The small private business jet took off from Aircrew Base 131 with Chen Fei and Zuo Gengming on board, heading south.
The Zuo Family's rare earth mine was located on the Flower State Peninsula along the east coast of North America and had changed owners four times, being mined for nearly two hundred years.
Initially, it was operated as a copper-iron mine with a small amount of silver ore. The annual output wasn't significant and had been intermittent. Later, when rare earth elements were discovered, the extensive mining operations ceased. After being sealed for over a decade, they began the meticulous process of mining.
As a resource that has been long scarce, the price of rare earth elements continued to rise. The profit-maximizing Zuo Family was in no rush to excavate their ancestral industry haphazardly.
From the small private airport where the business jet landed, they traversed over thirty kilometers of wheat fields before plunging into the hilly area.
