Iron Ore

"Victor, you need to understand that the world you live in is very special. This is not the world of your previous life, a world with advanced productivity and technology. This world has not even formed a market economy. The reason why Steelworks did not use this kind of hematite in your previous life was that the smelting cost was too high, especially because of its low grade, which made smelting time-consuming and wasteful of materials. But in this world, the labor cost is basically zero for you. You are using slaves to mine it, and you only need to provide them with tools and food. Moreover, you can use manual ore beneficiation to select ores with high iron content for smelting. As for the fuel used for smelting, the cost of Black Oil Pine is also very low. This mine is definitely not a waste for you."

Number One's suggestion immediately enlightened Victor. "It's all thanks to you. I've been suffering from a kind of cognitive impairment, always bringing my past life's ideas into this world."

"Yes, for Two Rivers Territory, the cost of iron ore is not important; what matters is the source and quantity. We need to go to the site as soon as possible to conduct a simple survey to determine the reserves and mining methods of this iron ore."

Victor turned to Rafam and said, "Rafam, you've done a great job. I'm sure we won't be short of iron ore anymore soon."

"That's great, sir. The Steelworks is only taking in and not giving out, and it often stops operating. Keeping two hundred people on the job is keeping me up at night. If I can contribute more to the territory, I can rest easy."

"Rafam, you've done an excellent job. We'll go to that mine together later. I'll come up with a mining plan, and you can arrange for someone to be in charge of the mining." Victor appreciated Rafam's work. Since no one in the territory knew anything about mining anyway, they relied on plans provided by Number One and the Calculation Module to carry out the work. It would be better to find someone who could work with the Steelworks.

"I understand, sir. I will definitely find a responsible and quick learner to take charge of this job. Please rest assured."

The next day, Victor personally led his guards and a few others, including Rafam, to Red Soil Village. They did not rush to the mine immediately, as it was too far away. Considering that they would need to camp in the wild, Victor planned to set off in the afternoon so that they could reach the mine the next morning and conduct exploration during the day.

Victor personally inspected the construction progress of Red Soil Village. Currently, the permanent population of Red Soil Village is not large, with less than 200 households and about a thousand people. The main activity is the cultivation of Iron Bean. In addition to harvesting the 30 hectares of Iron Bean that are ready for harvest, they are also carrying out simple land reclamation for next year. Planting Iron Bean does not require tilling and weeding like other crops. It mainly involves burning the wasteland and clearing stones and trees. This red soil is not suitable for growing other plants anyway.

Victor found Mala, the leader of Red Soil Village. He was also a disabled veteran, but he had been Squad Leader in the Golden Sunflower Territory. His brother was also a soldier. His whole family came to the Northlands with Victor as his brother's relatives. By chance, Victor discovered them and appointed them as the village chief of Red Soil Village.

"Mala, how's the Iron Bean harvest going? Are there any difficulties?"

"My lord, rest assured, we have no shortage of labor and livestock, and we also have the special tools provided by the territory. The harvest is going very smoothly. We have already completed the harvest of 20 hectares, and we estimate that we will be able to finish the entire harvest the day after tomorrow."

"That's good. You still need to sort the Iron Bean. The iron material needs to be picked out separately, and the others that are the right size will be used as seeds and planted next year."

"Sir, we are harvesting and sorting at the same time. Currently, we have basically finished sorting the 20 hectares of Iron Bean we have harvested. This land is indeed very suitable for the growth of Iron Bean. The highest yield per mu is more than 130 kilograms, and the lowest is 80 kilograms. The average yield is more than 100 kilograms, which is more than double the 50 kilograms we initially estimated. If all the harvest is completed, we should be able to harvest 45 tons of iron beans."

Victor was surprised when he heard the number. "45 tons, are you sure, Mala?"

"I'm sure it's at least 45 tons of iron. We've already sorted out 33 tons, and it could easily reach 50 tons."

This figure surprised Victor. If the target of planting 600 to 800 hectares of Iron Bean can be achieved next year, even if the output is reduced, there will still be an output of 800 tons, which is enough to meet the production capacity of the Martin furnace in the Steelworks for seven or eight months.

After encouraging Mala's work, Victor led his team out that afternoon, and under Rafam's guidance, they arrived at the Iron Mountain at around nine o'clock the next morning.

This is a standard open-pit hematite mine. Victor simply walked around the mine and took samples at multiple locations. Number One also imported all this data into the Calculation Module for calculation. The final conclusion was that the grade of this hematite mine was higher than expected, with the best pieces of ore containing nearly 40% iron. The total reserves of the entire mine were at least 20 million tons. Number One also pointed out that this data was not accurate, as they lacked the means to explore the depth of the veins, and 20 million tons was only the most conservative figure.

Victor was very satisfied with this. Not to mention 20 million tons, even 2 million tons would be enough for him. The biggest problem now was that this mine was too far from his territory, and it wasn't even his territory. Victor took out a map and calculated the area and location. This mine was located directly north of Green Valley Territory, only about 40 kilometers away from the settlement of Green Valley Territory.

Victor had an idea. He planned to hand over the mine to James and have James include the approximately 600 square kilometers of land located north of Green Valley Territory in Green Valley Territory. This would also comply with the Duchy's permission for the expansion of James's territory.

However, all of this had to wait until James returned. After making up his mind, Victor did not stay at the mine for long and returned to his territory with some ore.

After returning to their territory, Victor and Number One studied the iron ore mining plan together. They needed to determine where to mine, arrange the transportation methods and routes, and most importantly, the standards for artificial ore beneficiation.

However, with the help of the Calculation Module, the mining plan was quickly completed. Victor carefully examined the plan and said, "Number One, the plan requires us to build a railway track and use Mala trains to transport the ore. Isn't this too expensive?"

"No, Victor, take a close look at the track standard. This track is a wooden rail covered with a layer of iron. Light teak can be used to make the wooden rail, and then steel is hammered with a hydraulic forging hammer to make iron sheet to wrap on it. The durability is also good. In the long run, this is the lowest cost."

"Alright, Number One, you make a good point. Let's do it this way. Everything will be set for next spring."