booktalesy Chapter 89 Another Mining Site
Chapter 89 Another Mining Site
In the afternoon, he shot a few more birds and even caught a big fish by the river.
In addition, he also found several clumps of camu berries not far from the riverbank.
Camu camu is a common small red berry here, with a slightly sweet and sour taste, and is rich in vitamin C.
The ripe berries are picked and wrapped in large leaves, which can be served as their evening dessert.
There are still many unripe fruits on the tree; we can pick them later.
Finally, he collected some tender palm hearts.
He walked much further in the afternoon than in the morning, and then he finally made a new discovery.
About three kilometers from the current gold mining factory, the river bends at about 60 degrees.
However, this time the bend is in the opposite direction to the previous one, so the inside of the bend is on the opposite bank.
Zhou Xin had overlooked this situation before; he realized that he had never considered how to cross the river.
Judging from the faint scent of gold in the air, he was quite certain that the bend in the river on the opposite bank was another gold deposit.
Because larger pieces of gold are deposited in riverbeds more quickly, the further upstream you go, the larger the gold particles become.
In other words, the gold particles at this deposition site will be larger than those at the previous one.
This means that the harvest here might be even better.
Therefore, this place is a must-visit.
How are we going to cross the river? And we also need to bring two mules and a lot of supplies.
Although the river is only about five meters wide, it must be several meters deep in the middle.
If it were just people going, they could totally risk swimming across.
Even though there might be crocodiles in the river, it's still worth a try.
But with two mules and a bunch of equipment, they had to find another way.
The only solution Zhou Xin could think of was to build a raft and cross the river by raft.
The raft had to be large enough because, in addition to the equipment, there were two mules.
Of course, you could also consider leaving the mules here, but that would require someone to go back and forth every day to feed them.
After careful consideration, Zhou Xin decided not to take the mule across the river.
His main concern was that he wasn't sure if they could build a raft large enough to carry mules across the river. If the raft capsized or sank in the middle of the river, everything would be over.
At worst, I'll just have to work harder and cross the river once a day.
On his way back to camp, he also picked up some firewood.
Previously, Edward or Alo had done these kinds of chores, but now that they have more important things to do, these chores naturally fell to Zhou Xin.
Back at camp, Edward was overjoyed to hear about the discovery upstream from Edward and Alo.
"I'm certain our harvest this time will exceed 500 ounces!" Edward declared, holding up the jar of gold.
Zhou Xin remained noncommittal; he knew very well that Edward's conjecture was still too conservative.
Perhaps the final harvest this time will far exceed their expectations.
But he didn't voice his thoughts, because nothing is absolute and there was no need to set their expectations too high.
"These two mining sites alone are enough to keep us busy for a month or two. Let's go all out from here!" Zhou Xin said excitedly.
"Full-scale operation!"
"Full-scale operation!"
Edward and Alois echoed each other.
As usual, Zhou Xin started preparing lunch, while Edward and Alo continued working until dark.
In the evening, Zhou Xin made some camu camu into jam and spread it on the big fish he caught in the afternoon. He then added other seasonings he had brought with him to make a grilled fish dish.
This fish was large enough for the three of them to eat.
He planned to save the birds to make bird porridge the next morning.
After finishing their meal, they moved on to the most exciting part: weighing their harvest for the day.
Zhou Xin first poured the gold dust he received into a frying pan to dry it before pouring it into a weighing pan.
11.2 ounces!
In just one day, they harvested 11.2 ounces of gold.
Moreover, a lot of time was spent installing and debugging the equipment this morning, so it can't really be considered a whole day.
If they start working at dawn and continue until dark, that number would increase considerably.
This is the qualitative change brought about by mechanized operations.
"We're really going to be rich!" Edward shouted excitedly as he hugged the silent Alo next to him.
Alo let him choke her, but there was a hint of innocence on her face.
He had little prior experience with gold, only knowing that it was valuable, but he didn't have a clear idea of exactly how valuable it was.
But he was still very happy at that moment because he saw that Zhou Xin also looked very happy.
Zhou Xin was indeed very happy at this moment. Although this gain was within his expectations, he was still extremely excited when he saw his conjecture confirmed.
Judging from this, their gains this time could really be an unimaginable number.
"This is the reward for your hard work, and it also shows that all our previous efforts were worthwhile!" Zhou Xin continued to offer his motivational message.
"That's right, after all the hardships we've endured, we've finally been blessed by Lady Luck," Edward exclaimed.
"Next, you all focus on mining; leave everything else to me."
"Don't worry, I'll keep the machine running from dawn till dusk," Edward assured him.
Zhou Xin and Edward weren't too worried about whether the high-intensity work of the ore washing machine would damage it.
Edward is a top-notch mechanic; he always pays close attention to the condition of the machines and performs timely maintenance.
Moreover, they brought a lot of spare parts and tools with them this time, so even if the machine breaks down, Edward can fix it in a short time.
Under such circumstances, they no longer had any worries and could devote all their energy to the gold mining work.
After bathing in the river, Zhou Xin told Edward and Alo to go and rest, while he stayed behind to keep watch at night.
This place wasn't far from where the jaguar had been spotted before, and he wasn't sure if this was within the jaguar's territory.
Therefore, he dared not be careless in the slightest and could only work harder by having the three of them take turns on night watch.
Considering that Edward and Alo would have to work on the ore washing all day the next day, Zhou Xin decided to stay a little longer and wait until 2 a.m. before going to rest.
If he doesn't sleep well, he can catch up on sleep in the morning.
Now that he has a reserve of ore, he can finally relax a little.
He estimated that the two mines could provide them with enough work for at least a month.
If only we can find another mining site within this month or so.
There is plenty of time; we can certainly slow down.
While making money is important, it's also essential to know how to balance work and rest.
Zhou Xin sat on a rock next to the fire and chatted with Zhang Jianing.
The Starlink equipment was installed, and he could finally connect to the internet, making his leisure time more fulfilling and making his night shifts less unbearable.
They talked until late at night, and only after Zhou Xin's insistence did Zhang Jianing reluctantly hang up the phone.
A gentle breeze blew across the river, while the surrounding jungle was pitch black.
Zhou Xin opened Netflix and found a popular show to watch.