural machinery rentals, soybean cultivation, pasture cultivation, fodder processing, nutrient-rich soil sales, and more. Of course, the core business is still farmland leasing."

"The other industry is mining, which you’ll be in charge of, Mingyuan. This can branch out into traditional mining, biological mining, fertilizer production, and so on. The core business is biological mining."

After hearing Jiang Miao’s description, Lu Mingyuan’s brow remained furrowed. He knew his next words might be a bit blunt, but he spoke his mind anyway. "Boss, can biological mining technology really compete with traditional mining right now? It might work for precious metals like gold, silver, or copper, but the price of phosphorus is too low. I’m afraid it would be difficult to even break even, wouldn’t it?"

"Currently, at the laboratory stage, the cost is about three times that of traditional mining." Jiang Miao reiterated the exaggerated cost he had quoted before.

"Three times at the lab stage?" Lu Mingyuan wasn’t completely ignorant on the subject. "Boss, what are the main cost drivers?"

Jiang Miao picked up his salted milk tea. "Water. Right now, bio-mining for phosphorus consumes 1,200 cubic meters of fresh water per ton of phosphorus. The standard rate for mining water usage in Monan is one yuan per cubic meter, and for mining methods with such high water consumption, the local authorities will charge double."

"That much? No wonder." Lu Mingyuan’s brow tightened.

"I’ve already thought of a few solutions. I’ll run experiments when I get back. If they’re successful, we can bring the cost down to around 870 yuan per ton of pure phosphorus."

Lu Mingyuan suddenly remembered his boss’s scientific research capabilities, and many of his doubts instantly vanished. He rubbed his chin. "If we can get the cost to be comparable to traditional mining, then according to your vision, Boss, the hundreds of billions of tons of ultra-low-grade phosphate ore in the North would become immensely valuable."

"In any case, we’ll know if it’s a success or not before the end of the year. If the experiments fail, you can come back to headquarters or stay here and help Old Lin manage United Mining Company."

"Okay." Lu Mingyuan chose to accept the arrangement.

Seeing that they had finished their discussion, Lin Yonghua put down his milk tea. "Boss, do you have any instructions for United Mining Company’s desert reclamation project?"

"I do have a few key points to entrust to you."

Lin Yonghua quickly took out a small notebook and a ballpoint pen.

Jiang Miao instructed him seriously, "First key point: in the process of cooperating with local governments, don’t use United Mining Company as the primary entity to contract for the desert land. Instead, you need to form joint ventures with the local state-owned asset management companies. Create secondary subsidiaries, and have those subsidiaries be the ones to contract for the desert."

"For every location?"

Jiang Miao nodded slightly. "Yes, all of them. Anywhere there’s desert. I’ll give you a map later. You can open negotiations for all the desert areas circled on it. However, you don’t need to be the one to do it. Have Zhao Shuisheng, who’s been assigned by the Monan State-owned Assets Operation Company, handle the talks."

"Okay, I understand."

Jiang Miao held up two fingers. "Second key point: you need to grade and classify the circled desert areas. Divide them into Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3."

"Grade 1 farmland refers to flat desert, sandy, or saline-alkali lands that have abundant water sources or rainfall nearby. Grade 2 farmland meets some of the conditions of Grade 1 and is suitable for growing drought-resistant crops. Grade 3 farmland is in areas with scarce rainfall, like the deserts in Western Monan, and can only be used as pastureland."

Lin Yonghua, who had been taking notes, stopped writing and looked up. "Boss, is this grading system for setting the rental standards?"

"Yes. The base rent for Grade 1 farmland will be 500 yuan per mu per year. For Grade 2, it will be 300 to 500 yuan per mu per year. For Grade 3, 100 to 300 yuan per mu per year. These are the rental prices for unimproved land."