Material Empire

Jiangnan, Xinshan County, Yunjiang Province.

Jiang Songling, the deputy head of the mining industry, is in a good mood today. The report that the Foreign Trade Bureau just submitted to the county shows that in the first half of the year, the county ’s rare earth exports increased by 17% over the same period last year, reaching more than 400 tons, and earning foreign exchange reached nearly 6 million US dollars. . If nothing else, this year's rare earth export in Xinshan County will once again sit firmly in the top spot in the province. Jiang Songling will once again sit on the podium of the provincial government auditorium, be in red and accept provincial leaders. Praise.

To say that rare earth is really amazing, that is, some inconspicuous dirt on the hills and hills, after refining, it has become a treasure. Jiang Songling hasn't read many books, he doesn't know any element or anything, he just heard the experts from the province introduced, and said that the rare earth mines in Xinshan County are called "ion adsorption rare earth mines", and the world is only southern China. A few places can be found.

It is said that things are rare and expensive. This kind of rare earth ore, which cannot be found elsewhere in the world, naturally has won the favor of many foreign manufacturers. Since the excavation of rare earth ore in Johor Bahru County, the personnel of several Japanese rare earth companies have been almost here, holding a lot of yen to buy ore. To say that they are Japanese, it is too dedicated. There are more than 20 townships in Johor Bahru County, and even Jiang Songling has never traveled by himself. However, the Japanese people have carried out a comprehensive survey one place at a time. The picture drawn is for Jiang Songling to see. I just feel dizzy.

The Japanese not only drew the distribution map of rare earth ore, but also imparted mining and refining technology to small mine owners in various townships and villages for free. With the help of the Japanese, the output of rare earths in Johor Bahru County has increased rapidly, and many villages have rapidly become rich due to rare earths.

In the first two years, as the country ’s rare earth output has become higher and higher, even the prices in the international market have been affected. A product called thorium oxide produced in Johor Bahru County has been sold for more than 20 US dollars per kilogram. By the end of the previous year, it had fallen to only $ 5 in one breath. During that time, Jiang Songling was so anxious that his heart was hanging.

Fortunately, the state has also taken note of this matter, and national and provincial-level rare earth offices have been established from the top down. A rare earth franchise policy has also been established, stipulating that only three major foreign trade companies in the country can operate rare earths, and a minimum export price has been set. After a period of limited production and guaranteed prices, the price of rare earth has gradually picked up, and the export earnings of Xinshan County have also continuously reached new highs.

Jiang Songling's attitude to the rare earth franchise is two-sided. On the one hand, he is very supportive of this policy, because it can keep the price of rare earth stable and rising, which is conducive to the foreign exchange earning of Xinshan County. on the other hand. He is also very opposed to this policy, because the three major foreign trade companies have restricted the output of each rare-earth producing area, and the quota in Xinshan County is much lower than the formed capacity. It's too bad to look at money to make money but not to make money.

However, there are policies and countermeasures. The miners in Xinshan County are certainly not strangled 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. If they can earn foreign exchange in the province, they naturally open their eyes and close their eyes. Who would be more true?

Relying on his achievements in the export of rare earths, Jiang Songling's position in the county government team has been increasing. In charge of the mining industry, which originally belonged to sitting on a cold bench, it has become hot. Not only can it have more say when the county meets, even the gang of Japanese people who are in the prefecture also come to him from time to time Missy. " Connect with feelings.

"Dry pepper on the glazed tiles, hang from wire tofu, and the fox crawled over the chicken's waist ..."

Jiang Songling, sitting at his desk in comfort, looked at the documents and hummed his words in an unknown place. Sing to your satisfaction. He also tapped the table with his fingers and beat himself.

"Mayor Jiang, someone is looking for you." Secretary Wu Lian carefully entered the office and reported to Jiang Songling.

"What kind of person?" Jiang Songling's hand was still knocking on the table, and asked lazily.

"It is Director Deng of the Provincial Rare Earth Office." Wu Lian said. There is a lot of business between the Xinshan County and the Provincial Rare Earth Office, so Wu Lian, the people of the Rare Earth Office, all knew each other.

"Oh, Director Deng is here, please." Jiang Songling raised an eyebrow and said happily. The director Deng Wu Lian said was Deng Shiheng, the deputy director of the Rare Earth Office. This person has a good personal relationship with Jiang Songling, and the two have been drinking together no less than 10 times.

After a while, Deng Shiheng led two people to 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 be greeted. Seeing Deng Shiheng, Jiang Songling stretched out his hands from a distance, with a smile on his face, and shouted, "Oh, Director Deng is here. Why not say hello in advance, I'll go downstairs to meet you?"

"Haha, I'm afraid I'm delaying the work of County Chief Jiang." Deng Shiheng also stepped forward with a smile, shook hands with Jiang Songling, and teased affectionately: "Old Jiang, you have less and less hair Now, while strengthening mineral development, we must also pay attention to vegetation protection. "

"My mine is no longer growing grass." Jiang Songling replied with a smile, touching his head that had become smooth because of his early years.

"Lao Jiang, let me introduce it to you." Deng Shiheng let go of Jiang Songling's hand, and at the same time converged, he pointed at a young man behind himself and told Jiang Songling: "This is the deputy group 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 taken aback. The Provincial Rare Earth Office is a well-known institution in the province. When it came to Xinshan County, it was already a leader. This young man named Qin Hai actually carried the banner of the country's leading group. Is this not the leader? Leader, how many levels higher than yourself?

"Leader Qin, disrespectful, disrespectful." Jiang Songling quickly shook hands with Qin Hai, bending his body into an arc, doing the gesture of a lower official, "I am the deputy county head of mineral development in Xinshan County, you call me young Jiang is fine. "

Xiao Jiang ...

Qin Hai grinned and was speechless. Jiang Songling is already a five-person man, Qin Hai said that his uncle was not excessive, how can he be called a little Jiang. However, in this case, Qin Hai was already commonplace. When he went to the lower units for inspection under the banner of the superior department, the officials of the lower units, regardless of their age, always regarded themselves as younger generations. Adults are not necessarily old, and small ones are not necessarily young. The concept of size in officialdom has nothing in common with physics.

"Jiang County Chief, you just call me Xiao Qin. If it 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 also knew that by lending a courage to Jiang Songling, Jiang Songling didn't dare to call it that way, so he could only let the other party call him Qin Qin. It is also interesting to say that when he was in 33 schools, he was known as the team leader. When he arrived in Xinshan County, he still had to be the team leader himself.

The National Rare Earth Development and Utilization Leading Group is a temporary agency. 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 concurrently chaired by the chief director of the State Planning Commission and has a very high rank. There are several deputy team leaders, but what is really working is Qin Hai, who has just been appointed. Qin Hai was able to enter this institution thanks to the recommendation of the early Ming Dynasty.

Rare earth is not a big industry in China. Last year, China's national output of rare earth was 18,000 tons, and the industry's total output value was 1.3 billion yuan. The export volume of rare earth is 8,000 tons, and the income from earning foreign exchange is 100 million US dollars. In any respect, rare earths can't be compared with other mineral sectors. Only governments at the level of Johor Bahru County will take rare earths as their lifeline.

However, national leaders' expectations for rare earths go far beyond this. More than one central leader once said: There is oil in the Middle East, and China has rare earths. This is our advantage. In the minds of these leaders, rare earths should deserve to be as important as oil, so that China has its own trump card in the global economic competition.

China's rare-earth operations can be described in a chaotic manner. Those provinces that have rare earth resources, in order to earn foreign exchange through exports, compete for mining, and lower prices to each other to an outrageous degree. As rare earth companies kill each other, the prices of rare earths in China continue to fall.

Some people have calculated that ~ www.novelmtl.com ~ In the first half of last year, Japan imported rare earth chloride from the United States at $ 8.4 per kilogram, while China imported only $ 1.3 per kilogram; Japan imported yttrium oxide from the United States at $ 129.5 per kilogram. Imports from France and the Soviet Union are about $ 49, and imports from China are only $ 13.7.

The brutal price war has caused China's rare earth resources to flow to the international market at the price of cabbage. At the same time, it has also produced a ridiculous result, that is, the global rare earth companies have all fallen into a loss and bankruptcy situation. The well-known rare earth company "Molybdenum Company" in the United States has been listed for sale because its production costs are not as good as China's. After careful study, several companies in the United States and Japan finally abandoned their plans to acquire molybdenum companies because they believed that no matter who they were, The molybdenum company cannot be brought back to life, because the price of rare earth in China is too low.

Faced with the chaos of domestic rare earth production, the state has set up a rare earth office and a leading group for rare earths in an attempt to regulate rare earths. According to Qin Hai's knowledge, these two departments have very limited local control, which has led to the chaos of rare earth production that has continued to this day.

Rare earth is a key element of many new materials. To build its own material empire, Qin Hai must control rare earth. It was out of this idea that he took the initiative to ask him to obtain the authorization to govern the national rare earth industry. (To be continued ...) R12)