Chapter 1347: 1347. Polar Mine (1/5)

Chapter 1347 1347. Polar Mine (15)

The ship encountered a breakdown in the Arctic Ocean, which may be the most fatal. In the history of the Arctic, many accidents were caused by staying here for too long.

Fortunately, the temperature is relatively high this season, so there is no need to worry about being frozen in the Arctic Ocean, and Li Du is prepared. He took out the satellite phone and dialed a number, which was the number given to him by Da Ford.

After waiting for a day and a half, a powerful tugboat appeared in their field of vision. There was a blue flag on the tugboat with several letters printed on it: FM-Inc.

Freeport-McMoRan-Inc, Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Company, is one of the top ten comprehensive mining groups in the world, with mines all over the world, including their subsidiaries in the Arctic.

Founded in 1912, this mining company is mainly engaged in the mining of copper, gold and molybdenum. It has 35,000 employees and an annual output value of about 24 billion U.S. dollars, of which one-fifth of the company's shares are in the hands of Ford , or in the hands of the Ford family.

When Li Du left the Beidi Islands, Da Ford gave him the contact information of the FM company's Arctic branch, saying that he had greeted him, and if there was anything to call, he would definitely do his best.

Now that his ship broke down in the Arctic Ocean, Li Du called the general manager of the Arctic Branch, who immediately sent a ship over.

The two boats approached, a small boat was put down from the tugboat, and several people boarded the icebreaker in the small boat. The leader was a middle-aged white man with a rough beard.

Seeing Li Du, the middle-aged man laughed immediately, and stretched out his hand as soon as he boarded the boat: "Hello, are you Mr. Li? I'm Mike Dunford, nice to meet you."

Li Du also smiled, and said, "Hello, Manager Dunford, I'm really sorry to trouble you this time. To be honest, I'm really excited that you came here."

"This is what we should do. I have to apologize to you. There are no parts in our base that can match your ship, so we have to tow the ship and have it transported by my companions, so that the ship can be repaired." Dunford Said with an apologetic face.

Li Du was not in a hurry to return, and said: "That's it, thank you, I really troubled you."

A towline made of nylon-wrapped steel cable was attached to the bow of the Ramming Hammerhead, and as the tugboat hit full steam, the heavy towline straightened and moved forward.

FM Company has a gold mine in the North Pole, which is located in the southwest of the invisible cemetery. Li Du and the others traveled slowly on the sea by ship, and it took two and a half days to arrive here.

This is a small island in the Arctic. The land area of ​​the island is small, but there are a lot of ice sheets around it, so the overall area is not small.

When the two ships docked at the port, Li Du said, "So there are gold mines in the North Pole? I'm so ignorant."

Dunford smiled and said: "Gold mines were discovered here a long time ago, and the content is quite high, but the natural conditions here are too harsh and mining is difficult. The company did not set up a base here until after 2000."

The island is a stone island. Gold exists in these stones, and the surrounding area is covered with ice all the year round. It is really difficult to mine. FM Company built a series of buildings on the island, just like opening up a new world in a barren ice and snow field.

There were many buildings on the ground, but not many people. Li Du and the others drove into the camp on a skid bike and wandered around, but they didn't see many people.

There is no fence in the camp, and this kind of place does not need the protection of the fence, even if gold is being produced inside, because the surrounding area is below zero all year round, and the temperature in winter can reach minus 40 to 50 degrees, so no one will come here.

However, the protection measures in the camp were good. Li Du didn't see many people along the way, but he saw a lot of weapons. Brother Wolf gave him some pointers. There was a machine gun on the roof of a small building!

Looking for something to say, Li Du asked, "How many workers are there?"

Dunford said: "The normal number is 20 people, but there are more people in summer, and there are more than 40 people to rush the project."

Li Du was surprised: "The number of people is so small? The mining industry needs a lot of labor, right?"

"Mechanization, we use fully automatic mechanization to work here, and we don't need a lot of people." Dunford said, "Of course, not many people are willing to come here. Staying here can drive people crazy."

Li Du had a deep understanding of this, nodded and said: "Yes, I have only been in the North Pole for half a month, staying in a closed space like a boat every day, seeing only the sea and ice and snow around me, it really destroys one's will."

Dunford smiled bitterly: "Yeah, we don't stay here for more than half a month. Each construction period lasts at least half a year. This is still a worker's construction period, like me? I have been here for two years!"

"Two years? That's too long." Li Du exclaimed.

Dunford sighed sadly: "Who says no? So Mr. Li, you are obviously a big shot. If you have the opportunity, can you help me mention it to the company and let me leave this place early?"

His words were very sincere, and Li Du wanted to help, but he only knew the Ford Brothers, and he was not familiar with FM Company.

But at this time he couldn't refuse, so he had to say: "I will tell my friend, if he can influence your company's personnel decisions, I think he will help you."

Hearing this, Dunford laughed and said, "That's great, you come with me. In fact, our place is not very boring, and we still have some entertainment facilities."

He took Li Du into a building, which was an activity room. There was a kitchen in it, and five chefs were busy in it. There were a lot of vegetables in the kitchen. In order to supply the miners with food, FM Company specially built a vegetable greenhouse on the island.

The restaurant includes a coffee shop and a small bar, and there are various leisure and entertainment rooms, game room, billiard room, small basketball court, and even a church.

Seeing the church, Sophie went in and knelt down to talk to God, while Li Du continued to visit.

What he sees now is only the tip of the iceberg, and more of the company is underground, because the gold is hidden in the underground ore.

Many underground tunnels have been dug on the island, and automated mining vehicles are constantly shuttling through the tunnels. What people need to do is to supervise and maintain them.

In contrast, Li Du's diamond mine in Amanda, South Africa is too primitive, and this is the modern mining model.

However, he was curious, how much gold would the mine have to produce to pay back the investment under such an investment?

Dunford introduced to him, saying that the construction of this mine did not cost FM Company a lot of money. The modern mining equipment inside is in the experimental stage and is invested by the US government to check the practicability of these equipment.

In addition, FM Company does not seek to produce much gold here. This is more a place for FM Company to show its strength and give investors confidence that they have the ability to deploy globally.