Rebirth 76: Industrial Internet Empire

"This can be discussed! After the on-site survey and the detailed design plan, the total investment can be estimated, and Zhiyuan Group can also calculate how many years of operating rights it will take to recover the cost!" Tony Sassou said.

What Tony Sassou said is actually the helplessness of most backward countries. Their infrastructure is poor, and no matter how much resources they have, they can only sleep underground, and the people still live a miserable life of poverty.

Yang Mo is actually already excited. Congo-Brazzaville is known as the "country of resources", with coal, oil, wood, and various non-ferrous metal minerals. The only flaw is that the coastline is only more than 100 kilometers. If Zhiyuan Group can guard this only deep-water port , then if the Western mining giants want to come here to grab food in the future, they will have to ask me if I agree...

Thinking of this, Yang Mo reluctantly said: "Mr. Minister, although your proposal is not a good investment for Zhiyuan Group, we are old friends who have cooperated for so many years! Don't worry, Zhiyuan We will hire the best port development company to conduct survey, design, and evaluation as soon as possible!”

Tony Sassou continued: "As for the railway from Nabeba to Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville, we are willing to use more mineral development rights to build this railway line!"

Yang Mo shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "Your Excellency Minister, our Zhiyuan investment in Nabeba Iron Mine has basically failed. The high transportation costs and CIF price have far exceeded that of Australia's better-grade iron ore..."

Tony Sassou patiently explained: "It will be different in the future. Once the railway lines and ports are built, the freight will be reduced by more than half!"

"But what about the capital cost of building railways and docks? Nabeba's iron ore is not competitive at all, right?" Yang Mo retorted.

“According to our latest survey results, there is a large, high-grade iron ore vein from Nabeba to Mbalam on the border with Cameroon. We are willing to offer the 30-year mining rights to this large iron ore vein. , to raise funds to build the railway line!” explains Toni Sassou.

Yang Mo widened his eyes and said: "Are you kidding? The construction of this railway line requires at least a billion US dollars. A mere 30-year mining right for an iron mine. Based on the FOB price of iron ore on the African continent, Deducting the construction period of at least 5-7 years for mines and railway lines, I am afraid that half of the cost will not be recovered in 30 years..."

Tony Sassou said: "According to preliminary surveys, the reserves of Nabeba iron ore exceed 10 billion tons and are worth billions of dollars. Subtracting the mining costs and infrastructure construction costs, Zhiyuan still has a lot of profit margins!"

Yang Mo shook his head and refused: "Your Excellency Minister, in business, the investment in this project spans a long time, there are many uncontrollable risks, and the returns are very limited. No company is willing to make this kind of investment unless..."

"Unless what?" Tony Sasu saw a glimmer of hope and asked quickly.

Yang Mo paused and then continued: "Unless after the railway line is completed, just like the terminal, the operating rights will be handed over to our Zhiyuan Group. In addition, the development period of the Nabeba Iron Mine will be increased to 40 years!"

"This is impossible. The Nabeba iron ore vein itself is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, unless you spend another sum of money to purchase the mining rights of the Nabeba iron ore!" Tony Sasu flatly refused.

Yang Mo pondered for a long time and then said: "After the railway line from Pointe Noire to Nabeba is completed, the 30-year operating rights will belong to Zhiyuan Group. The Nabeba iron ore mining rights will be extended to 50 years. Zhiyuan Group is willing to pay an additional US$5000 million. As deferred compensation for the Nabeba Iron Mine.”

"No...no! Mr. Yang, you are changing the concept! The Congo-Brazzaville government only needs to advance a considerable sum of money to compensate for the land acquisition along the railway line. In addition, the mining rights of the Nabeba Iron Mine are worth hundreds of millions. In fact, the Congo-Brazzaville government is the owner of the Nabeba to Pointe-Noire railway line. In view of the fact that the investment in the railway line is indeed large, the Congo-Brazzaville government can give Zhiyuan some preferential exemptions and exemptions in ore transportation costs and taxes, and the operation of the railway line The power cannot be given to you!" Tony Sassou insisted.

Yang Mo shook his head and said: "Your Excellency Minister, even if the reserves of Nabeba Iron Mine can reach 10 billion tons, the commercial value of the 50-year mining rights will not exceed 5 million US dollars at most, and the investment in this railway line may reach [-] million tons." Billion US dollars, this is an investment with completely asymmetric risks and returns!”

Tony Sassou's confidence has begun to waver. Before coming to China, they also made careful calculations and knew that just by using the funds raised from the Nabeba iron ore mining rights to build a railway artery spanning the north and south, there would still be some funding gaps. , but what he didn’t know was that Nabeba’s iron ore reserves far exceeded their imagination...

Tony Sasu pondered for a long time and then said: "Mr. Yang, if after evaluation, there is indeed some funding gap, we still have some mining rights for non-ferrous metal minerals waiting to be developed, which can be used to compensate Zhiyuan Group..."

Yang Mo was waiting for Tony Sassou's words. After thinking for a while, he said awkwardly: "Mr. Minister, do you think this is okay? The 50-year mining rights of Nabeba Iron Mine will be signed at a premium of US$5 million. Next, the railway line from Nabeba to Pointe Noire will be signed after the survey, design, and evaluation reports are released. The funding gap will be offset by you using other mining rights and various roadbed materials such as sleepers needed for railway construction. …”

Without waiting for Tony Sassou to respond, Yang Mo continued to sigh and said: "Who makes us old friends! This investment with no profit margin should be regarded as a congratulatory gift for your promotion to the Minister of Industry!"

After Tony Sasu discussed with his entourage for a while, he agreed to the plan proposed by Yang Mo.

Yang Mo's proposal actually exploited a loophole. Zhiyuan Group is the biggest beneficiary of the railway line from Nabeba to Pointe Noire. With this railway line, the commercial development value of Nabeba Iron Mine will be doubled. !

After obtaining the mining rights of the Nabeba iron ore, Yang Mo struck while the iron was hot and negotiated with Tony Sassou on the joint development of the Soremi copper-lead-zinc mine project. Zhiyuan Group invested US$7500 million to obtain the Soremi copper-lead-zinc mine. With a 35-year mining right, Zhiyuan Group also guarantees that it will invest no less than US$5 million in Soremi within 3500 years for the construction of local water, electricity and other public facilities and infrastructure!

In the negotiation with Tony Sassou, Yang Mo actually did not deliberately use his advantage of foresight to obtain the greatest benefits for Zhiyuan. Considering that Congo Brazzaville is one of the countries with the most stable political power in Africa, Yang Mo was determined to build a Chinese government here. A model of non-cooperation, allowing other African countries to copy...