"Any questions?" Bai Yifei asked.

Everyone saw Xu Xin suddenly stop, his eyes looked at the ground motionless, and he had an incredible expression on his face.

"Is there a snake?" Qian Duoduo began to shrink back, as if the ground was hot, and he jumped up and down to hide behind others.

Zheng Gaoyi was bold, bent down on the ground where Xu Xin had paused, and pulled the regolith with a geological hammer, but found nothing, "It looks like the Quaternary, nothing special." ”

They couldn't see what Xu Xin saw at all.

They had been walking for half a day, and they had walked for more than a kilometer along the gentle slope of the surface in a wavy general downward slope in the direction of the stratum.

The peridotite of the underground mantle also extends all the way, like a deeper underground penetration.

At their feet, the mantle peridotite has not outcropped the surface, but is buried at a depth of more than 400 meters.

The thickness of the mantle peridotite is thick.

In Xu Xin's line of sight, in fact, in the field of stratigraphic analysis, the geological profile of this place has been drawn:

Quaternary ......

Gravel ......

Siltstone......

Sandstone ......

Granodiorite ......

Granite......

Heaped crystalline pure peridotite ......

Mantle peridotite ......

The rock formations are complex, but when it comes to the mantle peridotite formations, a layer represents a red band of mineralization, which stretches in a zigzag way.

Xu Xin is no longer familiar with such a streamer, which is a sign of mine seeing.

He set up the detection options for chromite.

This ribbon shows that there are continuous deposits in this part of the ground, and the chromite grade is very high.

There is nothing surprising about the discovery of chromite in the ophiolite belt.

The reason why he couldn't help but let out a surprised sound was mainly because the ore layer below the three or four hundred meters he had walked recently had not been broken.

It stands to reason that the chromite here is pod-shaped, and each small ore body exists separately in space, and basically will not be connected.

Being able to use the stratigraphic horizon to see this patch of red bands is only seen in sedimentary deposits.

Could it be that there is a problem with the system?

Xu Xin was a little unsure for a while.

"Demonic obstacles?" Qian Duoduo patted Xu Xin on the shoulder.

"It's fine."

Xu Xin retracted his thoughts and raised his head to show a smile at everyone.

"You scared me, I thought we had hit a ghost, just like those adventure monsters and thieves wrote, into the deep mountains and old forests? Haunted by ghosts? Lose your mind, and then cut off all your companions. Qian Duoduo was terrified and cranky.

"Don't scare yourself!"

Bai Yifei reminded him? Looking at Xu Xin's demeanor, he is quite calm? A little relieved, he worried: "Is there something in your body that you don't feel well?" ”

"No, no."

Xu Xin shook his head? Hurriedly changed the topic and said, "Teacher Bai, you said it earlier?" Very optimistic about the prospecting potential of this project here? Can you tell us about the specific metallogenic characteristics here? ”

Bai Yifei did say this before.

He also said that he wanted to use this project to dispel the company's doubts about him, and he was ashamed.

Along the way? Are they chatting hotly? Most of them are talking about what they see in front of them.

From the different rock layers and lithologies of each stratum, to the impact of the collision of the entire continental plate on the geology here, there was also a period of time to chat with Zheng Gaoyi about the various stresses caused by plate movements.

Now that Xu Xin mentioned it, he remembered that he hadn't properly introduced his thoughts on this project.

"That's right? I was very optimistic about the prospects of this project. ”

He didn't deny this, and he seemed to be able to see the strength of not admitting defeat in his eyes.

Pity? The project died when he left Western Metals.

Everyone else is listening with their ears pricked up? Only Qian Duoduo was gasping for breath.

"Have you heard of Tongshan Iron Mine?" Bai Yifei asked.

Everyone shook their heads, except Mucha.

"A deep extra-large magnetite mine that we found in China at the end of the last century." Mucha replied, "Mr. Bai? Are you talking about this Tongshan iron mine? ”

"Yes." Bai Yifei nodded? Then he continued to ask, "Do you know this extra-large magnetite?" How did you find it? ”

Mucha shook his head.

Bai Yifei only then began to tell the prospecting story of Tongshan Iron Mine: "In fact, the story of Tongshan Iron Mine, you can find it on the Internet, is not a secret. As early as the sixties and seventies of the last century, in a basin near the sea in the east, geologists found that there was a strange magnetic anomaly there, and this magnetic field anomaly was very extensive! ”

"Since there is a magnetic field anomaly, doesn't it prove that the underground magnetite, this feature is too obvious, what's so strange about this!" Although Ma Xianlin said this, his heart was still full of expectations for Bai Yifei's next story.

"Yes."

Bai Yifei nodded, and agreed with Ma Xianlin's words, "A wide range of magnetic field anomalies are easy to measure, and some people once felt that there was a danger like Bermuda, and the plane was once lost in the sky over that area." As professional geological technicians, many geological seniors are very sober and think that there is very likely to be a magnetite deposit there, and the deposit must be not small! ”

"And then?" Zheng Gaoyi's eyes were full of anticipation.

"A lot of money and manpower have been invested in prospecting."

After Bai Yifei finished speaking, he sighed, "After twenty or thirty years of hard work, people have not found even a small magnetite deposit in that area. ”

"Then you said there was a very large magnetite deposit there." Qian Duoduo's birth reminded Bai that it was not an inconsistent word.

"Yes, there's a very large deposit there."

Bai Yifei beckoned everyone to sit down, just taking advantage of this time to rest and chat, "It was not until the end of the last century that the progress of various prospecting technologies completely solved the mystery of the large-scale magnetic field anomalies in the area of Tongshan Iron Mine.

True, the magnetic anomaly there is indeed caused by magnetite deposits.

The reason why no one could find iron ore in the previous decades was because Tongshan Iron Mine was a hidden deposit! ”

"What is a hidden deposit?"

"It's deposits that don't have much of a mineralization feature on the surface."

Bai Yifei said with great emotion, "Tongshan Iron Mine, it took twenty or thirty years to prove the reserves and solve the mystery of the magnetic field anomaly, the key problem is that the deposits there are almost buried below one thousand meters, and even many deposits below two or three thousand meters deep have not been fully proved until now."

It can only be said that with the development and update of technology, prospecting work will become more and more refined and deeper. ”

It's a really amazing story.

However, Xu Xin was still full of doubts, "Mr. Bai, I still don't understand, what is the connection between this prospecting story of Tongshan Iron Mine and the chromite project in our current land?" ”

"You forgot?" Bai is not a rhetorical question.

"Forgot something?" Xu Xin was puzzled.

"The prospecting of chromite is a key technical means, which is geophysical prospecting!"

Bai Yifei looked around with a smile and quipped: "We are both from geophysics, and we just left school, so we can't return all the things we learned to the teacher!" ”

The so-called geophysics literally means the theory of the physical properties of the earth.

Every object, whether it's a cold stone or a human flowing with blood, has different physical properties.

Ultramafic rocks are generally more magnetic, often because they contain chromite.

In the search for chromite, magnetic field measurement is an important means.

Xu Xin did not forget, because when he carried out the Jingfeng diamond exploration project in the past, he had seen different kinds of magnetic field anomaly maps.

"Are you saying that there is also a large area of magnetic field anomalies in this area?" It dawned on him.

"That's right."

Bai Yifei said, and gestured to Mu Cha.

Mucha took out a few drawings from the backpack he was carrying, the drawings were very new, but they had become crumpled because they were squeezed into the backpack.

He spread out the drawings and laid them on the ground.

Everyone looked down at the drawings in order to come over.

Even the three local villagers who came with them stared at a few drawings with a curious expression, their eyes were full of confusion, and they did not understand the content of these drawings.

Bai Yifei glanced at the drawing, and quickly found the location on the drawing, and pointed a little to a large reddish area in the middle, "We are in this place now." ”

At the edge of the drawing, there is a legend, which explains the different meanings of the various colors in a simple and clear way.

The deeper the red area, the stronger the magnetic field.

Light red, brownish yellow, light yellow, light blue, dark blue...... As the color changes, it means that the strength of the magnetic field gradually decreases.

"Where we are now, it's pale red, which means that there is a certain magnetic anomaly here, but the intensity is not particularly high." Zheng Gaoyi soon discovered the trick.

Ma Xianlin also found another feature, "Although the magnetic field anomaly here is not very high, but the range is very large, you see, this large area, all light red, can be distinguished at a glance on the whole map." ”

"What does this mean?" Qian Duoduo is still confused.

"You're right." Bai Yifei looked at these pictures, and couldn't help but recall the memories of working here many years ago, and said slowly: "Not only here, in fact, in many places, as long as aeromagnetic surveys are carried out, many abnormal halos can be found. The difference here is that the magnetic field anomaly here is not particularly high, but it is very wide. ”

"Does it mean there's a very large magnetite underground?" Qian Duoduo made a bold guess.

Bai Yifei shook his head, "We have carried out surface work, and we have not found that there are mineralization conditions for iron ore in shallow strata. Therefore, at that time, I concluded that this land, deep underground, has great prospecting potential! Maybe it's chromite, maybe it's magnetite, no one knows. ”

"Can we mine here now?" Zheng Gaoyi asked a question that only a layman would ask.

He has no experience working in a front-line production unit and does not understand the process of prospecting work.

Bai Yifei smiled slightly, did not puncture the absurdity of this question, and shook his head, "We must have no choice now." ”

"It's a pity." Xu Xin said regretfully.

Bai Yifei knew that Xu Xin was sorry for the projects he carried out a few years ago, and he himself didn't think so.

"In order to study the magnetic and gravitational anomalies here, I actually did a lot of analysis work, and I used various formulas to calculate the data model alone. At that time, I did convince the company leaders to set up a project here. It is a pity that the surface work has been completed after only a few months of work, and even the prospecting in the shallow part has not been completed, let alone the deep prospecting. ”

"In fact, we have already planned the workload of deep prospecting in the project implementation plan, and the budget has been approved." Mu Cha remembered his previous experience and said bluntly: "Later, Mr. Bai left, and the newly appointed leader in charge denied the work direction set by Mr. Bai, and the project was put on hold. ”

It's all old things, gone with the wind.

Seeing that everyone's mood was a little low, Bai Yifei was very calm, and even opened his mouth to comfort: "There is nothing to regret." In fact, every prospecting project, before the implementation, will conduct an in-depth analysis, and only when it is determined that there is great prospecting potential, will it be truly implemented. This project, like every other project, looks like it has great prospecting potential, but in fact, if you really have to drill a few deep holes, you may not be able to see the mine. ”

He looked at Xu Xin and said with a smile: "You have also been working like this for a long time, and you must also know how huge the investment in prospecting work is." Especially in Gaoshan Province, the cost of drilling is much higher than that of Heijin Province. Let's talk about the relocation of a deep hole drilling rig, under the harsh conditions here, the relocation fee alone is tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. As for the technical cost of drilling, it is even more high. A deep hole is millions at every turn. ”

Many places here are not open to traffic, and many times they rely on manual lifting machines, which is naturally very expensive.

Xu Xin understood this and nodded in agreement.

At the same time, he was also looking down in contemplation.

"A deep hole is millions, and I can't afford to kill me." Ma Xianlin was a little surprised, looked up and saw Xu Xin and Qian Duoduo shoulder to shoulder, and said with a smile: "If you beat these two to death, you will be able to afford this money." ”

"That's a shame, we can't be sure if there's a mine underground." Zheng Gaoyi was also quite emotional, "Maybe this is another Tongshan iron mine, a super-large magnetite mine, and because of money or various reasons, it will be delayed for decades to solve the mystery." I don't know if we can witness the day when the mystery will be solved. ”

Bai Yifei has a lot of experience, although he has experienced this matter personally, he is very open in his mentality, and said with relief: "I have told you so much, and I want to highlight it." Geophysics is actually a very promising subject, although there are not many students who apply for this major every year, and many people have not even heard of it. But it can't hide its importance. ”

"I think Mr. Bai is right." Zheng Gaoyi felt that his thoughts resonated with Bai Yifei.

Bai Yifei continued to take classes: "Astrophysics says that studying outer space can get more attention and preference from the general public. In fact, looking down at our feet, we humans have a very limited understanding of the home we live in, the planet under our feet. The area we know well is actually limited to a very thin layer of the outer ring of the earth's crust, perhaps one or two kilometers. The planet under our feet, with a radius of thousands of kilometers, has too many unknowns in it that are worth exploring. ”

Zheng Gaoyi was deeply touched and said proudly: "In fact, many people who study basic sciences such as mathematics or physics have gone to graduate school, and many of them have transferred to our major. ”

"Yes, it is difficult to make breakthroughs in basic disciplines, and there are too many directions in which regional physics can achieve results!"

Bai Yifei turned his head and said to Xu Xin and Qian Duoduo: "Don't talk about the direction of scientific research, let's just say that the technology of front-line production work, geophysical surveying, will become more and more important, I don't know if you feel this way?" ”

"How do you feel?" Qian Duoduo was still confused.

"For a long time, in the prospecting work, geophysical surveying is often used as a means to assist geological work, but it is only a supporting role, and geological expertise is the protagonist. Not only prospecting work, but also real estate exploration, highway exploration, railway exploration, etc., whether it is looking for karst caves, or looking for soft soil layers, geophysical surveying is mostly used as an auxiliary means, geological work, drilling engineering, is the final finale. ”

Bai Yifei opened the painting gate, and there are a lot of things to say, all of which are from the bottom of his heart: "Now deep prospecting has become more and more the mainstream direction, and geophysical prospecting technology has become the most critical prospecting technology." Geological technology, staying on the surface, seeing with eyes and touching with hands, no longer works for deep prospecting. Perhaps in the future, geophysical prospecting technology will continue to progress, and the circle volume of the ore body may be determined only by geophysical prospecting, which will really completely abandon the technical means of drilling engineering with huge cost and large time span. ”

In fact, his words also represent the thoughts of many geologists involved in this industry.

This can be said to be a vision.

After all, the technical force is not advanced and strong enough.

When everyone heard this, they all nodded their heads in agreement.

Xu Xin also felt that Bai Yifei was right, but what he thought more about in his heart was more practical thoughts.

"Mr. Bai, do you think it is feasible for our book to set up a chromite project here?"