The train driver in the courtyard

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, a fierce wind whipped up sand and dust, turning the world into a chaotic mess, but the temporary encampment was already bustling with activity.

The guards were setting up a stove around the campfire, while Li Aiguo, along with the wildlife car expert and Professor He, squatted down next to the geological exploration drilling rig to conduct a final inspection.

This drilling reached a depth of over 500 meters, far exceeding that of typical deep water wells, which places stricter requirements on the verticality of the drill pipe and necessitates a more thorough inspection.

It wasn't until 8 o'clock, after ruling out two minor issues, that Li Aiguo climbed down from the scaffold.

The food in the pot was already boiling. Huang Ting called out, "Professor He, Aiguo, come and eat quickly."

When Li Aiguo walked to the iron pot, several exploration team members stood up to get their food, and one of them even picked up a water bottle to help him wash the oil stains off his hands.

Professor He felt a pang of sadness upon seeing this scene.

He knew these exploration team members' personalities all too well, and he knew how difficult it was to earn their respect.

Today we're officially starting drilling. The food is twice as much as the previous two times, and everyone got an extra pack of instant noodles.

This instant noodle was brought by the wild car expert.

After arriving at 915, he originally planned to improve his own life, but later, for some reason, he voluntarily handed it over to 915.

Li Aiguo tore open the seasoning packet, shook it into the bread bag, crumpled it up, pinched off a pinch, and stuffed it into his mouth.

The salty and savory flavors, mixed with the oily taste, explode on the tip of the tongue. Quickly take a big gulp with the dry biscuit porridge, and you'll feel wonderful!

Eating must be done quickly, as the wind carries sand and grit, and if you linger even a little bit, your mouth will be full of sand.

The group squatted behind the withered red willow tree and quickly finished their breakfast.

Tang Guangwu stood at the front of the line.

"The work arrangement for today is as follows: Comrade Aiguo will lead two veteran explorers and Professor Liu to operate the machines. I will lead eight people to clean the rock cores, and Lao He, you will lead a group to guard the instruments and go through all the rock fragments that are drilled out."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone: "Remember, uranium is a national treasure. This drilling is crucial to whether we can shed the label of 'uranium-poor country'! Everyone must show the spirit of 'not afraid of hardship, not afraid of death'!"

After saying that, he looked at Li Aiguo and said, "Comrade Aiguo, why don't you give everyone a pep talk?"

Li Aiguo nodded, stood up, and glanced at the sun-damaged faces of his team members.

"Captain Tang's arrangements are very thorough. I just want to emphasize one thing: safety! 'Production must be safe, and safety promotes production.' This is an ironclad rule. When we're going to fight against nature, we need to have some tenacity, but we absolutely cannot act recklessly."

"Remember, we are searching for minerals for the country and to bring honor to the people! Victory will surely be ours!"

After saying that, Li Aiguo picked up the red flag stuck in the ground and held it high: "Let's go!"

"set off!"

"set off!"

"set off!"

Shouts rolled through the sandstorm. Amidst the swirling yellow sand, only the red flag stood out. The team members, carrying their tools, followed the red flag toward the drilling site.

The exploration drilling rig built by Li Aiguo has adopted a semi-automated operation mode.

Press the button, and the mast of the drilling rig slowly rises under the drive of the hydraulic cylinder. With the help of the rotation of the pivot and the chassis hinge, it completes a 90-degree rotation and is steadily locked in the vertical working position.

The top crane pulley system was precisely aligned with the center of the bottom turntable, and Li Aiguo checked that the deviation was no more than 1 millimeter.

"Start the turntable drive system!"

The three-stage gear reducer then emitted a uniform hum, and the turntable began to rotate, causing the triode drill bit at the lower end of the drill rod to slowly contact the ground.

"Put pressure on them!"

Following Li Aiguo's instructions, the feed cylinder pulled the drill rod downwards via chain drive. The pressure gauge pointer stabilized at the set value, and the alloy cutting edge of the drill bit cut into the sandstone strata. Rock cuttings were continuously carried out through the spiral chip removal groove on the inner wall of the drill rod.

The exploration team members waiting to process the rock cuttings stared wide-eyed in disbelief, knowing that their previous drilling was not only dangerous but also slow.

"In just the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, we've already slid seven or eight meters down."

"That's right, this is called a large machine."

"Tsk tsk, if we had this thing, we wouldn't have to bend over and burrow underground anymore."

"We can also expand the exploration area."

The exploration team members were discussing it animatedly. They said that exploration is actually similar to fishing; choosing a suitable exploration point is like baiting a fishing spot.

Having an exploration drilling rig is like having a fishing net.

After drilling more than 100 meters in half an hour, Li Aiguo stopped drilling and asked the wild car experts to check the torque.

Tang Guangwu led his men to clear away the rock debris, and Professor He also began to get busy.

Preliminary examination revealed that the rocks here are grayish-white coarse- to medium-grained feldspathic sandstone.

This rock is characterized by good connectivity, coarse grain size, high clastic content, low matrix content, and good porosity and permeability.

This also provides preliminary proof of Li Aiguo's theory of permeation in sandstone uranium deposits.

"What about the lower levels?" Li Aiguo also took the opportunity to rest for a while.

"It belongs to the bottom layer of Middle Jurassic rocks, but we still lack specific data and need to continue drilling." Professor He conducted a simple analysis with his instruments.

His expression was calm, but he was already somewhat excited. The Middle Jurassic period is about 1.67 million years ago and belongs to the middle of the Mesozoic era.

During this period, fissures in the continental crust formed the Atlantic Ocean, Africa began to split from South America, and India prepared to move toward Asia.

Due to frequent geological activity, this was also a major period for mineral formation on Earth.

Drilling is very fast, and the most crucial thing is to control the drilling pressure and rotation speed to prevent well deviation and excessive excitation pressure.

Professor He did not discover uranium ore in the sandstone until 2 p.m.

"Aiguo, slow down a bit from here on out." Professor He shouted excitedly to Li Aiguo after seeing the pointer change.

Li Aiguo understood that the next drilling operation was crucial to determining the depth and content of the underlying uranium deposit, so he adopted a gradual approach.

Simply put, the drill is pulled up every ten centimeters to allow Professor He to inspect the sample.

After drilling ten centimeters, twenty centimeters, and reaching a depth of one meter, Professor He couldn't wait to extract the sample. Upon seeing the pointer's data, he immediately perked up.

"The sandstone layer, one meter deep, is already ready for large-scale mining."

The exploration team members cheered at this moment.

It was already close to evening, and considering the safety of working at night, Tang Guangwu reported the situation to the Exploration Bureau by telegram.

In their reply, the leaders of the exploration bureau congratulated them on their work and requested that drilling continue.

The drilling work continued the next day.

Today, because drilling was carried out step-by-step, Li Aiguo had to wait for Professor He to finish analyzing the data, so the drilling speed was even slower, and he only drilled less than two meters.

However, these two meters of rock strata are all rich in uranium ore!
Professor He could hardly believe his eyes. He retested the rock samples from today and it wasn't until 9 p.m. that he finally confirmed the fact.

Despite the fact that it was already past midnight, Tang Guangwu disregarded the fact that the ministry leaders were already resting and reported the situation directly.

"Five hundred meters below, there's a uranium ore layer two meters deep?" The leaders of the exploration bureau were also stunned by this news.

Although no large-scale area exploration has been carried out yet, such a deep mineral layer could not possibly be just a single line.

"You continue the exploration, and I will immediately organize personnel to provide support." The exploration bureau leader felt that this might be a large mineral vein and convened geological experts overnight for analysis.

On the third day, the drilling depth remained at two meters.

Two meters of sandstone layer, all of it is uranium ore!
A uranium ore layer four meters deep!

Professor He is now somewhat numb.

He had thought he was standing on top of a piece of gold, but now he realized that he was standing on a gold mine.

"Old He, are we still sending telegrams?" Tang Guangwu felt a little uneasy; he felt like he was living in a beautiful dream.

"Send it, of course we'll send it! Can't you see Comrade Patriot is still inspecting the drilling rig?" Professor He squinted at the busy figure.

Could it be true, as Li Aiguo said, that there is a million-ton uranium mine down there?
Professor He had also heard Li Aiguo mention this during the interrogation. He initially thought it was just to scare Nojiri, but the results have gradually confirmed it.

After receiving the telegram about the four-meter-deep uranium ore layer, the leaders of the exploration bureau could no longer sit still, as such a large-scale uranium mine exceeded the bureau's authority to handle.

He put the telegram into his briefcase, stood up, and said, "Prepare the car; we're going to the Planning Steering Committee."

"Have Aiguo and his team arrived in the Gobi Desert and started drilling?" Deputy Director Zhang of the Geological Work Planning Steering Committee asked with a smile when he met with the leaders of the Exploration Bureau.

"They have achieved significant results!"

Upon hearing this, Deputy Director Zhang initially paid no attention.

Although the 915 Exploration Team was directly managed by the Exploration Bureau, it was at a very high level, so it was nothing special for them to achieve any results.

"Don't rush, you're getting on in years, why don't you have some composure?" Deputy Director Zhang, who was a former superior of the exploration bureau leaders, took the opportunity to give him a lecture.

"Yes, yes, old leader, I am indeed too excited." The leader of the exploration bureau took the enamel mug, took a sip of tea, and then said slowly, "September 15 just discovered a uranium ore layer with a depth of up to four meters, and drilling is still underway."

"Pfft." Deputy Director Zhang was taking a sip of water when he heard the news and almost choked, spilling tea all over the table.

He didn't even bother to tidy up, and asked with wide eyes, "Why are you only reporting such important news now?"

"Boss, you're the one who told me to be more composed." The exploration bureau leader felt wronged.

Deputy Director Zhang felt that the exploration bureau was full of inflexible people who didn't know how to adapt at all.

But he couldn't care less about that at the moment, and paced back and forth in the office with his hands behind his back.

"A uranium ore layer that is four meters deep, and the depth may increase as drilling goes deeper. This is a very serious matter, and I need to report it to Professor Li immediately."

The leaders of the exploration bureau also became excited when Professor Li was mentioned.

This man is a leading figure in the field of geology in China. He founded geomechanics and made significant contributions to the development of the petroleum industry.

In addition to serving as the chairman of the Steering Committee for Geological Work Plan, Professor Li also holds several other positions.

Member of the Academic Division (later renamed Academician), Director of the Geomechanics Research Laboratory, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, and Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology.

In recent years, Professor Li's health has deteriorated due to overwork.

In addition to routine management work, we also need to focus on earthquake prediction, forecasting, and the utilization of geothermal energy.

Therefore, the steering committee will only report to Professor Li if they make any significant discoveries. Professor Li is currently attending an important meeting up there.

After receiving the call, Professor Li asked his superiors for leave.

"Old Li, you need to take care of your health. Some things should be handed over to the younger generation," several senior leaders advised Professor Li as he rushed back.

"The work on the steering committee has now been handed over to Lao Zhang, but there has been a major discovery this time, so I have to rush back." After saying that, Professor Li got into his car and left.

Those senior leaders all found it strange, as they hadn't heard of any important survey missions recently.
After returning to the Steering Committee, Professor Li immediately convened a meeting, where he listened to a report from Deputy Director Zhang.

"Is the information from the 915 Exploration Team reliable?" Professor Li asked cautiously.

"Absolutely reliable. Although the exploration work was handled by Team 915, the main force on site was actually the comrades from Qianmen Locomotive Depot, along with comrades from the meteorological station."

Upon hearing this, Professor Li found it strange and asked the comrades at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot why they were involved with the exploration team.

Deputy Director Zhang gave a briefing on the geological exploration drilling rig.

"A drilling rig? That's a good thing. No wonder it can drill more than 500 meters deep in such a short time. The name Li Aiguo seems familiar," Professor Li nodded.

"That's the train driver who recently invented the tunnel boring machine."

"No wonder they were able to come up with such a great product." The other leaders nodded in agreement.

Deputy Director Zhang then added, "Their findings this time are not limited to this; they also discovered the Japanese exploration team. The Japanese have also set their sights on the uranium mines in the Gobi Desert, but they've gone to the wrong place."

Upon hearing this, the doubts in the leaders' eyes immediately disappeared.

Although the Japanese devils were bad, they were not weak at all; otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to fight them for so many years.

To belittle small achievements is to desecrate the efforts of our predecessors.

"It seems that Li Aiguo's theory on sand and gravel uranium deposits has some merit."

"This time, we might actually find a large-scale uranium deposit."

“The 915 Exploration Team focuses on exploration and is a bit weak in theoretical knowledge. I suggest that we immediately send geological experts to provide support.”

Hearing the murmurs, Professor Li pondered for a moment, then stood up and said, "I'll go."

"Professor, your health..." Deputy Director Zhang was startled. If something happened to Professor Li, it would be a serious matter.

"My health is fine. Among the geological experts in China, only my research field is close to the theory of sandstone uranium deposits."

Other leaders tried to persuade him, but Professor Li waved his hand and said, "Gentlemen, I'm a geological researcher! If I stay in my office for my own safety, how can I do research?!"

Upon hearing this, the leaders knew that Professor Li had made up his mind and there was no way to persuade him otherwise.

During his trip to Northwest China, Professor Li contacted a group of top domestic geological experts with the aim of clarifying the theory of sandstone uranium deposits, and then using the theory as a guide to predict the scale of uranium deposits and propose mining plans.

The geological experts were very interested when they learned that a uranium deposit that defied common sense had been found in the Gobi Desert.

Professor Huang from the Southwest Geological Survey said he would arrive in Beijing in three days.

Professor Chen from the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is leading a team on a comprehensive survey of natural resources in the border region, with Professor Zhao leading three students to participate in the operation.

The Institute of Geology of the Earthquake Administration also sent two experts to participate.

Seven or eight professors from Beijing Geological College, Chengdu Geological Exploration College, Northeast Geological College, and other institutions also arrived.

At Professor Li's call, an expert group consisting of more than 20 scholars and experts was quickly formed.

This was a rare large-scale geological research operation in China, and the steering committee reported it in accordance with regulations.

The farmer's side was also planning to send someone to the Northwest to meet Li Aiguo and Lao Mao. After learning about this, they proposed that the comrades from the meteorological station escort Professor Li and the expert group.

Five days later, a transport plane took off from Nanyuan Airport and headed straight for Northwest China.

****
Li Aiguo learned of the expert team's arrival at the drilling site.

Seeing trucks approaching from a distance, each carrying a light machine gun, Li Aiguo knew that the newcomers were no ordinary people.

Because the expert group was of a very high caliber, neither the meteorological station nor the exploration bureau informed them in advance.

Li Aiguo was unaware of the other party's identity, so he shouted at the wild expert, telling him to quickly inform Lao Mao.

Old Cat is leading his men to inventory the things left behind by the Japanese devils inside the cave.

Upon learning the news, he rushed out with his colleagues from the weather station and set up a checkpoint not far away with Li Aiguo.

As the truck drew closer, Li Aiguo stepped out, pistol in hand, and stood in front of the truck.

The truck screeched to a halt, and a young man ran over with a document, saluted Li Aiguo, and said, "Comrade Aiguo, we meet again."

Li Aiguo recognized the visitor as the captain of the third operation of the weather station, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, returned the greeting, and inquired about the situation.

"Take a look at this."

Upon receiving the document, Li Aiguo glanced at it twice and was immediately struck by the caliber of the expert team.

It can be said that if the expert group had any problems, the domestic geological exploration work would have been set back by at least five years.

No wonder the farmer was so cautious.

At this moment, an elderly professor dressed in a gray Zhongshan suit got off the car. Even through the billowing dust, Li Aiguo recognized him at a glance.

Compared to his appearance on television, Professor Li looks younger now, though his hair is already gray.

He was wearing a dark blue Zhongshan suit and walked with a very straight back. He didn't look like a professor; he had more of a military bearing.

"You must be Comrade Li Aiguo." Professor Li stepped forward, looked Li Aiguo up and down, extended his hand and nodded, saying, "Indeed, a hero emerges from among the young."

Li Aiguo clasped hands, somewhat excited: "Professor Li, I am learning from you. You once told me to be someone who strikes stones."

"Knock on a stone?" Professor Li was clearly taken aback.

Li Aiguo said, "I saw this in a comic book. It showed you carrying a geological hammer and a bag full of stones, doing geological exploration."

Li Aiguo wasn't lying; the comic book titled "Geologist Li Siguang" is still on his bookshelf at home.

Professor Li finally understood what was going on and chuckled twice: "The comrades from the art club may have misunderstood me. I was really just tapping on the stone."

Li Aiguo: "."

He felt that if Professor Li were to take an exam in the future and encounter a short passage about him, he would definitely fail.

After a few casual words, the two quickly became close. Li Aiguo felt that Professor Li was approachable, just like the uncle next door.

Professor Li felt that Li Aiguo possessed a unique simplicity characteristic of workers, and was also exceptionally quick-witted.

"Come on, take me to see your geological exploration drilling rig."

As the group walked across the hillside, Professor Li was immediately drawn to the towering drilling rig. He circled it, feeling as if he were standing beneath an iron tower.

“When I was studying in the UK, I saw a similar drilling rig, but it wasn’t as big as this one.”

"The principles are basically the same, the main difference is in the drilling depth," Li Aiguo explained regarding the performance of the drilling rig.

At that moment, Professor Liu was inspecting the ore nearby. When he saw Professor Li walking over, he quickly came to greet him.

"Professor Li, you've arrived."

"Old Liu, we meet again. How's it going?"

"The drilling work is basically completed. We have confirmed that there is a sandstone uranium deposit with a depth of up to eight meters, 500 meters below the Gobi Desert."

Uranium deposits are primarily composed of lithic feldspathic sandstone, with clasts accounting for approximately 90% of the total rock mass. The ore is mainly cemented by contact cementation, with some porous cementation. Uranium is predominantly in an adsorbed state, and the uranium oxide content can range from 1% to 3.46%.

"1%-3.46%?!" At this moment, not only Professor Li was shocked, but even the dozen or so professors behind him were somewhat flustered.

Uranium is a heavy element that is mainly formed in extreme astrophysical events such as supernova explosions. It is chemically reactive and readily reacts with other elements to form various compounds.

This makes the migration and enrichment of uranium on the Earth's surface more difficult, making it hard to form large-scale, high-grade uranium deposits.

The average content of uranium in the Earth's crust is about 2.5 parts per million.

The average abundance of uranium ore 712 is only 1.28%.

The higher the abundance, the lower the mining cost.

In particular, the area is currently 500 meters deep. If there is a large area of ​​uranium deposit, it can be developed into an open-pit uranium mine in the future, which will further reduce costs and the difficulty of mining.

"Good, good, patriotic comrade, Lao Liu, you have done a great service this time."

Professor Li is a pragmatist; he started working on his very first day in the Gobi Desert.

The work was divided into two parts. On the one hand, Professor Li led a group of experts and scholars to analyze the internal structure and formation of the rock samples drilled out, in order to estimate the scale of the uranium mine.

On the other hand, Li Aiguo continued drilling in the vicinity with his drilling rig to determine the location of the uranium mine through practical experience.

At this point, the advantages of geological exploration drilling rigs become apparent: they are mobile, have a fast drilling speed, and can operate continuously.

In just one week, they drilled more than 30 geological exploration wells in the vicinity.

The depths of the wells vary, ranging from several hundred meters to over a thousand meters, but one thing is certain: the average depth of the uranium ore layers is around 8 meters.

Li Aiguo also obtained a sample of pitchblende from a well.

After conducting a detailed analysis of pitchblende, Professor Li compiled the data and convened a symposium.

Inside the tent, Professor Li first summarized: "What can be confirmed at present is that the genesis of uranium deposits is similar to what Comrade Li Aiguo predicted. The mineralization process is complex and consists of multiple stages."

Currently, the stages that can be identified are the sedimentary pre-enrichment stage, the paleostratigraphic oxidation and leaching stage, and the epigenetic secondary reduction stage.

The formation mechanism of this deposit reflects the synergistic effect of multiple factors including sedimentation, tectonics, and fluid.

Its low-temperature hydrothermal mineralization characteristics and mineralogical evidence further corroborate the multi-stage mineralization evolution process.

Wow!
There was warm applause.

The untrained car expert, standing in the back, scratched his head and asked in a low voice, "What does this tell us?"

Professor Liu clenched his fist excitedly: "We've discovered a river full of uranium ore!"

(End of this chapter)