Chapter 98 - Chapter 98: Rare Earths With A Price But No Market

The distribution point of the shipwreck No. 13!According to the scanning detection of the mining ship, it is a shipwreck transporting ore.No, it is more appropriate to say that it is a shipwreck transporting metals.The data shows that there are more than 500 tons of iron, which is not iron ore, but processed and refined pig iron. In addition, there are more than 100 tons of tin, which is also not tin ore.It is also processed and refined finished tin.Iron and tin!For Zhang Heng now, there is really no shortage. In the waters of the East China Sea, there are many iron and tin mines distributed in the high seas near the island countries. If you want, you can dig it at any time.But this shipwreck marked as No. 13 is different, it is very special.500 tons of pig iron contains trace amounts of yttrium!100 tons of tin contains a lot of gadolinium!What are yttrium and gadolinium?Rare earth ore!Rare earth ore is not cheap. At the current price, if it is processed into yttrium oxide, the price of one ton is more than 60,000 yuan, and if it is processed into metal yttrium? It reaches about 235 yuan/kg, which is 0.235 yuan/gram!As for gadolinium rare earth, its price is about 380,000 yuan per ton of gadolinium oxide, and the price of metal gadolinium is also not cheap, more than 350,000 yuan per ton.According to the prediction of Smart No. 1 930!More than 5 tons of yttrium can be extracted from 500 tons of pig iron.More than 6 tons of gadolinium may be extracted from 100 tons of tin.The value of these two items is as high as millions. Compared with 3,000 tons of silver and 18 tons of gold, it is just a drop in the bucket, a small amount, a small amount.Don't ignore the role of rare earth in repairing mining ships.When he found rare earth, no matter how expensive or cheap it was, even 1 gram, he would not sell it, because rare earth is an absolutely controlled resource.If it weren't for his close relationship with the military and a series of other things, he might not be able to buy rare earth with real money.It is not an exaggeration to say that rare earth is priceless."The finished product contains rare earths, so the biggest possibility is that there were associated rare earth ores when they were mining, or that rare earths were added during the processing?"Zhang Heng secretly guessed that both were possible: "In that era, there was no concept of rare earths, and the great role of rare earths had not yet been discovered.Even if they were discovered, I'm afraid they only knew a little bit, and there was no attention paid to rare earth resources as now." "The possibility of associated rare earth ores is higher, because the components are almost integrated with the finished product, and it doesn't seem to be added later."Smart No. 1 gave a reasonable analysis. "Well, that's a pity.If we can confirm that this piece of pig iron and finished tin are mined there, those mining areas may have been abandoned long ago and no one has noticed them.We can secretly contract them and mine two kinds of rare earths."Zhang Heng also knew that this idea was just wishful thinking, so he just said it: "Okay, get them up, then change the route, go around the waters near the island country to collect information, then enter the Korean waters, enter the East China Sea from there, and return home in a big circle.""Understood!"Smart No. 1 received the command and acted quickly: "The route has been generated!""Adjust it. When entering the Korean waters, sail as close to the Korean coastline as possible." Zhang Heng fine-tuned the route."Adjustment completed!""Okay, follow the route."Zhang Heng was satisfied and said no more.He had been prepared for this voyage.It would be an ultra-long-distance voyage.The distance was not ordinary, but it was very necessary.This way, not only can the sea area around the entire island country be scanned and detected, but also the sea area of ​​the Korean country can be plowed.If any mineral resources are found, they can be recorded and mined directly in the future.He has no good feelings about the vassal states in the country in ancient times.Now that they have developed, they keep provoking and calling weapons.It is best to make the Korean sea Mineral resources outside the coastline were mined and stolen.Of course, there is a price!Although the current speed of the mining ship (abcc) is fast enough, this voyage is expected to exceed 8,000 kilometers, equivalent to more than 4,300 nautical miles. If it sails at full speed, it will take about 11 hours.The problem is that it is impossible to go that fast, especially after the silver and gold, as well as pig iron and tin are salvaged, the processing cabin needs to be operated, and some power needs to be allocated.In this way, it will not be able to sail at the highest speed, which will delay a lot of time.So, Zhang Heng's plan is to take about 15 hours.That is, now, the maximum speed is over 400 knots. Like the previous 300 knots, it is impossible to complete this voyage without 40 hours.The captain's lounge is relatively intact!After the circuit in the ship is repaired, there will be no more sparks and no electrocution. He does not need to stay in the cockpit all the time. He can walk around when he is tired and go to the lounge to sleep when he is sleepy.The rest, Smart No. 1 will take care of it!The mining ship is also huge, and the living area occupies a large area. It is really boring. You can also find an empty place and dance a few times. Playing with animals can kill time and exercise at the same time.The sun rises and sets, and night falls. In the vast sea, there is a dead silence.The mining ship is still sailing, still at a high speed. From time to time, it will encounter some cargo ships passing by. After entering the waters of the island country, you can see many ocean-going fishing boatsfishing at night with fishing lights.But!Whether it is a cargo ship or a fishing boat, it is impossible to find the mining ship. Do a good job of avoiding it, and don't worry about a collision accident.The sun rises again, and the mining ship is about to enter the waters of the East China Sea. As long as it enters the East China Sea, it will not be far from Zhangjia Village."There should be some space in the storage cabin, right?"Zhang Heng did not calculate it carefully, but he knew that there was some remaining space, but not much, about a few dozen tons: "Let's mine some coal and reprocess the pig iron into carbon steel.Pay attention to the proportion.If possible, mine some iron ore and synthesize it into carbon steel and bring it back. "Don't reserve even a little storage space.Full load, that means full load.The harvest of this trip is absolutely rich, even a little scary, but it is not easy to sail for more than ten hours. Under the premise of storage space, it is pitiful not to be fully loaded, and it is also a waste of money.It's on the way anyway.Even if it's not on the way, so what if you need to take a detour?But it's all money, a little more money can be a little more money, no one can get away from money.The same is true for Zhang Heng, not to mention that he is short of funds and will have a lot of investment in the future. For him, the more money, the better. He has been sailing for so long and is not far from home. It's not a big deal to delay a few dozen minutes or an hour."Understood!"Intelligent No. 1 accepts instructions and uses computing speed to execute the captain's orders as thoroughly as possible without reservation.