A ship breaking down in the Arctic Ocean could be the worst. In the history of the Arctic, many accidents were caused by ships staying there for too long.
Fortunately, the temperature was relatively high this season, and there was no need to worry about being frozen in the Arctic Ocean. Besides, Li Du was prepared. He took out his satellite phone and dialed a number that Big Ford had given him.
After waiting for a day and a half, a powerful tugboat appeared in their field of vision. A blue flag was hung on the tugboat, and the letters "FM Inc" were printed on it.
Freeport-McMoRan-Inc, one of the world's top ten mining groups, had mines all over the world, including subsidiaries in the Arctic.
Founded in 1912, the mining company mainly mined copper, gold, and molybdenum, with 35,000 employees and an annual output of about $24 billion. One-fifth of the company's shares were in the hands of Ford, or rather, the Ford family.
When Li Du left Severnaya Zemlya, Big Ford gave him the contact information of the FM company's branch in the Arctic, saying that he had spoken to them and that they would do their best to help.
Now that his ship was anchored in the Arctic Ocean, Li Du called the general manager of the Arctic branch, who immediately sent a ship over.
As the two ships approached, the tugboat lowered a small boat, and several people boarded the icebreaker, led by a middle-aged white man with a rough beard.
When he saw Li Du, the middle-aged man smiled and held out his hand as soon as he got on board. "Hello, are you Mr. Li? I'm Mike Dunford. Nice to meet you. "
Li Du smiled back and said, "Hello, Manager Dunford. I'm really sorry to trouble you this time. To tell you the truth, I'm very excited that you could come."
"That's what we should do. I also have to apologize to you. We don't have any spare parts in our base that can match your ship, so we have to tow the ship over and have my partner transport it over so that we can repair the ship," Dunford said apologetically.
Li Du was in no hurry to return. "That's all. Thank you very much," he said.
The towline, made of nylon wrapped in steel cable, was tied to the bow of the Hammerhead Shark. As the tugboat moved at full power, the heavy towline was straightened and moved forward.
FM had a gold mine in the Arctic, southwest of the invisible graveyard. Li Du and the others sailed slowly across the sea and arrived after two and a half days.
This was a small island in the North Pole. The land area of the island was small, but there was a large amount of ice around it, so the overall area was not small.
The two ships docked at the port, and Li Du said, "So there are gold mines in the Arctic? I'm really ignorant. "
Dunford smiled. "Gold was discovered here a long time ago, and the content is quite high. But the natural conditions here are too harsh, and mining is very difficult. It was not until 2000 that the company set up a base here."
The island was a stone island. The gold was in these stones. It was surrounded by ice all year round. It was really difficult to mine. The FM company built a series of buildings on the island. It was like opening up a new world in the barren world of ice and snow.
There were a lot of buildings on the ground, but not many people. Li Du and the others rode in the anti-skid car and drove around the campsite. They did not see many people.
There were no walls around the campsite, and this kind of place did not need the protection of walls, even if gold was produced inside. Because the surrounding area was below zero all year round, and the winter temperature could reach forty to fifty degrees below zero, no one would come here.
However, the camp's protective measures were good. Li Du did not see many people along the way, but he saw a lot of weapons. Brother Wolf pointed out to him that there was a machine gun on the roof of a small building.
Li Du asked, "How many workers are there here?"
Dunford said, "The regular number is twenty, but there are more in the summer to catch up on the project. At present, there are more than forty people."
Li Du was surprised. "So few people? The mining industry needs a lot of labor, right? "
"Mechanization, we use full automation here, so we don't need a lot of people," Dunford said. "Of course, not many people are willing to come here. Staying here can drive people crazy."
Li Du had a deep understanding of this and nodded. "Yes, I've only been in the Arctic for half a month. Staying in a closed space like the ship every day, looking around at only the sea and ice, is really destructive."
Dunford smiled bitterly. "Yes, we don't just stay here for half a month. Each work period is at least half a year, and this is only for the workers. Like me? I've been here for two years! "
"Two years? That's too long, "Li Du exclaimed.
Dunford sighed sadly and said, "Isn't that right? So, Mr. Li, you are obviously a big shot. If there is a chance, can you help me talk to the company and let me leave this place early? "
His words were sincere, and Li Du wanted to help, but he only knew the Ford brothers and was not familiar with FM.
However, he could not refuse at this time, so he said, "I will talk to my friend. If he can influence your company's personnel decisions, I think he will help you."
Hearing this, Dunford laughed and said, "That's great. Come with me. In fact, we are not very boring here. We still have some entertainment facilities."
He took Li Du into a building, which was an activity room with a kitchen. Five cooks were busy in the kitchen, and there were many vegetables in the kitchen. To provide food for the miners, FM had built vegetable greenhouses on the island.
The restaurant included a cafe and a small bar, as well as a variety of recreation rooms, game rooms, billiards rooms, small basketball courts, and even a church.
Seeing the church, Sophie went in and knelt down to talk to God, while Li Du continued to visit.
What he saw now was only the tip of the iceberg. More of the company was underground, because the gold was hidden in the underground ore.
Many underground tunnels had been dug on the island, and automatic mining vehicles were constantly shuttling through them. People had to supervise and maintain them.
In contrast, Li Du's diamond mine in Amengda, South Africa, was too primitive. This was a modern mining model.
However, he was curious about how much gold the mine would produce to break even with such an investment.
Dunford told him that the mine did not cost FM a lot of money to build. The modern mining equipment in it was in the experimental stage, funded by the U.S. government to check the practicality of the equipment.
In addition, FM did not expect to produce much gold here. It was more a place for FM to show its strength, to give investors confidence, and to show that they had the ability to deploy globally.
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