And, in this aspect, she can definitely be called experienced.

In the 1990s, when she was still a newbie, she had already participated in major domestic exploration missions, and together with her colleagues, she successfully discovered the Dachaidan gold mine in QH Province.

The reserves of that gold mine reached an astonishing 50 tons. After its completion, the annual output has exceeded 3 tons, reaching the scale of a very large gold mine.

After that, Li Jing's footsteps did not stop.

She has participated in many gold mine exploration projects organized by the state and discovered no less than 20 large and small veins. She has played an important role in domestic gold mine exploration work.

And this time, the reason why she came to South Africa was actually assigned by her superiors.

On the surface, what she wants to do is to inspect the ecological environment of the Evander-White River area to provide reference for the resort hotel investment plan.

But actually, she wants one thing:

Roughly inspect the river channels and sandstones in the Baihe area to give a reference opinion on the possibility of the existence of mineral veins.

This work is not easy. Without the support of large-scale equipment, the exploration methods she can use are extremely limited.

Gold pot panning, microscopic observation, and hydrothermal alteration, these three methods that were mature a hundred years ago, are the limits of what she can do.

As for more advanced solutions such as chemical analysis, drilling, etc., there are no conditions at all.

It is precisely because of the poor and primitive conditions that her work has not made any progress even though she has been in Roselle for more than a week.

She has searched all the tributaries near the Baihe area, and has seen almost all the rocks nearby, but let alone the golden sand, she has not found even a little gold dust.

This made her feel a little frustrated, and the guide who had been following her had already lost confidence.

When Li Jing took him up the mountain again, wanting to take another look at the mountain that might contain mineral veins, the guide, although he did not strike directly, could not stop complaining.

"Jing, I know what you do."

"You are not here to inspect the location of the hotel at all, you are here to find gold."

"This is so bizarre. How could anyone look for gold in a place like this?"

"If you want to dig for gold, you should go to Rand, where there are gold diggers like you everywhere."

"They have the same dream as you of getting rich overnight, but I want to tell you that most of them lose everything in the end."

"Wake up, gold mining is not that easy, especially if you only have a hammer and a magnifying glass in your hand, how can you find gold?"

Hearing his words, Li Jing rolled her eyes speechlessly.

She didn't know whether to be grateful or helpless.

Fortunately, this guide was a layman and did not recognize the professional tools in his hands.

Unfortunately, he has been in this nagging state for three days, making himself tireless and even showing some signs of losing confidence.

Is there really no mineral vein here?

It shouldn't be. Judging from the topography, the Evander area is within the scope of the Kaapval Archean craton in South Africa, and is also on the extension line of the main vein of the Rand area.

Theoretically speaking, even if there are not many gold reserves here, it shouldn't be the current situation where nothing can be found at all, right?

In other words, the scope of the Kaapvar Archean Craton is actually not as large as I originally judged, and the Evander-White River area is already on the periphery of its rigid crustal lithosphere?

If this is really the case, then it would be normal to not find gold.

There may not really be any here.

Thinking of this, Li Jing let out a long sigh.

The guide on the side was still nagging, and she could no longer suppress her anger, so she turned around, stared at him, and said viciously:

"Shut up! I paid you!"

The guide was startled by Li Jing, and the sarcastic expression on his face softened a bit, but he still said unconvinced:

"I'm doing this for your own good. What else can you do here besides wasting money?"

"You know, all the gold mining projects in the Baihe area are scams - they are all experience projects set up by tourism companies, do you understand?"

"Those who found gold sand were actually put in secretly by the staff. Only VIP customers have such treatment."

"Jing, you are also a VIP customer, right? At least you used to be, otherwise, you would never be fooled."

Li Jing frowned and continued climbing. She did not doubt the authenticity of what the guide said. After all, such a routine had already been spread in the industry.

But the question is, if the travel company thinks it doesn’t exist, does that mean it really doesn’t exist?

She was a little reluctant, but she didn't know how to refute.

So, she could only continue climbing silently.

When she arrived at the scheduled inspection site, she cut open the rock wall deep into the rock crevice, took out a small sample from it and observed it carefully, then she finally sat down as if resigned to her fate.

No gold, not at all.

The assistant on the side noticed her actions and said with some schadenfreude:

"Look, I said there can't be gold here."

"Let's go. It's almost afternoon. We haven't even had lunch yet. I'm so hungry that I can't walk anymore."

Li Jing took out the kettle from her bag and took a sip, then circled her fingers around the lanyard of the kettle.

She really wanted to give up.

Not because the process is too difficult, but because

Hope is too slim.

Who came up with the idea to explore the Evander area?

Did he really come here?

Or, does he really understand gold mining?

Li Jing shook her head and stood up, planning to take one last look around before going down the mountain to go home.

But at this moment, an unusual color suddenly appeared in her eyes.

Off-white, particles piled up in the shape of hills.

She subconsciously walked forward towards the pile of hills, and the guide on the side followed closely.

"It's just a termite nest, Jing. Are you planning to find gold in it?"

Li Jing ignored him and just stretched out her hand to peel away the pile of mud excreted by termites.

Then, she grabbed a handful of crushed mud, crushed it in her hands, and put her dust-covered hands under the handheld lens she carried with her.

She carefully turned the lens to adjust the focus, her expression not changing at all.

The guide watched her movements nervously and asked:

"How about it? Is there any gold?"

Li Jing did not answer.

After five minutes, she finally put down the camera.

At this moment, her heart was already in turmoil.

Gold powder was actually found in the excrement of these termites.

I never expected that this kind of theoretical possibility that I could only see in books would actually happen to me.

Apparently, there are indeed gold mines in the Evander area.

Moreover, the sandstone host to the gold mine is tightly wrapped by rigid rock layers.

Even the impact of running water is not enough to take them out of the river.

However, termites that live in rock crevices can reach corners that cannot be reached by human power or running water.

And this is the only clue that this gold mine can be discovered.

Although I don’t know what the grade of the ore can be.

But at least. It really does!

Li Jing's face showed a look of relief.

Then, she turned to the guide and said:

"You're right, I shouldn't be dreaming."

"Let's go, we should go back."

"There's really no gold here."

"Not at all."
Chapter completed!