The first thing that came to mind in Zhang Nan's mind was tungsten with a specific gravity of 19.35, which was similar to gold and similar in color to the metal rod at hand.

Wolfram?

But this speculation was immediately rejected by himself: tungsten rod Zhang Nan had seen it, and he had seen tungsten when he went to the steel mill to purchase tungsten steel drill bits.

Tungsten is not easy to oxidize, and it takes a long time for the surface to lose its metallic luster in the air, but the metal rod on the hand is as shiny as if it has just come out of a furnace.

There are also guys on the side who are speculating whether this is tungsten, Zhang Nan said: "No, the tungsten and tungsten steel in this soaked salt water will cause surface rust for a week, not tungsten." ”

What is that?

I checked the weight of the metal rod again, and it was very overwhelming, but although I was used to holding gold, it was difficult to judge how much difference there was between the proportion of this metal rod and gold.

There are a bunch of metal element names in my mind, and I can't match the number: I have worked as a buyer, but I am not an expert in metal materials, let alone a master of a precious metal processing factory, and I can measure and judge a more accurate material specific gravity by hand.

Keep thinking, keep guessing.

"Steel gray, what is ......"

At this time, a few guys from the kitchen and logistics brought cold drinks, and after the Western chef of the "Big Shark" delivered the chilled freshly squeezed juice, he saw the boss and the captain and his group discussing a few metal rods that had been salvaged, and they also came up to see the excitement.

"I think it's supposed to be tantalum, a metal tantalum rod. ”

"Tantalum?"

Zhang Nan has heard of this thing, but he hasn't seen it, what are you doing?

Seeing that it was Mr. Cook on the ship who was talking, Zhang Nan just wanted to ask him, but Captain Jamie, who didn't think about it, asked first: "Polo, how did you get there?"

This Western chef named Polo is only in his twenties, he is not fat at all, he can be regarded as thin and short among white Americans, and he is 1.65 meters tall.

Hearing the captain's question, Polo hurriedly said: "Mr. Captain, two years ago, my father had a hip problem, and the doctor said that a metal rod should be implanted in the bone. Stainless steel can only be used for twenty or thirty years, and when the age comes, it has to be replaced, and it has to suffer a lot.

If you implant a tantalum rod, even if you go to God after you are 100 years old, there will be no problem with that rod. ”

Speaking of which, the Polo chef's expression became a little gnashing of teeth!

“…… It's so expensive that it's several times more expensive than the stainless steel one, and you have to pay for it yourself if you don't want to queue up.

The family gritted their teeth and changed it, and then, well, I became a contractor...

Not bad, thanks to the generosity of the owner, now it's not bad. ”

In the end, Mr. Chef flattered Zhang Nan in passing: Poverty control due to illness will cause such a problem among Americans even if they have medical insurance.

Insurance is not a disease, and the cost will be paid!

The family wants to cut the thigh and then open the thigh bone for major surgery, of course, this material has been carefully compared, Polo has seen it, and he has also taken the "sample" medical tantalum rod that the doctor showed him.

Judging from the material alone, it is exactly the same as the salvaged metal rods in front of you.

At this time, he also took a root and tried the feel, "Just this thing, the specific gravity is more than 16.6, I have checked a lot of information, I can't forget it, it won't be wrong."

Death is expensive, death sinks!"

The specific gravity of gold is 19.26, which is more important than it, but such a difference in proportion, Zhang Nan and his gang really don't feel it very much.

Well, everyone now knows that this should be tantalum, which can be used as a support frame in the bones, and it is extremely strong, and the hardness reaches 6.5 on the Mohs scale, so it is no problem to cut glass.

As for what else can it be used for......

I don't know!

Polo didn't know, he only cared about his dad's hip.

Feeling that it was not a big road cargo, Zhang Nan said to the captain: "The medical materials in the body of the Cypriot are expensive and can't be standard, Jamie, make a phone call and ask... Forget it, I'll do it. ”

Tantalum, not many people have heard of it, who can Mr. Captain ask?

Or Zhang Nan himself came quickly: his financial parent company has been doing futures business, and there are people in the New York non-ferrous metals exchange, a phone call.

They don't call their own women, and they don't need to be out of the way for such a trivial matter: there are several phone numbers of the company's executives in the newsletter book.

It doesn't matter what time you are, a phone call comes over and tells the other party who you are, "... Find out right away, the recent trading price of tantalum metal... Yes, it's tantalum... Okay, I'll call again in five minutes. ”

Five minutes later, Zhang Nan got a satisfactory answer.

"Such tantalum rods are about $520 per kilogram, and it is estimated that they will rise slightly in the next two years, about the same price as silver. ”

Now some people are happy and some people are scolding!

520,000 US dollars a ton, which is more than 60 times the price of pure tin, is almost in the range of precious metals, and the crew and salvage team members on the ship are of course happy.

It was Polo who scolded his mother: the tantalum rod in his father's thigh bone, according to the weight, the price is many times that of the raw high-purity tantalum rod!

Mr. Captain comforted him: "If you want to open a little, there are still tens of thousands of dollars a pair of leather shoes, and a cowhide is only how much?"

People sell craft!"

Mr. Chef had to figure it out if he couldn't figure it out, and now there was only one question left: how many tantalum rods are down there?

This problem is only known to the little devil who drowned in the sea at the beginning, and it will take time for Zhang Nan and others to figure out this problem.

What did the little devils in World War II use tantalum for?

I don't know, Zhang Nan doesn't bother to pay attention to it, and he doesn't even care about what this thing can do now.

Oh, at least one thing is clear: it can be stuffed into a person's bones!

Use the wired intercom to inform the divers below that they will leave the tin ingots alone for the rest of the operation time, and get a few more metal rods first.

After an hour and a half of searching the seabed, Bruno ordered the divers to float up the dive rope in batches and sections, each of which had to take more than 40 minutes.

"The water is relatively deep, so let everyone get used to it first, and when the supplementary equipment arrives, all divers will launch the water on wheels in stages. ”

Bruno explained why the operation time was shortened, and Zhang Nan said: Safety first!

By the way, tell the diving captain: "If you need to take that set of atmospheric diving, no matter how expensive it is, it is a tool, multi-use, you can't buy it and be reluctant to use it as an ornament." ”

The diving suit worth 500,000 US dollars looks more exaggerated than the astronaut's extravehicular spacesuit, with a maximum operating depth of more than 300 meters, and is used to salvage the remnants of the shipwreck at a depth of 50 meters.

Zhang Nan likes to do this, killing chickens with a knife, one by one, killing chickens with a knife, slaughtering cattle with a knife, beware of being killed by cows!