Sail across the sea

Chapter 521: The Focus Should Be on the Northwest Region
Gao Fan was unaware that because the concept he had shared with his future mother-in-law was included in a report submitted to the Central Committee and attracted the attention of high-ranking officials, his future mother-in-law was about to be transferred to Beijing to urge him to get married more closely.

At this moment, Gao Fan was sitting in the cafeteria of the Geological Academy, chatting with Xia Shihui across from him.

"How are you doing? Are you getting used to working in China?" Gao Fan asked.

“You should ask me if I’m getting used to working in the government office,” Xia Shihui corrected.

"Okay then, are you settling in well with your work in the government office?"

"I'm not used to it, it's too boring."

"What does your Institute of Mineral Resources do?"

"There's a lot to do: organizing mineral exploration, researching metallogenic theories, conducting mineral resource surveys, and researching new types of minerals. Oh, and we're also responsible for popularizing mineral resources, like arranging for scientists to teach elementary school students how to find minerals."

"Isn't this quite interesting?"

"But I don't like sitting at home doing research; I prefer going to the mountains to look for minerals."

"There's nothing I can do about that. Why don't you try to transfer to another geological team?"

"Never mind, I've just gotten back and I'm already being picky. People will talk. By the way, how did you end up here?"

"I think……"

Gao Fan almost blurted out, "Can't I just miss you?" In the past, making such a joke with Xia Shihui wouldn't have been a problem, but now it was inappropriate. He swallowed his words and changed his approach:
Actually, I came here to ask for your help.

"Help? What kind of help?"

Xia Shihui became interested and pressed for more details.

She didn't dwell on Gao Fan's earlier words. Just as she had told Yuan Xiaoyan before, when she and Gao Fan got together, it was purely to talk about work, and nothing else.

Gao Fan said, "Actually, I've wanted to ask you for help with this for a long time, but you disappeared for so many years, I couldn't find you even if I wanted to."

"Is it about mineral exploration?"

"Yes."

What kind of mine are you looking for?

Potassium.

"Potassium? You want us to help you find potassium mines?"

Xia Shihui's eyes lit up. For Xia Shihui, who had followed her father in prospecting for minerals in the mountains since childhood, staying in the office and issuing orders was far less interesting than carrying a geological hammer and traversing mountains. She was just worried about not having anything worthwhile to do, and when she heard that Gao Fan wanted to ask her to look for potash, she immediately perked up.

Gao Fan nodded and said, "Yes. Actually, this matter has been going on for more than a day or two. I left Beijing a while ago to attend the commissioning ceremony of a phosphate mine's integrated mining and fertilizer project in Muyang."

“I was talking to officials in Muyang and we talked about how we still rely on imports for nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers, and potash fertilizers are almost entirely imported. That’s when I thought of you. The potash fertilizer issue is very important. If we can’t solve it, our country will not be able to be self-sufficient in fertilizers, which is equivalent to handing over the lifeline of our food supply to foreigners.”

“I know about this,” Xia Shihui said. “Many people have told our geological department about the serious shortage of potash fertilizer in China, and the country has also asked us to find potash mines. However, in recent years, the country has made many requests for mineral exploration, and although some teams have been assigned to work on potash mines, it has not been given the most important position.”

Gao Fan shook his head: "In fact, the potash problem may be more urgent than the problems of other minerals. Do you know that 99% of the potash fertilizer used in our country's agriculture comes from imports? Every year, the amount of potash fertilizer imported exceeds 400 million tons in physical quantity, worth 5 million US dollars. To be honest, 5 million US dollars in foreign exchange expenditure is not much, but the fact that 99% of it comes from imports is very dangerous."

Xia Shihui's expression turned serious. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Actually, our geological department has been looking for potash all along. The potash mines in the Qaidam Basin were discovered in 1957. If we're talking about even earlier, in 1946, Mr. Yuan Jianqi had already published an article called 'An Overview of Northwest Salt Mines,' which proposed the existence of potash in the Northwest."

"Over the years, we have discovered some potash deposits in the southwest and central south regions, but the reserves are very limited. According to our experts, to find large-scale potash deposits, we may have to look to the northwest region."

"Is it still the Qaidam Basin?" Gao Fan asked deliberately.

Xia Shihui said, "So far, the largest potash deposit we have discovered is in the Qaidam Basin, so some scholars believe that we should focus our efforts on exploring the Qaidam Basin. However, other scholars believe that the Qaidam Basin may not be the area with the most concentrated potash deposits, and the most concentrated area may be in Lop Nur."

"Lop Nur!"

Gao Fan stared wide-eyed at Xia Shihui, feeling both surprised and somewhat expectant about the outcome.

As a time traveler, Gao Fan naturally knew the status of Lop Nur potash in China's potash fertilizer industry in the future. His purpose in coming to find Xia Shihui was to find an opportunity to subtly remind her to pay attention to Lop Nur.

Unexpectedly, before he could even speak, Xia Shihui brought up Lop Nur, which surprised and delighted him.

Xia Shihui, unaware of Gao Fan's inner thoughts, looked at his expression and asked in surprise, "You haven't heard of Lop Nur, have you?"

“How could that be?” Gao Fan said. “I remember when we were in middle school, there was a very sensational event, that Comrade Peng Jiamu disappeared in Lop Nur. I knew about Lop Nur back then.”

Xia Shihui was silent for a moment, then said, "Comrade Peng Jiamu was the first scholar to report the discovery of potash in Lop Nur. He went to Lop Nur in the 60s and mentioned the discovery of potash in his expedition report at that time. In 80, he also went there with the mission of finding potash."

"Peng Jiamu went into Lop Nur to look for potash?" Gao Fan's surprise this time was genuine; he really didn't know that before.

Xia Shihui nodded, but didn't explain further. Instead, she said, "I've read some materials before. Some scholars have suggested that the Tarim Basin and the Qaidam Basin were connected before the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the Quaternary period. Since potash can be found in the Qaidam Basin, there's no reason why potash shouldn't be found in the Tarim Basin."

"However, the natural conditions in Lop Nur are much harsher than those in the Qaidam Basin. Finding potash in the Lop Nur region is extremely difficult and also quite dangerous."

“I know this is difficult. I came to you to ask if it’s possible for your mineral resources department to initiate a project and organize some personnel to look for it,” Gao Fan said. “If it involves funding, we can provide assistance.”

(End of this chapter)