Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1705: Exploding Gold Coins is Not a Land Cut (Third Update, Please Subscribe)
Only old friends who can drop gold coins are real old friends.

Who said this?
It is impossible to verify it now, but what is certain is that this is absolutely the truth in the world.

Li Yian has never doubted this truth, and he has always adhered to this principle over the years. In the process of interacting with old friends, his ultimate goal has always been to make the other party gain gold coins.

Of course, old friends will also get gold coins sooner or later.

But sooner or later it will explode

Sitting in the swivel armchair, Li Yian glanced at the report in front of him again and said softly:
"Well, South Africa is no longer a problem!"

A few hours ago, South African Foreign Minister Peake informed the Ministry of External Affairs of their decision - they agreed in principle on the requirements for leasing Walvis Bay.

Of course, this decision ultimately needs the approval of the South African Parliament.

Although they have not returned to China yet, Li Yian has no doubt about the result.

After all, South Africa now has no choice at all. They need support from the international community, or the support of major powers, to help them get rid of the sanctions from the United Nations.

In the event of a falling out with the UK, SEAs are their only option.

So they will eventually lease Whale Bay to SEA!

This also means that the sEA global base network is officially established - a global base network spread all over the world.

Although this base network is not as large as that of the United States or the Soviet Union, it at least forms a global network.

With this global network, both the air force's transfer and the navy's overseas operations are very convenient.

"Whale Bay!"

As he said this, Li Yian put down the report in his hand and walked to the map. His eyes were fixed on the central coast of Namibia, and he easily found the location of the bay.

It has already been marked.

In fact, before the South African President's visit, Li Yian had already been determined to acquire Walvis Bay. Walvis Bay, also known as Walvis Port, covers an area of ​​1124 square kilometers. Walvis Bay is located in the central and western part of Namibia, bordering the Walvis Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a natural harbor.

Namibia was originally German South-West Africa. After the outbreak of World War I, South Africa, as a British dominion, belonged to the Allied camp. Although South Africa did not send troops to Europe, it sent troops to German South-West Africa, defeated the local German garrison, and controlled German South-West Africa with an area of ​​about 82 square kilometers.

After the end of World War I, the League of Nations granted South Africa the mandate to rule Namibia at the behest of Britain. After World War II, South Africa used the collapse of the League of Nations as an excuse to incorporate Namibia into its territory. Since then, South Africa has established administrative agencies in Namibia and began to directly rule this land.

Today's South Africa is a "big country" with a land area of ​​more than two million square kilometers.

Would it be unfair to old friends like these if I didn't give them a few gold coins?

“Now that Walvis Bay is in our hands, we can increase our investment in South Africa!”

Staring at South Africa on the map, Li Yian's mouth curled up slightly, and then he walked back to his desk. He sat on the luxurious swivel chair next to the desk, took out a report from the drawer, and glanced at the report spread out on the record book. This report was sent by the South African president before his visit, and it recorded South Africa's mineral resources.

Among these mineral resources, in addition to gold and uranium, there is also an extremely heavy metal - platinum!
Platinum, also known as white gold.

Platinum is one of the most precious metals in the world. The world's most famous platinum mine is the Rustenburg Mine in South Africa, where the content, or "grade", of platinum per ton of ore is as high as about 7 grams.

Most of the world's platinum, perhaps more than 90 percent, comes from three places: South Africa, Canada, and Russia.

Among the three countries, the largest platinum producer is South Africa, with an annual output of nearly 95 ounces, which controls the world platinum market.

Is platinum important now?
important!

In many chemical industrial productions, platinum is indispensable. It exists as a catalyst and other functions, but that's all.

After the war, as the demand for industrial production and technological development increased, the price of platinum rose in the early post-war period, but its price was much lower than that of gold, and even lower than that of silver - among precious metals, its price ranked third, after gold and silver.

Platinum is a metal and like all metals has its own price. This price is basically controlled by two factors: the necessity of this metal in certain processes perfected by the world's industry and the rarity of this metal. Platinum is a very rare metal. The total annual world production is actually a little over 150 million troy ounces.

The problem is that although platinum is rare, its uses are very limited. The main use of platinum is not jewelry, but industry, especially the chemical industry. However, its application range in the chemical industry is not wide, so its price is low because of its limited application range.

However, this is only temporary.

Soon, platinum's fate will undergo a radical change - its demand will suddenly increase.

Many countries, including the United States, will need more platinum.

Li Yian is very sure about this.

So why is world platinum consumption bound to increase?

Will it even increase more than ten times in the next ten years?

The reason lies in a piece of metal called a car exhaust.

By the end of the 60s, the smog problem, mainly caused by automobile exhaust, had become a national issue in developed countries including the United States and Western Europe. Words such as "air pollution", "ecology" and "environment" that had never been heard of 10 years ago have now jumped onto the lips of every politician and become trendy buzzwords that everyone cares about.

Social pressure continued to demand legislation to limit and control pollution. Because of those people's proposals, cars became the number one target. European and American countries not only began to formulate plans to eliminate leaded gasoline, but also invented catalytic converters.

This proposal would have an effect in countries around the world throughout the early 70s, and every car would be required by law to be equipped with a device to remove harmful fumes emitted - and among them, the United States was the most radical, with radical environmental protection requirements even being seen as one of the black hands that destroyed the American auto industry.

Of course, Europe later became more aggressive, which meant they needed more advanced catalytic converters.

The exhaust gas from cars is made up of three components, each of which can be turned into harmless gas. Two of the gases can be turned into harmless gas using a chemical method called "oxidation", and the third gas can be turned into harmless gas using a chemical method called "reduction". The reduction method requires a substance called "catalyst". The oxidation method can burn those gases in excess air at high temperature or at low temperature. Low temperature combustion also requires a catalyst, the same one used in the reduction method. The only well-known catalyst that can be used is platinum, which is widely used in automobile exhaust purification devices because of its good catalytic performance.

Therefore, exhaust control devices using platinum as catalyst will remain the only viable solution in the next 10 or even to years, and each such device requires several grams of pure platinum.

This is the first account.

Then there is the second account, the production of automobiles. By the 70s, the world's automobile production will exceed 5000 million. This demand alone will require hundreds of tons of platinum every year.

Demand will push up its price. In the next decade or so, platinum will soar into the sky like a roller coaster, and its price will even exceed that of gold.

How could I give up such a treasure?
"Okay, the next step is to acquire the Rustenburg Mine!"

Staring at the Rustenburg Mine mentioned in the report, Li Yian couldn't help but sneer.

Although this mine was developed as early as 31, and although it was a British-owned company, so what? Just buy it directly, it's not like they won't pay.

"It's not up to you whether to sell it or not!"

Staring at the report in front of him, Li Yian had only one thing in mind - the explosion of gold coins, the continuous explosion of gold coins on South Africa's body.

After all, based on the basic principle that gold coins should be dropped from old friends, if you don’t drop gold coins from old friends, would you be doing them justice?

Of course I'm sorry, so I must get the gold coins!
However, if you want to get gold coins from your old friends, you have to make some sacrifices yourself.

"Three-way catalytic converter..."

This very common car component in another world has not yet been invented. The world's first three-way catalytic converter was invented by Volvo in Sweden in 1972.

Nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are the main harmful emissions from fuel combustion, and the three harmful substances are called "three-way". The function of the catalyst is to decompose the three substances through chemical reactions, so it is also called a three-way catalytic converter. The basis of decomposition is the three metals "platinum, rhodium and palladium", which are sprayed on the filter element of the catalyst to catalyze the substances in the exhaust gas to decompose them in a high-temperature environment, and finally form relatively harmless substances.

This theory is very simple. Once this theory is proposed to automobile companies, I believe their engineers will quickly come up with a corresponding prototype. With the three-way catalytic converter, there will be a real demand basis for platinum.

"It's not just platinum, there's also rhodium and palladium. The demand for these two metals will continue to rise. If you calculate it this way, gold coins won't just be found in one place... The other two mines can also find gold coins together!"

In fact, it's not just about metal, there's also the patent for the three-way catalytic converter. In the next few decades, exhaust purification will mainly rely on the three-way catalytic converter, and all automobile companies cannot do without it, which means they need to pay a lot of patent fees!
After thinking about this, he leaned back in his chair and whistled softly.

"Okay, let's get some gold coins together, old friends."

(End of this chapter)