Chapter 508 An Agreement that Everyone Is Satisfied With

"Because you have made breakthroughs in the field of deep-sea mining, the current rate of decline in ore futures markets such as iron, copper, gold, and manganese has increased significantly. In order to maintain market stability, we mining giants have also made some efforts. Of course, to solve The crux of the problem still lies with you."

How many seabed mineral deposits are there? If the future human mining industry makes a breakthrough in this area, investors' expectations for seabed mining will undoubtedly heat up. How many seabed resources are there? I am afraid that no one knows except Jiang Chen who obtained the distribution map of proven mineral deposits around the world.

But investors themselves are creatures of the imagination.

Having said that, Luke looked at Jiang Chen with a smile.

"If I'm not wrong, the cost of seabed mining in the future should not be very high, and the output is quite considerable."

The expression on Luke's face obviously didn't look like he didn't understand anything. It was obviously meaningless to hide it at this time, so Jiang Chen didn't hide it either.

"You guessed right."

The labor cost is only the wages of the few employees who are stationed on the offshore platform. The underwater equipment is powered by ocean current generators, and the maintenance cost is almost negligible. The only equipment cost is also paid by Yajing, and Jiang Chen, who can't calculate the exchange rate between Yajing and the current currency, has no way to calculate the cost of these equipment.

But one thing is certain, that is, the cost of seabed mining is very low, at least until the advent of space mining.

"It's about the same as my analyst's conclusion." Luke smiled and nodded.

"At present, the global iron, aluminum, copper and other ore markets are already in jeopardy. It is no exaggeration to say that if iron ore prices maintain the current downward trend, 47 mining companies around the world will face the danger of bankruptcy by the end of this year. In the short term, it may be beneficial to us. Favorable, but we are also dangerous in the long run. So, I hope to solve this problem by taking a step back."

"So what is your proposal?" Looking at the smiling Luke, Jiang Chen asked with interest.

"If I remember correctly, you can influence the government's decision-making in the new country. We hope that you can influence the decision-making of the presidential palace and increase the mineral export tax by 50% in the next five years to limit the export of the country's mineral resources." Luke said softly.

It was beyond Jiang Chen's expectation. Originally, he thought that Luke would propose to acquire the technology of Futureman Mining, but he didn't expect him to mention this. He just made such a proposal that would not hurt Futureman Mining.

"Is it to cool investors down by restricting Future Mining's access to the international market? But what good does it do me?" Jiang Chen said with a smile.

"Of course we won't let you do it in vain,

I am willing to provide you with an order for the supply of iron, aluminum, copper and other ores valid within five years. 80% of the current market price of mineral resources. "

For BHP Group, this is indeed a big step backwards. A 20% discount, which is almost supplying ore at cost price, is equivalent to saying that they will work for the Future Group for free within five years, in exchange for the concession made by the Future Group to delay the entry of low-cost ore into the global market.

"Use the power of capital to delay the advent of new technologies?" Jiang Chen said meaningfully.

"You can understand it as paying enough benefits. I hope you can delay the advent of this technology. In an environment of sluggish demand, launching such a technology is not good for the entire market." Luke said seriously.

Having said this, Luke has made the attitude of BHP Group very clear.

For an international mining giant like this, Jiang Chen certainly wouldn't naively think that they would honestly solve problems through market competition. With so many minerals in more than a dozen different countries around the world, their political investment must not be underestimated.

The reason why they raised it was that they didn't want to have a direct conflict with the future group, and they didn't even explain the subtext of the threat. After all, the Future Group is no longer the small shrimp that it used to be. The core industry is mainly in the Internet field, not in resource mining. The two sides can still avoid unnecessary conflicts.

on the other hand. It’s not just the BHP group that has lost its interests. The Vale Mining Company controlled by Rothschild is the world’s largest ore supplier. It’s hard to say that this “coincidence” meeting between him and Luke has nothing to do with Carmen.

At this moment, thoughts in Jiang Chen's mind were spinning rapidly, weighing the pros and cons of this proposal.

If possible, Jiang Chen does not want to confront these mining giants head-on. In the future, people's technology needs a relatively stable development environment to expand their business. At this time, it is undoubtedly an unwise choice to make enemies for themselves. .

What's more, the excess of resources is only for the current situation. This agreement is said to be a step back, but it is really uncertain who will suffer...

Luke waited patiently for Jiang Chen's reply.

He didn't make him wait for a long time, after a moment of silence. Jiang Chen asked.

"Five years? May I ask about the supply?"

"It's up to you." Luke said generously, taking a sip of champagne gracefully.

Hearing these words, Jiang Chen's mouth curled up into a subtle smile.

"80 million tons."

Hearing the number Jiang Chen broke out, Luke almost spit out the champagne he drank.

"80 million tons. Does Mr. Jiang have an idea of ​​the number he gave? I'm not joking. Even if all the steel plants in Xinguo continue to operate for 50 years, I'm afraid they won't be able to process all the iron ore."

In 2015, Hua Guo's annual iron ore import volume was almost 950 million tons, and the land area of ​​Xin Guo was less than half of Hua Guo's province. Let alone five years, even if it is fifteen years, it is absolutely impossible not to eat so much iron ore!

In the eyes of outsiders.

"You don't need to worry about that. Future Group naturally has projects to digest these resources. By the way, the 80 million tons is the total amount of iron, aluminum, copper, nickel and other ores, not just iron ore. Of course, iron ore must account for the bulk of the 80 million tons of ore, accounting for at least 75%." Jiang Chen smiled.

Frowning tightly, Luke hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Up to 50 million tons, and you must guarantee that the ore I provide you at the cost price, you are not allowed to put these iron ores on the international market, and this will be written into the contract."

"No problem. But here I have to say in advance that we may build a factory in neighboring Papua New Guinea to process these ores, and then transport them back to New Zealand." Jiang Chen reminded.

The labor resources in the new country are tight. Jiang Chen intends to transfer these industries with high pollution and high labor demand to neighboring countries as much as possible. As a developing country, New Guinea is undoubtedly a good choice, as well as the budding Moro country.

After thinking for a moment, Luke finally nodded.

"no problem."

"In addition, molybdenum ore, uranium ore, and rare earth resources are not within the scope of the agreement." Jiang Chen continued to propose.

"No problem, the molybdenum ore and rare earth markets are basically controlled by Huaguo, and have nothing to do with us...By the way, is it technically feasible to mine uranium from the seabed?" Luke showed an interested expression on his face. .

"It doesn't work now, but it doesn't mean it won't work in the future. Maybe we can make technological breakthroughs within five years. It's hard to say." Jiang Chen said ambiguously.

"Really? That was a surprise. If you have no other objections, I'm glad we agreed." Luke smiled and raised his glass.

"I wish us a happy cooperation." Jiang Chen raised his glass as well, with a mysterious smile across his face.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of clinking glasses, the business worth tens of billions of dollars was finally settled. There were satisfied smiles on the faces of both contracting parties. Obviously, both parties got the results they wanted.

Luke got a promise from Futureman Mining to bring deep-sea mining technology to the global mining market. Although the 50 million tons of ore will not make money, it will not make BHP Group lose money. With the current market situation, it is already very good to be able to maintain a non-loss performance without reducing production. On the surface, it seems that the BHP Group is "working for free" for the Future Group, but looking at it from another angle, this is not a solution to the excess production capacity of the BHP Group.

As for Jiang Chen, the benefits are obvious. At the floor price, 50 million tons of ore were obtained, which is crucial for the Future Human Group to build a floating city on the sea, a base station at the bottom of a space elevator, and a large habitable space station in the near future.

In less than five years, Luke will regret the contract he concluded tonight.

Overcapacity of resources will always be relative to the present.

The only thing that puzzled Jiang Chen was why Luke could judge with such confidence the cost and output of the mining industry in the future. And when he faced the deep-sea mining technology, he didn't show any intention of acquiring it.

Looking at the wine glass in his hand, Jiang Chen fell into deep thought. (To be continued.) () "I Have a Suite in the End Times" only represents the opinion of the author Chenxing LL. If you find that its content violates national laws and conflicts, please delete it. The position is only committed to providing healthy and green Read the platform. 【】,thank you all!