My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 138 Not a single one of them knew what was good for them

When the geological exploration was first carried out, the initial sand test determined that the grade of this mineral deposit was only five, but based on the harvest over this period, the actual grade can reach about ten.

After all, when testing sand, only the surface layer of gold-bearing mud and sand is taken.

Those who do exploration know that the bottom sediment has a higher gold content.

When this data was detected, everyone was overjoyed, thinking it could be reported as a major mining site.

As a result, after the ore zone was measured, the estimated gold yield was only about 400 kilograms, and the gold was scattered in the river channel. Ultimately, it was not feasible to set up a mining site and station a large number of personnel and machinery for mining.

In a place where there isn't even a road, it's not worth investing a lot of manpower and resources for a little bit of gold.

The gold content of that 400-plus kilograms of ore was only an estimate.

The reality is often much more complex than anticipated.

Of course, there will be cases where the number is less than expected.

How accurate can the data obtained from manual inspection using only the three traditional methods be? It relies more on experience-based judgment.

The diesel fuel lasted for another ten days before finally running out in September.

The diesel engine was carried back to the dugout by Zhou Jingming's men and left there.

The main problem is that buying supplies from Haxionggou to Tiemaike is too time-consuming and laborious, taking five or six days for a round trip.

October is just around the corner, the weather is getting cold and gloomy, and it will be time to end this year's gold rush. Zhou Jingming is too lazy to bother anymore.

Of course, he also harbored the idea of ​​not wanting everyone to go out.

If too few people go to buy diesel, they won't get much, and it won't take long. But if too many people go, there will be too much gossip and conflicting opinions.

He didn't want groups of people to suddenly arrive in this once-isolated valley, affecting his plans for next year.

Although using a diesel engine would be much more efficient, he decided to go with it.

However, the amount of gold that Sun Chenggui and others received each day decreased from seven or eight grams to four or five grams.

The temperature in the mountains is still scorching hot during the day, but it gets noticeably cool at night.

The most obvious sign is that the leaves of the deciduous trees in the mountains are starting to turn yellow, red, and multicolored.

Temperatures are dropping significantly, and daylight hours are shortening rapidly.

At first, some people complained that the amount of gold they received each day was getting less and less, but soon, when they woke up in the morning and found that there was frost outside and their breath had taken shape, some people began to wonder when they should go back.

Therefore, there were not many complaints; they just patiently did the work.

Meanwhile, in the valley of the Haiertes River, a team of more than ten people began a new round of clearing the mountains.

They always time things perfectly.

During this period, clearing the mountains often becomes more frequent.

In the Gold Rush Valley, as the year draws to a close for gold prospectors, it is also the best time for the clearing teams to make extra money, so they are extra diligent in their work.

After it snows, they don't go into the mountains much anymore, unless it's for some rescue missions assigned by higher authorities.

Liang Tongshu led his men along the main river, chasing them all the way. The gold prospectors kept an eye on the valley and, seeing their distinctive uniforms and the way they rode horses, knew what they were up to. They quickly grabbed their belongings and fled into the mountains to hide.

Whoever gets caught is simply unlucky.

Various confiscations were naturally inevitable.

At this point, we don't even know if it will come again next year, so everyone wants to hold on to what they have.

The Qingshan team first chased upstream along the main river channel and caught more than ten people. Then they turned around and chased down from upstream again, catching more than ten people.

When passing by those dugouts along the way, we would set them on fire.

Then, they changed to another side ditch and went in for another chase.

Gold prospectors were driven from east to west, and then from west to east, like a flock of sheep.

In the afternoon, a group of Qingshan team entered the valley where Zhou Jingming's first mining site was located. They chased after the site along the riverbank until they reached the small peninsula, only to find that most of the peninsula had disappeared, leaving only a small section near the foot of the slope.

There was no one at the mine.

Liang Tongshu was deeply impressed by this place. Not everyone could use a diesel engine, and those who could muster one could find more gold.

He thought he could make some money here.

Unfortunately, the situation he saw was somewhat disappointing.

He went to the dugout to check, and there was nothing inside, not even anything to burn.

He couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, not a single one of them knows what's good for them."

After cursing, he shouted for his men to mount their horses again, and the chase became even more ferocious.

Those gold prospectors who had gone into hiding waited until evening, figuring that the Qingshan team had already left and wouldn't be coming back, before returning to their dugouts.

Some people were relieved that their dugouts had not been destroyed and that their supplies were still intact.

But many more people looked at their still-smoking dugouts, feeling frustrated but having nowhere to vent their anger.

Those who wanted to stay and pan for gold huddled around the campfire for the night, planning to buy supplies the next day.

Once the mining operation is nearly exhausted, or the income is only average, people will come back that day to take a look at their dugouts and decide to leave.

The following day, gold prospectors began to appear on the road, carrying their simple luggage and embarking on their return journey.

Meanwhile, stricter checkpoints were set up along various roads to intercept and prevent the outflow of gold. This led many people to sell their gold at low prices at checkpoints to avoid losing everything.

As for the money you carry, it will not be confiscated at checkpoints or inspection stations, so you can rest assured about that.

This is why gold dealers and prospectors rush to sell any gold they have in the mountains for cash.

While the gold rush valleys outside were in complete chaos, the Qiankou Mountain Pass in Haxionggou remained quiet and peaceful.

A group of people dug and transported materials, and the sand was initially washed and screened in the sluice. Gold was then picked out from the sand using a gold scoop. Each process was carried out in an orderly manner.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang were already somewhat reluctant to put their hands into the water so early in the morning.

If the river water in summer feels cool and refreshing, the river water now has a chill that seeps into your bones, which is quite harmful.

So, the group adjusted their work slightly. In the morning, they focused on digging up the material and transporting it to the chute using carts.

Once the daytime temperature rises, more people will be sent to carry water to wash and screen the samples.

Before we knew it, it was already mid-September.

Having become familiar with the mining site, Jin Wang's activity range has expanded considerably. He is no longer limited to the grassland behind the mining site; he often crosses the poplar forest and the wooden bridge to roam the woods on the other side of the river.

That afternoon, he suddenly ran from the poplar grove to the mine site and started barking wildly at the downstream river.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jingming simply gave Wu Yang a wink, and Wu Yang immediately ran back to the dugout and retrieved Zhou Jingming's Eagle Rabbit brand double-barreled shotgun and his usual No. 16 double-barreled shotgun.

Not long after, two people emerged from the poplar grove.

Judging from the way they carried their luggage and had gold buckets tied to their backs, you could tell they were gold prospectors.

He couldn't help but frown slightly.

Just by looking at these people, you know that the gold deposits in the valley can no longer be hidden.

When the two saw Zhou Jingming and the others, their first reaction was an uncontrollable smile.

Zhou Jingming knew what they were happy about: if there were teams panning for gold in the valley, it meant there was gold in the valley, and if there was gold in one place, then there would be more places where gold would be found. Looking at the valley, it seemed like there weren't many people in it, otherwise the river water would have been muddy long ago and wouldn't be as clear as it is now.

Their attention quickly fell on the hunting rifles that Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang were carrying, and they hurriedly suppressed their smiles: "Guys, we're just passing by."

Peng Yuanchao bluntly said, "Go around to a more distant area, and don't enter within two hundred meters."

The area Peng Yuanchao mentioned was roughly the area of ​​the pincer-shaped ravine. He clearly didn't want these people to get involved here, nor did he want the specific details of the ravine to be revealed.

The two men didn't dare say anything more, bowing and scraping: "We'll leave now..."

Then, they prepared to climb up the grassy slope above.

Zhou Jingming stopped them at this moment: "Gentlemen, are you here to scout the location or to play guerrilla warfare?"

The two men stopped and said, "We're here to scout out a location. Our team has nowhere else to go. The Qingshan team has been chasing us hard in Xigou these past few days, so we can't work there. We thought we still had some time, so we wanted to scout out a location before going home, so we can bring our people over to work next year."

It turned out to be the Qingshan team...

Zhou Jingming could understand their mentality. In the main river channel, where there were many people, it was the Qingshan team's main focus. Towards the end, they were chased away in a chaotic manner.

Some people thought about finding a new mining site and continuing the work next year, while others thought about finding another place to continue working for a while longer, and still others simply played guerrilla warfare, trying their luck everywhere.

Of course, some people have other ideas.

In other words, at this time, there will be many people wandering around in the mountains.

However, Zhou Jingming was a little puzzled as to how these two had gotten to this place.

He then asked, "How did you find your way to such a remote place?"

"To find gold, you have to look for water. We actually followed the river in here to try our luck... and we didn't expect to actually find it!"

luck?

Zhou Jingming shook his head and ignored the two of them.

The two men didn't stop; they continued climbing up the hillside, bypassing the valley, and continuing upstream.

In terms of waterways, the river where Haxionggou is located is a tributary of the Ertis River. However, it is much smaller in scale than the Haiertes River and doesn't even have a formal name.

He asked this question because the river was neither too big nor too small, making it difficult for outsiders to find their way in.

As the saying goes, a small ditch has a mouth, a large ditch has legs, and something neither too big nor too small is inside the belly.

This is based on the experience of someone who is always looking for gold.

It is said that if the selected water vein is just a small ditch, you should look for gold deposits at the outlet of the ditch.

If gold deposits are found in a large river valley, then there will also be gold deposits in some of the upstream tributary valleys. Conversely, if there are gold deposits in the tributaries, there will definitely be gold deposits in the main river channel as well.

As for the medium-sized gullies, it means that the main mineral deposits are formed in the valleys, that is, inside the valleys, with very little outflow.

According to professional classification, a river that is only three kilometers long is considered a small ditch, a ditch that is longer than three to ten kilometers is considered medium-sized, and a ditch that is more than ten kilometers long is considered a large ditch.

But in reality, besides being hidden in the winding mountains of Haxionggou, there is no gold in its main river channel, nor is there a water outlet. In addition, the mountains are covered with trees, making it more abundant in wild animals and more dangerous than those barren places, so few people would come here.

When Zhou Jingming and his group found this place, they were quite surprised.

It just goes to show that some people are really lucky; they can make a fortune just by randomly trying.

Zhou Jingming also knew that the river could no longer be hidden, and more people would come, perhaps starting this autumn.

(End of this chapter)