Four hundred and seventieth chapters a treasure called soil
Jiangnan, Xinshan County, Yunjiang Province.
Jiang Songling, the deputy county magistrate in charge of mining, is in a good mood today. The report just submitted to the county by the Foreign Trade Bureau shows that the county’s rare earth export volume in the first half of the year increased by 17% compared with the same period last year, reaching more than 400 tons, and the foreign exchange earnings reached nearly 6 million US dollars.
.If nothing goes wrong, Xinshan County’s rare earth exports will firmly occupy the top spot in the province this year. He, Jiang Songling, will once again sit on the rostrum of the provincial government auditorium, wearing red and colorful clothes, accepting the provincial government’s
Praise from leaders.
When it comes to rare earths, it is really magical. It is just some inconspicuous soil on the hilly slopes. After being refined, it actually becomes a treasure. Jiang Songling has not read many books and does not know about elements. He just listens.
Experts here have introduced that the rare earth mines in Xinshan County are called "ion adsorption rare earth mines" and can only be found in a few places in southern China in the world.
It is said that things are rare and valuable, and this kind of rare earth mine that cannot be found anywhere else in the world has naturally won the favor of many foreign manufacturers. Since the mining of rare earth mines in Xinshan County began, personnel from several rare earth companies in Japan
I almost stay here all the time, waiting to buy mines with a lot of yen. To say that I am Japanese, I am too dedicated. There are more than 20 townships in Xinshan County, and even Jiang Songling himself has never visited them, but he is
The Japanese were stunned to conduct a comprehensive survey one place after another. The pictures they drew made Jiang Songling feel dizzy after looking at them.
The Japanese not only drew the distribution map of rare earth mines, but also taught mining and refining techniques to small mine owners in various villages and towns for free. With the help of the Japanese, the production of rare earths in Xinshan County increased rapidly, and many villages
They all became rich quickly because of rare earths.
In the past two years, as the national production of rare earths increased, even the prices in the international market were affected. A product called dysprosium oxide produced in Xinshan County could originally be sold for more than 20 US dollars per kilogram. By the end of the year before last,
At that time, it actually dropped to only 5 US dollars in one breath. During that time, Jiang Songling was so anxious that he even considered hanging himself.
Fortunately, the country has also taken notice of this matter and established rare earth offices at the national and provincial levels from top to bottom. It has also established a rare earth monopoly policy, stipulating that only three major foreign trade companies in the country can operate rare earths, and has delineated a
Minimum export price. After a period of production restriction and price guarantee, the price of rare earths has gradually recovered, and Xinshan County's export income has also continued to hit new highs.
Regarding the rare earth franchise, Jiang Songling's attitude is two-sided. On the one hand, he strongly supports this policy because it can keep the price of rare earths stable and rise, which is conducive to Xinshan County's export earnings. On the other hand, he also
I am very opposed to this policy because the three major foreign trade companies have limited production for each rare earth producing area, and the quota in Xinshan County is far lower than the production capacity. It feels really bad to see that there is money to be made but not to be made.
.
However, there are policies from above and countermeasures from below. Of course, the mine owners in Xinshan County will not be stifled by the quotas of foreign trade companies. They have enough ways to circumvent such quotas and sell over-exploited rare earths abroad.
The Provincial Rare Earth Office is also well aware of this matter. Naturally, they are happy to turn a blind eye to things that can earn foreign exchange for the province. Who would be more serious about this?
Relying on his achievements in rare earth exports, Jiang Songling's status in the county government team is increasing day by day. In charge of mining, which used to be a sideline, but now has become very popular. Not only can he have more say in county meetings, but also
The group of Japanese people who are so elusive in the county also come to see him "Missi Missi" from time to time to communicate with each other.
"Pepper is dried on the glazed tiles, tofu is hung on iron wire, and the fox crawls over the chicken's waist..."
Jiang Songling was in a happy mood, sitting at his desk, reading documents and humming the lyrics of an unknown local opera. When he got to the point of success, he tapped the table with his fingers to keep time to himself.
"County Magistrate Jiang, someone is looking for you." Secretary Wu Lian walked into the office cautiously and reported to Jiang Songling.
"Who is he?" Jiang Songling asked lazily, still tapping the table with his hand.
"It's Director Deng from the Provincial Rare Earth Office," Wu Lian said. Xinshan County has a lot of business dealings with the Provincial Rare Earth Office, so Wu Lian knows all the people in the Rare Earth Office.
"Oh, Director Deng is here, please come." Jiang Songling raised her eyebrows and said happily. The Director Deng Wu Lian was talking about was Deng Shiheng, the deputy director of the Rare Earth Office. This person had a good personal relationship with Jiang Songling, and it was easy for the two of them to drink together.
It has been no less than 10 times.
After a while, Deng Shiheng and two people walked towards Jiang Songling's office under the guidance of Wu Lian. Jiang Songling had already left his seat and stood in front of the door waiting to greet him. Seeing Deng Shiheng, Jiang Songling stretched out his hands from a distance.
With a smile on his face, he shouted: "Oh, Director Deng is here, why don't you say hello in advance so I can go downstairs to pick you up?"
"Haha, I'm afraid of delaying your work, County Magistrate Jiang." Deng Shiheng also walked forward with a smile, shook hands with Jiang Songling, and teased affectionately: "Old Jiang, your hair is getting less and less.
Now, while strengthening mineral development, we should also pay attention to vegetation protection."
"No grass will grow in my mine." Jiang Songling touched her forehead, which had become bald due to early baldness, and replied with a smile.
"Old Jiang, let me introduce you." Deng Shiheng let go of Jiang Songling's hand, and at the same time restrained his teasing expression, pointed at a young man behind him and said to Jiang Songling: "This is the deputy leader of the National Rare Earth Development and Utilization Leading Group.
Comrade Chang Qinhai, he made a special trip to our Yunjiang Province to inspect the development and protection of rare earths."
"The country..." Jiang Songling was surprised. The Provincial Rare Earth Office is an organization with the reputation of the province. When he came to Xinshan County, he was already a superior leader. This young man named Qin Hai actually carried the country.
The banner of the leadership group, isn’t this the leader’s leadership, which is several levels higher than one’s own?
"Leader Qin, I'm disrespectful, I'm disrespectful." Jiang Songling hurriedly shook hands with Qin Hai, bending his body in an arc, acting like a lower-level official, "I am the deputy county magistrate in charge of mineral development in Xinshan County, you call me Xiao
Just Jiang."
Xiao Jiang...
Qin Hai grinned and was speechless. Jiang Songling was already a member of Benwu. Qin Hai could not call him uncle, so how could he call him Xiao Jiang. However, Qin Hai was used to this kind of situation.
, when he went to the lower-level units to inspect under the banner of the superior department, the officials in the lower-level units, regardless of age, all regarded themselves as juniors. An adult is not necessarily older, and a villain is not necessarily younger. In officialdom,
The concept of size has nothing to do with physics.
"County Magistrate Jiang, just call me Xiao Qin. If that doesn't work, just call me Team Leader Qin." Qin Hai held Jiang Songling's hand and said with a smile. He actually preferred others to call him Xiao Qin, but he
I also know that Jiang Songling didn't dare to call him that way, so he had to let the other party call him Team Leader Qin. It's interesting to say that when he was in Institute 33, he was called Team Leader, and when he arrived in Xinshan County
, and he actually considers himself the leader of the team.
The National Rare Earth Development and Utilization Leading Group is a temporary organization. Compared with the National Rare Earth Office, the former focuses on strategic management, while the latter focuses more on affairs management. The leader of the leading group is appointed by the State Planning Commission.
The chief director concurrently serves as a very high-level director. There are several deputy team leaders, but the one who really does the work is Qin Hai, who has just been appointed. Qin Hai was able to enter this organization thanks to the recommendation of Ji Mingchu.
Rare earths are not a big industry in China. Last year, China's national rare earth production was 18,000 tons, and the total industry output value was 1.3 billion yuan. Rare earth exports were 8,000 tons, and the foreign exchange income was US$100 million. No matter from any aspect, rare earths
None of them can be compared with other mineral sectors. Only governments at the level of Xinshan County regard rare earths as their lifeblood.
However, national leaders’ expectations for rare earths go far beyond this. More than one central leader once said: The Middle East has oil and China has rare earths. This is our advantage. In the minds of these leaders, rare earths should become
As important as oil, China has its own trump card in global economic competition.
China's rare earth management can be described as disorganized. In order to earn foreign exchange from exports, provinces with rare earth resources compete to mine and lower each other's prices to an outrageous degree. As rare earth companies kill each other, the price of rare earths in China continues to fall.
Someone has calculated that in the first half of last year, Japan imported rare earth chloride from the United States; Japan imported yttrium oxide from the United States, and imported approximately US$49 from France and the Soviet Union.
The cruel price war caused China's rare earth resources to flow to the international market at cabbage prices. It also produced an ironic result, that is, all rare earth companies around the world fell into losses and bankruptcy. The famous American rare earth company "Molybdenum Company"
"Because the production cost is inferior to that of China, it has been put up for sale. After careful study, several companies in the United States and Japan finally gave up their plans to acquire the molybdenum company because they firmly believed that no one could bring the molybdenum company back to life.
The price of rare earths in China is too low.
Faced with the chaos in domestic rare earth production, the state has successively established a rare earth office and a rare earth leading group to try to control rare earths. According to what Qin Hai learned, these two departments have very limited control over local areas, so
The chaos that led to rare earth production continues to this day.
Rare earths are key elements for many new materials. If Qin Hai wanted to build his own materials empire, he had to control the rare earths. It was out of this idea that he took the initiative and obtained the authorization to manage the national rare earth industry. (