Sail across the sea

Chapter 374 was merely his own opinion.
The statement about using rare earth elements as a trump card to strangle the West is not actually the leader's original words, but Gao Fan's own interpretation.

In this era, everyone is thinking about how to integrate into the international community. We sometimes worry that others will hold us back, but we never think that we should also hold others back.

Because of this lack of ability to retaliate, for a long time we had no bargaining power in international economic and trade cooperation and could only hope for the mercy of our opponents. Often, we had to use our market and cheap labor resources to win their favor in exchange for their agreement to provide us with technology or equipment.

No one could have imagined that beneath that almost humble smile, China was actually quietly forging its trump card, and after decades, the day had finally come when the sword would be drawn.

When Xia Shihui mentioned rare earth elements to Gao Fan, Gao Fan thought of the battles and conflicts surrounding rare earth elements in later generations. Even as a time traveler, Gao Fan didn't know whether China's monopoly on rare earth refining capabilities in later generations was an unintended consequence or the result of a meticulously planned 40-year-long scheme.

Regardless of how the story unfolded in the original timeline, now that he has arrived in this parallel universe, Gao Fan decides to personally orchestrate this scheme.

Beyond rare earths, Gao Fan had another scheme in mind: a year ago, he tricked Xu Yun, a top student from the University of Science and Technology of China, into developing i-line and KrF photoresist at the Fenglin Research Institute. According to Xu Yun's most recent communication with him, the research on i-line photoresist is nearing success.

"Manager Gao..." Hao Caibao didn't know how to address Gao Fan for a moment, but after hesitating for a moment, he remembered that Gao Fan was the manager of that science and trade company, so he gave him that title.

Xu Ying said with a smile, "Director Hao, there's no need to be so polite with Gao Fan. Just call him Xiao Gao. He's our junior."

"Okay, that's fine then. I'll call Gao Fan 'Little Gao' from now on." Hao Caibao happily accepted Xu Ying's suggestion and changed his form of address to Gao Fan.

"Xiao Gao, based on what you just said, how does the government plan to manage rare earth mining?"

Gao Fan said, "I don't know the specifics of how it will be done. However, Minister Zheng explained a few points to me, saying that they were just his own opinions and did not represent the opinions of the Ministry of Chemical Industry."

This is what I fear most...

Hao Caibao thought to himself.

Saying that it doesn't represent the ministry's opinion means that if you follow it and things go wrong, the ministry won't take responsibility.

But if you don't follow this because of it, it means you don't support the minister's idea. Are you trying to prove that you are smarter than the minister?
This is truly the most misleading instruction ever.

Although he was cursing inwardly, Hao Caibao still had to put on a smiling face and said:

"Minister Zheng's opinion is certainly insightful and far-sighted. Xiao Gao, please convey it to us as soon as possible so that we can all learn from it."

As he spoke, he picked up a pencil and prepared to make notes on a notepad. His subordinates quickly followed suit, like a group of college students waiting for their professor to highlight key points for the exam.

Gao Fan held up one finger and said, "First of all, Minister Zheng believes that resources are only resources when they are in our hands. If they are all used up, they are no longer resources. Rare earth resources are limited, so our development must be planned and have a long-term vision. We cannot rush into it and drain the pond to catch all the fish."

“Yes, yes, yes, that’s what we’ve been asking the local authorities for all along,” Hao Caibao replied. “Secondly, the current rare earth development technology is still very immature. According to the on-site calculations by experts from the Department of Geology at Peking University, the comprehensive utilization rate of rare earth is less than 10%, which means that more than 90% of rare earth resources are wasted during the development process, which is absolutely unacceptable.”

"Huang Xing, have you guys looked into it? Is the utilization rate of rare earth mines in Zeshan really that low?"

Hao Caibao looked at one of his subordinates and asked.

The subordinate named Huang Xing, presumably in charge of this area, stammered when asked by the director:

"The rare earth mines in Zeshan vary greatly in scale and technological level. We are currently compiling statistics on the utilization rate of the mines, and we do not yet have an accurate result."

"As for Manager Gao's statement about the overall utilization rate being less than 10%, that might be similar for some mines with poor mining conditions. However, some mines are doing quite well, with utilization rates reaching, uh, reaching..."

He trailed off. The rare earth mines in Zeshan had only been mined on a large scale in the last two years, and the Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources hadn't compiled any statistics on their utilization rate. Huang Xing had met with Professor Feng Yue from Peking University when she brought her students down to conduct a survey, and he had heard the 10% figure from Feng Yue.

In other words, both he and Gao Fan's data came from the same source. The only difference was that Gao Fan used this data to criticize the Geological and Mineral Resources Bureau, while he was trying to cover it up.

If it were someone else unaware of the situation, Huang Xing could easily fabricate some data to fool them. But Gao Fan explicitly mentioned the name of the Department of Geology at Peking University, and Huang Xing knew he couldn't fool them anymore.

"It really is only 10%?"

Upon seeing Huang Xing's expression, Hao Caibao understood what was going on and felt somewhat displeased.

He works in geology and mining, so he naturally knows what a 10% utilization rate means. If 1 tons of proven reserves can only yield 1000 tons of ore, anyone would feel the pinch.

After a half-second silence, Hao Caibao raised his hand to Gao Fan and said:

"Xiao Gao, continue. Is there anything else?"

"The third point is the extraction and separation of rare earth elements. As far as I know, the rare earth elements that Maolin currently exports are all mixed rare earth oxides. The price of one ton of mixed rare earth oxides is about 2.6 yuan, while if yttrium oxide with a purity of 99.9% can be separated from it, it can be sold for 26 yuan in the Japanese market, a difference of 10 times," Gao Fan said.

Hao Caibao said, "Xiao Gao, this is not a problem that our Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources can solve. The extraction of rare earth elements is handled by the Bureau of Metallurgy. I also know a little about the 99.9% yttrium oxide you mentioned. The price of this stuff is very high, but the extraction cost is also very high. It might not be as profitable as just selling the ore directly."

Gao Fan said, "We will contact the Metallurgical Bureau. However, our Geological and Mineral Resources Bureau also needs to provide some cooperation. For example, we should prohibit the export of unrefined mixed rare earth oxides. All rare earth oxides can only be sold to domestic smelters for extraction and purification before being exported."

Upon hearing Gao Fan's request, Hao Caibao's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

(End of this chapter)