The Shati River, located fifty kilometers north of Sabha, is an ancient river that has long dried up. However, since no underground water source has been found here, no one lives here at all.
The gravel and sand all over the ground are what this place is now. There are no dead trees here, and it is a place where birds don't poop. Only the stones of various colors make this place look different from other places.
But in today's Shati River, the situation is a little different. Dozens of riders appear here. The leader is Major Carlsson, and beside him, Lieutenant Steele is telling him something.
"I was shocked when I saw it. This is definitely the most spectacular sight I have ever seen. As you can imagine, iron ore is scattered everywhere and exposed like this. This scene is so charming no matter how you look at it.
, I believe that the kingdom will definitely give us enough honor and reward for this."
Well, this last sentence should be his true voice.
But for Carlsson, he had never studied geology, so he could not understand Lieutenant Steele's mood at that time. But he knew that the scene he saw today must be very beneficial to him.
However, in order to confirm, he followed Lieutenant Steele here to confirm.
"Lieutenant, are you saying there is iron ore here?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
After receiving confirmation, Carlsson continued to ask. "So how big do you think it will be?"
"I cannot confirm this due to lack of tools and time, but I believe it should not be lower, at least tens of millions of tons, right?"
At the end of the day, Lieutenant Steele felt a little less confident. It wasn't that he didn't dare to say more, but that he had learned the knowledge but had not put it into practice.
Let’s talk about geology. In this era, there is some metaphysics. Maybe what you see in front of you is the entire amount of the iron ore, or there may be more iron ore hidden underneath. But no matter what, this iron ore must not be
It will be less, and the 10 million tons is based on the low number. Of course, if the government is interested, it can send a more professional exploration team to conduct a careful exploration.
And according to his preliminary investigation, the iron content of the iron ore here is not low, and should be between 35% and 55%, which is enough to meet the needs of most of Italy's steel industry.
Of course, it is not up to him, a little lieutenant who discovered iron ore, to decide exactly what to do. Moreover, there is another very troublesome problem here, that is, it is 500 kilometers away from the Libyan coastline, and the water resources here are also poor.
Large-scale mining.
But let the government figure out what to do specifically. For him, reporting his findings to the superiors was the limit of what he could do.
Carlson also had the same idea. Of course, after seeing Lieutenant Steele's explanation at the same time, he felt that he might be able to do more.
Looking at the exposed iron ore in front of him, Carlson immediately said, "Lieutenant Steele, since you discovered this iron ore, I have an idea."
Having said this, Karlsson looked at Lieutenant Steele in front of him.
"Sir, please give the order."
The lieutenant who still didn't understand had no choice but to agree first.
"Very good, I want you to stay here and continue to explore the scale and quality of this iron ore. In addition, I will find the equipment and manpower you need as soon as possible."
It was obvious that Carlsson planned to keep him to continue exploring the iron mine and send personnel from home to lay the foundation first.
Of course, there was a reason for him to do this. As a mid-level military officer, Karlsson knew the kingdom's current desire for various minerals, especially iron ore, so he had a bold idea.
"As commanded, Major, I will write down the equipment I need and let you know."
Although he was left behind, Lieutenant Steele had already prepared for this, so he agreed to the major's order.
The two then stayed here for a while, and by the afternoon Karlsson had returned to Sabha.
As soon as he returned to his headquarters, Carlson immediately began to write a letter. He wanted to report to his superiors the news of the discovery of iron ore in Sabha.
"Dear General Brenin, my advance team has arrived in Sabha..."
After first recounting the recent progress of the advance team, he revealed the discovery of iron ore in Sabha.
However, when writing the estimated reserves, Carlson paused, and then in the submitted document, he estimated the iron ore reserves to be between 50 million and 100 million tons.
Yes, this is Carlsson's bold idea.
Because if you write according to what Lieutenant Steele said, ten million tons may seem okay, but considering the location and environment, it is unlikely to attract attention, even if it is written as thirty to fifty million tons, the same is true.
The main reason is that it is too desolate and too far away from the coastline, which will increase the difficulty of development. Even if this is an open-pit iron mine, the cost of development and transportation still needs to be considered.
If you want the government to pay attention to this place, then its reserves must not be small. Only a large iron mine with over 100 million tons will attract enough attention. Carlsson, who found this mine, naturally has a huge credit. Although there are risks, after all
When a more professional exploration team arrived, everything became clear. But as Lieutenant Steele said, the scale of the iron ore can only be estimated now. Even if there is a gap by then, estimation errors can be used to deal with it.
However, compared with the benefits after success, the risk is not high. At most, you will be reprimanded, but you can also use yourself to serve the country to offset the past.
After making up his mind, Karlsson finished writing the letter and called a messenger to hand it to him.
"Arrange a squad of troops to deliver the letter to Tripoli."
"As you command, Your Majesty Major."
After the messenger leaves, Karlsson needs to consider the next goal of the advance team. Sabha, where they are currently, is not the final destination. Next, they will follow the ancient trade route through the Merzug Desert and head towards
Heading to the south, the area there is even more barren, but there are Zamusi Wells, Musuru Wells, etc. as a place to stay.
Of course, this also requires a guide who is proficient in the area, and Karlsson and the others brought such a guide.
However, considering the safety of the back road and the supply problems along the way, he only planned to bring more than two hundred cavalry this time. Because according to the guide, the population there is even sparser, and a thousand people can gather in a large place.
.
Carlson's report appeared on Governor George's desk more than half a month later. The discovery of hundreds of millions of tons of iron ore was enough for him to take it very seriously. However, he had no way to decide on such a major matter and could only get on the line two days later.
Ship to Rome.
After nearly a month of transmission, it finally appeared in front of the Prime Minister.
For Prime Minister Depretis, since there are hundreds of millions of tons of large iron ore, there must be a professional exploration team. As for the remaining decisions, we must wait for professionals to explore clearly before making them.
