Gold Rush Starts in the Bering Sea

Chapter 115: Finalizing the Ore Washing Equipment

In the office, Muster handed over coffee and said, "Mr. Jason, what type of mining rig would you like?"

"Any recommendations?" Although he had been panning for gold for so long, Jason really didn't know anything about this.

Muster was somewhat worried. Although he knew from yesterday's phone call that the young man was unfamiliar with the equipment, seeing Jason's youthful face today confirmed his suspicions.

But his good professional ethics made him patiently begin his explanation.

Muster placed the brochures and information in front of Jason and explained each item in detail.

"This is a drum washing machine, also known as a drum screen. Simply put, it uses water flow and mutual collision to wash the ore. The filter screen separates the stones from the gold-bearing sand. It can also be equipped with a high-pressure water gun to effectively treat clay. It is suitable for dry placer mines with high clay content and is the choice of many gold prospectors."

"This is a trough-type ore washing machine. It uses two spiral blades inside a semi-circular trough to powerfully agitate and soak and wash the ore. It is specifically designed for difficult-to-wash ores and mining areas containing highly plastic clay."

"This is a vibrating ore washing machine. It uses high-frequency vibration combined with water flow to loosen and separate the material on the screen surface and separate the gold-bearing ore sand. It has a simple structure, is easy to maintain, and is suitable for many mining areas."

"This is simpler; it's a mobile gold mining vehicle that integrates a vibrating screen, sluice, and other components onto a movable chassis. It can be used immediately upon stopping and starting, and its modular design makes it suitable for multi-site operations or trial mining. It is typically used when frequent relocation is required or for mining exploration."

"The last one is the ore washing unit, which is a system that integrates multiple functions such as ore washing, screening, sluice, and jig. It has a high overall recovery rate and a complete process flow. It is suitable for large and medium-sized placer gold mines with high requirements for gold recovery rate, especially mining areas where fine-grained gold is the main component. However, the investment is relatively high."

Muster explained as he flipped through the pages, and at the end, he sat down and asked, "Mr. Jason, what type of mining rig would you like?"

"Let me catch my breath first."

Jason's mind was buzzing at that moment.

Despite Muster’s nonchalant tone, Jason found it all to be like listening to gibberish.

Jason decided to stop thinking about it, closed the catalog, and asked directly, "My mine mainly produces sand and gravel. It has a water source, but it's quite dry. The equipment needs to run 24 hours a day. Do you have any recommendations?"

Upon hearing this, Muster sat up straight and asked professionally, "Is transportation convenient? What is the required daily throughput of sand and gravel? And what is your budget?"

Jason "..."

Jason genuinely didn't understand any of this, but luckily he brought the materials with him!

Jason took out the data that Angel had prepared from his bag and handed it to him, saying, "Mr. Muster, this is the geological situation of my mine. If possible, could you help me calculate it?"

Muster "..."

This time, he was dumbfounded.

Having worked in the machinery factory for so many years, I've seen plenty of oddballs, but this is the first time I've ever seen anything this bizarre—having a machinery factory owner do this calculation!

After staring at the documents in front of him in silence for a long time, Muster reached out and took them.

There's nothing we can do; business is tough. After all, the customer is king.

"Leo, come here."

Soon, an elite young man knocked on the door and came in. Muster handed him the documents and said, "Here are some documents. Take a look and see if you can calculate roughly how much soil is needed."

Leo paused, his expression turning strange, and asked, "Boss, are you sure?"

Muster nodded: "Yes, is there a problem?"

Upon hearing this, Leo put the documents he was holding back on the table, saying with difficulty, "Boss, you overestimate me. I have no experience in this area."

"I can do the calculations for our machines, but this is a bit too much for me."

They only gave me a basic understanding of the geological conditions; how am I, a layman, supposed to calculate that?!

Muster asked, "Mr. Jason, what do you think?"

Jason tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Okay, tell me what data you need, and I'll see if I can provide it."

"Mr. Jason, just tell me the area and depth your mine needs to be mined."

"It's that simple?!"

Leo nodded: "Yes."

Jason was speechless. "You should have said so earlier! If you had, I would have just given up myself. He thought it was going to be difficult. Why did you have to talk so professionally?"

Jason did a quick calculation and found that the gold-rich area in the mine was about 600 meters long, 70 meters wide, and 23 meters deep.

Based on this calculation, the volume is 966000 cubic meters, which is nearly one million cubic meters.

Jason did a quick calculation and said directly, "About one million cubic meters of soil."

Leo then asked, "Is there a plan for how long the mining will take?"

"The plan is for within two years, but things may change." Jason wasn't in a hurry since the mine had already been acquired; the price of gold would only increase as mining progressed.

Leo "..."

Muster "..."

Well, that's what happens when someone doesn't plan.

Coming to his senses, Muster first waved for Leo to leave, then turned to Jason and asked, "Mr. Jason, what is your budget?"

Two years, one million cubic meters of soil, any kind of ore washing machine can handle it, now it just depends on the budget.

Jason shook his head: "No, that's not available either. It depends on how much your equipment costs."

Muster almost cursed out loud. So there was nothing there at all, and they were just here to have fun!

At this point, he had lost much hope for Jason's deal.

"Mr. Jason, according to you, all the equipment in our factory can meet your requirements."

"Of course, based on our after-sales service and maintenance, the ore washing unit is currently the best on the market. Its process is relatively complete, the failure rate is low, and the gold recovery rate is high." Muster made the decision directly for Jason, testing his attitude.

"Can."

"How much?"

Jason didn't hesitate and made a decision immediately.

Muster was taken aback, then overjoyed: "The price depends on the configuration. Please wait a moment, I'll get you the detailed information."

After saying that, he turned around and found the documents on the bookshelf behind him, handing them to Jason.

"Mr. Jason, the ore washing unit consists of a feeding system, ore washing equipment, screening equipment, agitated/fixed sluices, jigs, centrifugal concentrators, water supply equipment, power system, tailings discharge system, frame/mobile chassis, and so on," Muster explained as he flipped through the pages.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Jason interrupted immediately. "Just tell me which one you see most often and which one sells the most."

Muster felt like his sincerity had been wasted. No matter how professional he was or how much knowledge he had, it was all useless to talk to someone who knew nothing.

Fortunately, Muster didn't know anything about China, otherwise he would have said something like "casting pearls before swine".

However, he finally saw Jason for who he really was. To sum it up in six words: He's rich but clueless about the business!

After calming down, Muster took the information in his hand and made the decision for Jason directly.

"This, this, and these too."

The various components of the unit were disassembled and laid out in front of Jason in batches so that he could see them more clearly.

Jason nodded and asked, "Approximately how long will the process take? And how much will it cost?"

Muster replied, "The timeframe is about two months, and the price is around 200,000 US dollars."

Jason tapped his fingers lightly on the table without answering. After a long while, he stood up and said, "I understand. I'll take these documents back first, and I'll contact you again if I'm sure."

Jason had no objection to the price, but he found the timing somewhat unacceptable.

The initial equipment for the mine has already been brought in. Although we can clear the overburden layer first and then wash the ore after the washing equipment arrives, two months is undoubtedly too long.

"No problem, contact me anytime if needed." Muster was not disappointed and also stood up and reached out his hand.

They shook hands, and Jason left with the documents.

Sitting in the back seat, he rested one hand on his face and the other on his raised knee, his fingers tapping lightly.

Dolino glanced at Jason, who was deep in thought with his eyes closed, through the rearview mirror and asked softly, "Boss, where are we going now?"

Jason replied, "Let's go back to town first. We'll probably have to stay here for a few more days."

He didn't know much about the equipment, but he did know to compare prices from different vendors.

Although Muster gives off an impression of honesty in both appearance and speech, one can never truly know what's in someone's heart.

"Anna, it's me, Jason. I wanted to ask if you know of any other places that sell washing equipment besides Muster Machinery Factory?"

"Okay, thank you."

Jason rubbed his temples after hanging up the phone.

After all, this isn't the era of rapid internet development that will occur a decade or two later, when obtaining information is incredibly easy. It's nothing like now, where even finding a machine factory is difficult.

As a town primarily based on agriculture and secondarily on tourism, Mildura is filled with cultivated land and grapevines, where many workers are busy at work.

Considering the location of the Muster Machinery Plant, it would be very difficult to find a manufacturer selling ore washing equipment in the town.

Back at the hotel, Jason asked the locals for advice.

Ultimately, with the help of cigars and tips, Jason managed to inquire at two other establishments.

One is also a machinery factory, located not far from the town, while the other is a second-hand rental company that specializes in renting various types of machinery and equipment, including ore washing equipment.

In the hotel, Jason inquired about the machine factory's quote based on the information he had brought back that day. The prices were similar, but the timeframe would be three months.

As for the leasing companies, they currently do not have ore washing units; they mainly rent excavators and bulldozers, and their ore washing equipment is only simple, small-scale dry ore washing machines.

After asking around in the town for two days, I only got a few results.

Considering distance, transportation costs, and timeframe, Muster Machinery Plant is undoubtedly the best option at present.

Once the idea was set in mind, Jason didn't hesitate any longer and made the decision immediately.

Three days later, Jason and his team returned to Muster Machinery Factory to discuss the details, sign the contract, and pay a deposit.