Not to mention 50 years ago, in the apocalyptic timeline, the first immersive virtual reality device almost appeared in 2150.
"Then I'm really sorry." Zhu Tian smiled without sincerity.
"Haha, you don't need to apologize to me. I never invest in the cutting-edge fields of science and technology. In terms of investment philosophy, Carmen and I are consistent." Luke said teasingly.
After a pause, he took a sip of champagne and then asked.
"I wonder what Mr. Zhu Tian thinks of the resources industry?"
"Supply exceeds demand."
"Yes," Luke smiled and nodded: "Just two days ago, Australia Group disposed of two more loss-making iron ore mines in Mexico, but all shareholders, including me, know that this approach is useless.
It’s different from drinking poison to quench thirst. The iron ore business is getting harder and harder to do. Not only steel, but other resources besides rare earths are more or less facing the same downward trend.”
"Oh, really?" Zhu Tian said thoughtfully.
"Of course, after all, the market demand is limited. Take rebar used in the construction field as an example. Most people will only own one house in their lifetime, but the life of the house can be far longer than their owners. So even if we
These businessmen who have already occupied a dominant position in the resource industry have to be patient and spend some of their money to support some... well, industries that may give birth to new things. For example, the Rothschild family invested in Daimler Group and invested in
A bottomless pit-like new energy vehicle project. Another example is lending US$30 billion to a promising high-tech company without any investment projects.”
"It's easy to get ore up from the ground. Take my old friend the Rothschild family. Their Vale company is the world's largest iron ore supplier, with 4 billion tons of iron ore reserves.
It can sustain mining for nearly 400 years. This is only based on public data." Having said this, Luke paused and looked at Zhu Tian meaningfully.
"If at this juncture, a technology emerges that can reduce mining costs and bring previously unminable mineral deposits into the scope of mining, what impact do you think this will have on the already sluggish resource mining industry?"
Hearing this, Zhu Tian had more or less guessed Luke's reason for coming to see him, or Carmen's reason for bringing him here and arranging for him to meet him.
"You mean, some technologies are too advanced?" Zhu Tian said thoughtfully.
"That's right." Luke nodded.
"for example?"
"Such as mature deep-sea mining technology."
Zhu Tian's pupils shrank slightly.
"Because you have made breakthroughs in the field of deep-sea mining, the current downward rate of iron, copper, gold, manganese and other ore futures markets has increased significantly. In order to maintain the stability of the market, we mining giants have also made some efforts. Of course, the solution
The key to the problem still lies with you."
How many seabed mineral reserves are there? If Daming Mining makes a leapfrog breakthrough in this area, investors' expectations for seabed mining will undoubtedly heat up. How many seabed resources are there? I am afraid that except for Zhu Tian, who has obtained the distribution map of proven mineral deposits around the world,
Nobody knows.
However, investors themselves are creatures who are good at using their imagination.
Speaking of this, Luke looked at Zhu Tian with a smile.
"If I guess correctly, the cost of seabed mining by Daming Mining should not be very high, and the output is quite considerable."
The expression on Luke's face clearly didn't seem like he didn't understand anything. There was obviously no point in hiding it at this time, so Zhu Tian didn't hide it.
"You guessed it right."
The labor cost is only the salary of the few employees who are permanently stationed on the offshore platform. The underwater equipment is powered by ocean current generators, so the maintenance cost is almost negligible. The only equipment cost is also paid by energy crystals, so it doesn’t count.
Zhu Tian, who knew the exchange rate between energy crystals and world currencies, had no way of calculating the cost of these devices.
But one thing is for sure, and that is that the cost of seabed mining is very low, at least until the advent of space mining.
"It's similar to the conclusion reached by my analysts." Luke smiled and nodded.
"The current global iron, aluminum, copper and other ore markets are in danger. It is no exaggeration to say that if iron ore prices maintain the current downward trend, 47 mining companies around the world will be in danger of bankruptcy by the end of this year. In the short term, it may be good for us
It's beneficial, but we're also in danger in the long run. So, I hope we can solve this problem by taking a step back."
"So what is your proposal?" Looking at the smiling Luke, Zhu Tian asked with interest.
"If I remember correctly, you can influence Palau's government decisions. We hope that you can influence the decisions of the Presidential Palace and increase the mineral export tax by 50% in the next five years to limit the export of our country's mineral resources." Luke
Said softly.
To Zhu Tian's surprise, he originally thought that Luke would propose to acquire Daming Mining's technology, but he did not expect that he would mention this and just put forward such a proposal that would not hurt Daming Mining.
"Restricting Daming Mining's access to the international market to cool down investors? But what good does this do to me?" Zhu Tian said with a smile.
"Of course we won't let you do it in vain. I am willing to provide you with a supply order for iron, aluminum, copper and other ores that is valid within five years. At 80% of the current market price of mineral resources."
For the Australian Group, this is indeed a big step back. The discount is 20%, which is almost supplying ore at cost price. It is equivalent to saying that they will work for the Daming Group for free within five years in exchange for the Daming Group.
Concessions made to delay the entry of low-cost ore into global markets.
"Use the power of capital to delay the advent of new technologies?" Zhu Tian said meaningfully.
"You can understand that you have paid enough benefits. I hope you can delay the advent of this technology. In an environment of sluggish demand, launching such a technology is not beneficial to the entire market." Luke said seriously.
Having said this, Luke has made the Australian Group's attitude very clear.
For an international mining giant like this, Zhu Tian certainly would not naively think that they would solve problems honestly through market competition. With so many minerals in more than a dozen different countries around the world, their investment in politics must be huge.
Not to be underestimated.
The reason for bringing it up is that they don't want to have a direct conflict with the Daming Group, and they didn't even explain the subtext of the threat. After all, the Daming Group is no longer the little shrimp it used to be, and its core industry is mainly in the Internet field, not resource extraction.
, both parties can still avoid unnecessary conflicts.
On the other hand, it is probably not just the Australian Group that has suffered losses. The Vale Mining Company controlled by Rothschild is the world's largest ore supplier. It is difficult to say that this "coincidental" meeting between him and Luke did not have any impact on Carmen.
Not at all relevant.
At this moment, Zhu Tian's thoughts were spinning rapidly, weighing the pros and cons of this proposal.
If possible, Zhu Tian does not want to have a head-on conflict with these mining giants. Daming Technology needs a relatively stable development environment to expand its business. It is undoubtedly an unwise choice to make enemies for yourself at this time.
What's more, the overabundance of resources is only for the current situation. This agreement is said to be a step back for each side, but it is really unclear who will suffer...
Luke waited patiently for Zhu Tian's reply.
He was not kept waiting for long. After a moment of silence, Zhu Tian asked.
"Five years? Can I ask about the supply quota?"
"It's up to you." Luke said generously as he took an elegant sip of champagne.
Hearing these words, Zhu Tiandi's lips raised an undetectable smile.
"80 million tons."
Hearing Zhu Tian's numbers, Luke almost spit out the champagne he drank.
"80 million tons. Does Mr. Zhu have an idea of the number he gave? I'm not kidding. Even if all the steel plants in Palau operate continuously for 50 years, I'm afraid they won't be able to process all the iron ore."
In 2015, Tang's annual iron ore import volume was almost 950 million tons, and Palau's land area is less than half a province of Tang. Let alone five years, even if it is fifteen years, it is absolutely impossible that it will not be able to eat enough.
So much iron ore!
In the eyes of outsiders.
"There is no need for you to worry. Daming Group naturally has projects to digest these resources. By the way, these 80 million tons are the total amount of iron, aluminum, copper, nickel and other ores, not just iron ore. Of course.
, Iron ore must account for the majority of the 80 million tons of ore, and the proportion is at least 70%." Zhu Tian said with a smile.
Frowning his brows, Luke hesitated for a moment and nodded.
"Up to 50 million tons, and you must ensure that the ore I provide you at cost price, you are not allowed to put these iron ore into the international market, this will be written into the contract."
"No problem. But I have to say in advance here that we may build a factory in neighboring Papua New Guinea to process these ores and then transport them back to Palau," Zhu Tian reminded.
Palau's labor resources are tight, and Zhu Tian plans to transfer these industries with higher pollution levels and greater labor demand to neighboring countries as much as possible. As a developing country, New Guinea is undoubtedly a good choice, and there are also emerging industries
The Moro Kingdom.
After thinking for a moment, Luke finally nodded.
"no problem."
"In addition, molybdenum ore, uranium ore, and rare earth resources are not within the scope of the agreement." Zhu Tian continued to propose.
"No problem, the molybdenum ore and rare earth markets are basically controlled by the Tang State and have nothing to do with us... By the way, is it technically feasible to mine uranium ore from the seabed?" An expression of interest appeared on Luke's face.
"It's not possible now, but that doesn't mean it won't be possible in the future. Maybe we can make a technological breakthrough in five years, but it's hard to say." Zhu Tian said ambiguously.
"Really? That's really surprising. If you have no other objections, I'm glad we have reached an agreement." Luke smiled and raised his glass.
"I wish us a happy cooperation." Zhu Tian also raised his glass, with a mysterious smile on his face.
With the crisp sound of clinking glasses, this deal worth tens of billions of dollars was finally settled. Both parties had satisfied smiles on their faces, and it was clear that both parties had achieved the results they wanted.
Luke got a promise from Daming Mining not to bring deep-sea mining technology into the global mining market. Although these 50 million tons of ore cannot make money, it will not make the Australian group lose money. With the current market situation, it can be done without reducing production.
Under such circumstances, it is already very good to maintain non-lossal performance. On the surface, it seems that the Australian Group is "working for free" for the Daming Group, but if you think about it from another perspective, this is not a solution to the excess production capacity of the Australian Group.
As for Zhu Tian, the benefits are obvious. He obtained 50 million tons of ore at floor prices, which will be crucial for the Daming Group to build floating cities on the sea, base stations for space elevators, and large habitable space stations in the near future.
It won't take five years before Luke will regret the contract he signed tonight.
Excess resource production capacity will always be relative to the present.
The only thing that puzzled Zhu Tian was how Luke could be so confident in judging the cost and output of Daming Mining. And how he was so calm that he showed no intention of acquiring the technology when faced with deep-sea mining technology.
Looking at the wine glass in his hand, Zhu Tian fell into deep thought.