Fideli from the Ministry of Science and Technology said, "Professor Robben, the alkali-making process you mentioned looks promising, but I still have to interrupt this vision. Since the raw material for this process comes from natural soda deposits, that means this mineral resource carries considerable uncertainty."
"Like coal, it is not abundant in every region. If East Africa's natural soda reserves are not plentiful, then this would clearly face severe constraints."
Robben said, "Director Fideli, I am fairly confident about this. East Africa has not placed much importance on exploring for natural soda deposits. After all, technological limitations and differences in alkali-making processes in the past have left society generally lacking in understanding and awareness of natural soda."
"During my previous field expeditions, I discovered that natural soda deposits are fairly abundant in East Africa, especially within the East African Rift Valley, where many lakes contain natural soda."
"The most noteworthy is Lake Magadi, less than eighty kilometers southwest of Nairobi. I can assure the Ministry of Science and Technology that this lake possesses extremely abundant natural soda deposits. If effectively developed, it could fully meet the nation's current demand for soda ash."
"This natural soda deposit enjoys advantages in both distance and resource reserves. Its extraction costs are quite low, its purity is relatively high, and judging by Lake Magadi's conditions, there should be quite a few similar resource deposits throughout the East African Rift Valley."
As the largest scar on Earth, the East African Rift Valley had always fascinated East African scientists. Even many who were not geologists went there in search of research material, especially botanists and zoologists. Therefore, Robben's discovery of natural soda resources at Lake Magadi did not come as a surprise.
Moreover, Lake Magadi was so close to Nairobi. Eighty kilometers was roughly the