Qian Wenhan also made a formal decision to participate in the capital increase and share expansion of the Wusang River copper-gold mine project on New Year's Eve, but requested an appropriate increase in the proportion of shares held based on Cao Mo's quotation.
Cao Mo had long considered the financing issue of the Wusang River copper-gold mine project, and registered a joint-stock company separately. After several communications, he decided to price the shares at 150 million based on the current 150 million shares.
US dollars, issued 15 million new shares to Qian Wenhan's Sun Hung Investment Group.
Qian Wenhan is also aware of the current situation in Akwa and the fact that European and American mining giants are swarming into Akwa. He recommends appropriately reducing the scale of this C2 level reserve exploration and assessment and reducing the global exposure of the Wusang River copper-gold mine.
Level of attention.
This is also easy. They don't need to falsify. They only need to eliminate the data of the three exploration wells operated by the exploration company of Ibogu Mining, and they can reduce the scope of the mineralization area by half.
The C2 level reserve assessment was finally determined to be 4.8 million tons of metallic copper and 18 million ounces of gold. This data is enough to support the current valuation of the Usan River copper-gold mine project of US$1.5 billion.
Now the copper price and gold price are at historical highs. Especially after New Year's Day, the international gold price has crossed the key point of nine hundred US dollars per ounce and headed straight for a never-before-seen high of one thousand US dollars per ounce. Domestic
There has been an upsurge in buying gold, and the industry has also set off an upsurge in overseas prospecting. After all, China is not a gold resource country.
The market value of Xinhai Gold soared to 80 billion in this bull market. Although the market has adjusted significantly since then, Xinhai Gold's market value has been very limited due to the continued stagnant rise in international gold prices.
This situation has also prompted Xinhai Gold's board of directors to have a more urgent need to accelerate the pace of overseas expansion so that it can have better performance to support the current market value of the company.
In addition to the current upward trend in international gold and copper futures prices and the C2 reserve assessment that can strongly support this valuation, Xinhai Gold's participation in this capital injection and share expansion will bring greater benefits. Xinhai Gold has officially become a strategic partner and director shareholder.
In the development and construction of the Wusang River copper-gold mine, a large number of direct orders can be obtained in the export and transfer of technology and machinery and equipment.
At the same time, the copper concentrate mined from the Wusang River Copper-Gold Mine can provide a stable supply of raw materials for Xinhai Gold's smelters, support the expansion of Xinhai Gold's business in this area, and thereby enhance Xinhai Gold's performance in many aspects.
performance.
Of course, the most important thing is that Qian Wenhan took the lead in investing and endorsed the entire project.
Xinhai Gold, after discussion and approval by the board of directors before the Spring Festival, passed the approval of the controlling shareholder District State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and finally invested US$150 million to obtain 15 million new shares in the project.
The investment in the first phase of the Wusang River copper-gold mine also officially entered the trial production stage during the Spring Festival.
However, with US$150 million, the production capacity of the mines and mineral processing plants currently built is still very limited.
Even though the current metal copper and gold futures prices are at historical highs, such a high investment, but the annual output of copper concentrate is less than 40,000 tons, and further consumed by the high transit and transportation costs, it is impossible to generate profits.
The main reason for the large initial investment is that Drake's supporting facilities are too weak. The initial investment of 150 million US dollars only cost a new ore freight station, a stockyard and a narrow-gauge railway connecting the stockyard.
Lost $50 million in capital.
The next largest investment is the middle reaches of the Usan River Hydropower Station.
The Wusang River is not a big river and has a limited flow. However, in order to ensure the normal mining and construction of downstream mines, avoid the impact of rainy season floods, and improve the flood storage and flood control capabilities of the upstream, the annual power generation capacity of the Wusang River is only 30 million kWh.
The investment in the hydropower station, construction and land acquisition for the nearby reservoir exceeded US$30 million.
Such a large amount of funds is enough to invest in the construction of a medium-sized hydropower station in Longta, and the annual power generation will be as high as three or four times.
Because it is necessary to reserve as much flood storage capacity as possible for the rainy season and reduce the possible impact on the downstream, the dam size of the Wusang River Hydropower Station is much larger than its power generation capacity.
The main construction of the dam has just been completed, and the construction of the power station building and equipment installation and commissioning will have to be postponed until later this year. It is expected that the official power supply will not be available until mid-2008.
However, these are necessary investments. Without this foundation, there is no way to mine copper and gold ore from the ground and successfully transport it to Pemme Port.
And if the investment in the cocoa plantation in the Drake area is included, which totals up to 40 million U.S. dollars, the entire initial supporting investment far exceeds the investment in the mine and the concentrator itself.
However, with this foundation and an investment of another US$300 million, the production capacity will not simply be doubled.
In Cao Mo's estimation, when the second phase of the Wusang River First Mine is completed, the copper concentrate transported annually should reach 300,000 tons, which is equivalent to 60,000 tons of metallic copper and 200,000 ounces of gold.
The high initial investment cost will naturally be diluted over time.
After the Spring Festival, April entered in a blink of an eye, and Qian Wenhan rushed to Radeck again.
Seeing that the second phase project of Wusang River No. 1 Mine has been fully started. After the foundation of the first phase, the second phase construction speed is faster. Seeing that many basic projects are coming to an end, Qian Wenhan can't help but sigh.
: "The construction speed here is much faster than I imagined!"
"With your investment, I have a lot of pressure on my shoulders. I just want to make this project profitable as soon as possible. Even if I give you three to five million US dollars in dividends every year, everyone has one thought in mind and will not blame me.
This is a bottomless pit." Cao Mo said to Qian Wenhan with a smile.
The speed of construction of mining areas and supporting projects is due to the fact that the contractors of major projects are mainly Chinese engineering companies such as China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. Cornero Engineering and Construction Group has also transferred more than a thousand construction workers from Canem to participate.
Construction is also one of the key factors.
Chinese companies undertake various projects in Africa and have always been known for their high quality and speed.
However, they cannot afford the high cost of manpower dispatch. Currently, for major projects undertaken by Chinese-funded enterprises in Africa, in addition to the management and foremen of various sizes, the main grassroots construction personnel will still be recruited from the local area.
This requires training in labor skills and developing labor discipline, and it usually takes a long time to get on the right track.
Although the Cornero Engineering Construction Group, headed by Liang Siqian, is not currently qualified to independently undertake the construction of large-scale complex projects, it has skilled construction workers who have been trained in the construction of one project in the past few years.
Almost all the workers under Conero Engineering and Construction Group were brought out by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation to undertake projects.
Everyone is already familiar with it, and there are quite a number of workers who can even basically speak some simple Chinese. This saves the extremely time-consuming running-in period, and the construction speed will naturally be faster.
Of course, Cao Mo also focused on recruiting various types of workers from the local area.
It invested US$40 million in the early stage to operate cocoa plantations, and only acquired a smaller proportion of local plantations that were mature and could continue to pick fruit.
In order to accommodate as much employment as possible, workers are hired from local areas, and plantations mainly lease wasteland from local tribal chiefs for reclamation.
Although the rental price for the vast tracts of barren mountains and deserts is quite low, less than one dollar per acre per year, the chief family is naturally extremely happy to suddenly have an additional stable income ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars every year.
When opening up plantations, Cao Mo did not engage in large-scale mechanized production right away. Instead, he hired more than 2,000 descendants of colonists and nearly 4,000 Kanwa and Akan employees, mainly using traditional methods.
Use manpower to clear up wasteland.
To put it bluntly, we need to hire as many local workers as possible.
The entire Drake area has a population of more than 400,000, 90% of which are Kanwa and Akan people. Although the employment rate barely exceeds one percent, due to the special tribal system and patriarchal system in Africa,
Such a large number of employees can cover almost all people in the Drake area.
The current plantation with a total land area of only 60,000 acres naturally does not need such a large-scale employment of workers. Especially after the large-scale reclamation period in the early stage, it is enough to maintain the scale of four to five hundred people for subsequent continuous maintenance.
.
Of course, as the initial reclamation of the plantation is completed and more machinery and equipment are invested, there will inevitably be a large number of remaining employees. However, Cao Mo has no intention of terminating the employment relationship, but plans to increase the construction team and the subsequent expansion.
In the operation of the mining area, there is a continuous flow of manpower.
These people are not only the strongest link between Cao Mo and local forces in the future, but also the human resources for the mining area to continuously expand the scale of construction and mining.
When Qian Wenhan came to Drake last time, he was very aware of Cao Mo's plans, but what really surprised or impressed him was not Cao Mo's ideas, but that Cao Mo could actually put them all together in such a short period of time.
This plan was implemented very well.
Hire as many local workers as possible, conduct local management, and provide more high-paying senior positions for local elites and upper-class people, so as to eliminate the barriers and opposition with local forces. All overseas investors understand these principles.
.
The key is execution.
The key is how to achieve this step.
In Tianyue's team at Drake, except for Cao Mo, Xiao Jun, who plays more of a coordination role, and Liang Siqian, none of them are Chinese personnel.
However, just like that, a team of 8,000 people, including descendants of local colonists, Yoruba employees transferred from Kanem, and local Akan and Kanwa employees, were effectively organized and operated within one year.
He got up and put the first phase of the Wusang River Mine into operation. How did Cao Mo do it?
It can be said that companies such as China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation are responsible for the early construction of the entire mining area, and employees in the mines have sufficient training time.
However, the entire plantation employs 6,000 people, and they were basically organized overnight. There is not a single Chinese employee from Tubman Jr. on down. Could it be said that Tubman Jr., who is specifically responsible for the management of the plantation, is an international-level employee?
Management guru?
Although the descendants of Drake's colonists have a much higher education level than the local Akan and Kanwa people and can provide a large number of qualified managers and skilled workers, the problem is that Cao Mo came into contact with Drake's colonial
How did he select hundreds of qualified middle and low-level managers in just over a year?
What's more, Cao Mo still hired a large number of elites from the Akan and Kanwa tribes in Drake's team management. The Akan and Kanwa tribes have been seriously opposed to and even mutually exclusive with the descendants of the colonists in the past ten years.
The hatred cannot be eliminated overnight just because Juan Mantar, Seviy and other high-level officials in Akwa offer national reconciliation. How did Cao Mo overcome the middle- and lower-level managers from different ethnic groups?
Contradiction between?
Qian Wenhan was extremely shocked that such a hastily assembled team actually managed to work.
In his opinion, even if there is no interference from external factors, the capital supply is sufficient. Xinhai Gold will send the best mature team to take over the construction of the Wusang River copper and gold mine project. If it can achieve this step within three years, it will be a success.
It is already considered qualified.
Cao Mo spent just over a year before and after.
However, when examining Cao Mo's development history in Kanem, Qian Wenhan also found that Cao Mo was very good at tapping local human resources and was able to give full play to his role without any obstacles.
People like Xie Sipeng, who are very observant, even misunderstood for a long time, or they only dared to believe that Cao Mo was just an agent of Abacha, Ochosan and the others. They couldn't believe that all this was created by Cao Mo himself.
Lead the development of the business.
Although Qian Wenhan couldn't figure out what Cao Mo's secret was, he could see whether it was good or bad.
Maybe someone is born with extremely strong affinity and charisma, or leadership.
After Qian Wenhan inspected Lakewa for the first time, in addition to Xinhai Gold's exploration team, he also set up an office in Drake and sent several employees to station here. The information collected from all aspects proved that
Cao Mo's seemingly hastily formed huge team at Drake has been functioning well.
This is the key to why Qian Wenhan is finally willing to invest and hopes to use more funds to hold more shares.
Cao Mo naturally saw Qian Wenhan's confusion, but he couldn't tell Qian Wenhan that almost all of Drake's management team members, especially those from the Akan and Kanwa ethnic groups, were from
Moderate, he can see through this at a glance.
Stru Company was forced to evacuate Akwa that year, but a large number of engineering and technical personnel, operations management and skilled workers hired from the descendants of the colonists and the local Akan and Kanwa people were actually still there, even though most of them were still there.
It has been abandoned for ten years, but the foundation and foundation are still there.
Therefore, Cao Mo did not find it too strenuous or difficult to build an operation team and a team of employees.
The formation of a team of plantation workers is even simpler. There is a tradition of growing cocoa locally, and tribal chiefs also like to hire more educated descendants of colonists at low wages to manage and operate plantations.
When Cao Mo personally presided over the recruitment, he could weed out those with extreme ideas by simply asking a few questions.
It’s just that the whole process was extremely hard. During this period of time at Drake, he also took the initiative
If you have contact with grassroots employees, the purpose is to detect bad signs in time and nip them in the bud.
The US$300 million injected by Qian Wenhan and Xinhai Gold can basically only be used to support the second phase of the construction of the first mine. However, the potential of the Wusang River copper and gold mine has been clearly understood. Qian Wenhan came here this time.
The purpose is to discuss the next medium and long-term development plan for the east bank of the Wusang River.
The Wusang River Copper and Gold Mine is expected to mine two million tons of copper concentrate per year, and its mineral processing scale and development plan have far exceeded the construction scope of the mining area itself. The relevant research institutes were also asked to make two sets of corresponding plans.
First of all, to reach this level of mining, the number of local employees will exceed 20,000, including their families, which is the population size of a small city. Now it is necessary to coordinate the construction of employee communities and white communities for planning, and it may be necessary now.
Promote the Drake Regional Government to plan and build a new urban area on the east bank of the Usan River.
Secondly, the Akwa authorities are still encouraging copper concentrates to be smelted domestically and then exported, even for the sake of tariff reductions and transportation cost savings. In the future, they need to consider whether they will be wholly owned or jointly owned by Xinhai Gold in Germany.
Lake invested in building a copper smelting plant to refine blister copper and gold for export.
However, Drake's existing old thermal power plant that has been in service for more than 30 years and two small hydropower stations are far from being able to support the power supply. Energy and power companies need to be introduced to invest in the construction of new thermal power plants;
The power grids on both sides of the San River also need to be re-planned and constructed.
There is also the capacity bottleneck on the Krono-Pemme Railway and Pemme Port that needs to be resolved.
Don't expect others to provide help in times of need for no reason. These things need to be directly led by Yibagu Mining or introduce new strategic partners to complete.
Qian Wenhan has sufficient funds, and Cao Mo hopes that when he comes here this time, he can negotiate an injection of capital into Cornero Energy, and then acquire the Drake Thermal Power Plant in the name of Cornero Energy, and first conduct technical work on power generation equipment and regional power grids.
Upgrading and transformation will initially improve the power supply capacity and stability, laying the foundation for subsequent new power plants.
At this time, Yibogu Mining had no ability to build a large-scale copper smelter. Xinhai Gold also made very prudent investment decisions and would not rashly spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a factory in Drake in the short term.
It makes no sense for the two of them to invest in building one or two small and medium-sized copper smelting plants in Drake, but they can attract domestic small and medium-sized investors to build small and medium-sized copper smelting plants and various copper parts processing plants in Drake, helping
They digest a batch of copper concentrate on site, which can more or less reduce the transportation pressure on the Krono-Peme railway.
The copper ore was smelted into crude copper and gold, and the transportation volume was reduced to one-fifth of the previous volume.
Cao Mo gave away part of the transportation cost savings and tariff reductions, and it was definitely profitable for investors to build small and medium-sized copper smelters in Drake.
Of course, this premise must first solve the problem of power supply shortage.
Qian Wenhan will not refuse to invest in Cornero Energy.
Upstream power supply, mid-end copper concentrate mining and selection, and downstream ocean transportation, this is an investment logic at the end of a long industrial chain. He has the financial strength to participate in the construction of upstream and downstream links. In the end, when it is mature, every link will naturally
All will return huge profits.
Whether it is Cornero Energy or the Gulf of Guinea Shipping and Mining Company, they will have business related to the Usan River copper-gold concentrate in the future, but they have not focused on this, which is equivalent to diversifying the investment risks of this long industrial chain.
Go out a lot.
The key is how to use the bargaining chip to intervene in Cornero Energy. This will have to be negotiated with Dongsheng and Draculamo Power Supply Group, the two major shareholders. Cao Mo can only push it from the side. He has completely withdrawn from Cornero Energy.
.
Of course, Dongsheng is currently short of funds and may directly sell part of its shares in Cornero Energy.
"Does Cornero Cement under your name open up the investment gap?" Qian Wenhan asked with concern.
"It's not that I don't want to open it. I really don't know how to quote the price to satisfy both parties..." Cao Mo said with some embarrassment.
Cornero Cement's total assets total US$120 million. After deducting the US$40 million payable to Taihua Group for the acquisition one and a half years later, the actual net assets are only US$80 million, but Cornero Cement's annual profit
The ability has been able to achieve the goal of 100 million.
How should Cornero Cement be priced to satisfy investors?
What's more critical is that Ibogu Mining has invested US$300 million in capital, and the price of gold has continued to surge this year. Its hematopoietic capacity is expected to reach US$100 million to US$150 million, which has completely solved the problem of hunger for funds in a short period of time.
Ibogu Mining does not need blood transfusions for the time being. Cornero Cement's monthly net profit of 8 million to 10 million US dollars is enough to maintain the expansion around it. Even before the Spring Festival, Cornero Cement will directly start up with an annual production capacity of up to 2 million US dollars.
The third plant has a production capacity of 50,000 tons of finished cement, a higher level of production technology and higher investment costs, as well as the construction of a dedicated terminal of 50,000 tons. It can also be completely self-sufficient in funding.
After the completion of the third plant and the completion of the acquisition and upgrade of the Cotonou cement plant in Benin, the annual production capacity of Conero cement will increase by leaps and bounds to 5 million tons; and when the 50,000-ton dedicated terminal is completed, sales will radiate.
The annual profitability of the entire Gulf of Guinea coastal countries, and extending further to Central and South Africa and northwest Africa, is expected to increase to US$150 million to US$200 million.
Metal copper and gold prices are directly linked to international futures, and copper concentrates are mined and are not even affected by fluctuations in local currency exchange rates.
For Cornero Cement, which is mainly produced and sold in West Africa, the situation is completely different.
Cao Mo can currently only guarantee to gradually reduce the production cost of Cornero Cement, improve product quality and market competitiveness, and continuously improve the sales model in the downstream market. However, in addition to the price fluctuations of finished cement in West African countries, the final profit level is
, is also directly linked to the stability of the local currency.
One day when Kanem's economic growth slows down, the exchange rate of the local currency Naira will plummet, and Cornero Cement's US dollar profit will also plummet. This is because the RMB exchange rate has remained stable all year round and only fluctuates within a very small range.
They are two completely different concepts.
"Mr. Qian, you are really interested in Cornero Cement. I can sell you 5% of the shares for US$30 million. If you want more shares, the price is too low, but if I raise the offer
, you will definitely consider that there are too many and complex factors that will interfere with Cornero Cement’s market in West Africa!”
Cao Mo was willing to symbolically sell a small portion of Cornero Cement to Qian Wenhan, not only because he wanted him to participate more deeply in investment in West Africa, but also because he saw the strength of Qian Wenhan and Ge Jun in capital operations.
It can open up a new option for the final development of Cornero Cement...