Chapter 724 The Second Kingdom Exploration, Moa Nickel-Cobalt Mine, Maria Iron Mine

Lively conures, swaying their bright red neck feathers, watch the excitement in the grove on the red soil. They chattered around, watching the large group of bipedal beasts digging holes in the red stone hills, like crocodiles before laying eggs on the seashore. Even the unexpected rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of the birds.

In fact, during this season of plentiful food and abundant rainfall, there is not much that the animals on the island of Cuba, like the people, can do.

This time the exploration of Red Earth Mountain lasted for three full days. On the one hand, due to the impact of rainfall, the exploration progress was delayed. On the other hand, it was the priest Mecat who encountered a problem. He was extremely sure that the taste of these laterite ores was wrong, they would not melt when burned, were heavy and hard, and had some magnetism. They must be a kind of mineral deposit! However, due to the lack of divine knowledge, he still could not identify what kind of mines these were.

"It's not copper, it's not lead, it's not tin, it's not gold or silver, it's not precious stones. There may be iron, but it doesn't seem to be the same as what your Majesty described, and the magnetism isn't quite enough. Ah! Lord God! Please grant me more knowledge. Bar!."

After painful thinking, when faced with the question from Priest Tomat, the divine priest Mecat spoke frankly. These minerals are beyond his cognitive ability and require another expert.

"Everyone should investigate carefully, collect some stone samples, and go back to give an explanation to His Highness! Maybe His Highness can recognize it."

Priest Tomat made a suggestion, and Chihuaco, the old militiaman, nodded in agreement. Of course, they both thought too much, and Shulot couldn't recognize the minerals here.

Soon, the group of warriors scattered around and roughly measured the scope of the red and gray stone mineral deposits. It is estimated that this mining area is more than ten miles long just from the surface, let alone underground. Then, everyone simply collected some different ore samples, including red and gray, white and yellow, and black. They didn't know if they were the same mineral.

After finishing this task, everyone bid farewell to this "treasure mountain" and waved goodbye to the Moa Nickel Ore Belt. This large-scale nickel ore belt of astonishing scale stores nearly one-third of the world's proven nickel reserves in later generations! The storage forms of these nickel ores include both red nickel ore, nickel iron ore, and the more precious nickel-cobalt ore!

right! Nickel cobalt ore, focusing on "cobalt ore". Cuba's cobalt mine production ranked among the top five in later generations, and now it is all deposited here. And "cobalt", an element crucial to lithium batteries, will not truly shine until hundreds of years later.

After the heavy rain stopped, the fleet was replenished and set sail again. The Taíno tribes on the island of Cuba are not short of food, and their attitudes are very friendly, making it easy to replenish water. Well, at least it was much easier than in the Mayan Lowlands.

The kingdom's fleet sailed with the wind and traveled more than 200 miles in two days before entering a natural bay. Everyone then arrived at the most important destination of this exploration, Mayari.

"Praise the Lord God! We have sailed nine thousand miles and finally arrived here! According to the voyage records of the Mayapan fleet, the predicted large iron mine in Cuba should be in this area!"

When everyone arrived, their faces were filled with hope. The priest Tomat has bright eyes, the old militiaman Chihuaco has a smile on his face, Puap is eager to try, and the only real guide is the Mayan businessman Tikalo, who is sweating like rain and sitting on pins and needles.

"Hoo! Hoo! It's so hot on Snake Island in Cuba in August! Even if I only wear a robe, I can't stop sweating. Yes! We will set off tomorrow, taking the local guide and following the instructions in my hand. record, go to the south to find big iron mines!”

Ti Carlo forced a confident smile on his face, while his heart was beating like a drum. In fact, he had never seen the "Iron Mine" in person. What he relied on along the way was the encrypted voyage records in his hand that only members of the Cocom royal family could read.

According to records, the Cocom family's caravan indeed discovered a giant black-ash mine here, and picked up the "black gem" presented to His Highness, which is what His Highness called the "chromite spinel." It can be said that these "black gems" were the earliest introduction to the exploration of Cuba, opening up the entire difficult and distant route!

"O Lord God! If the fleet is here and cannot find the large iron ore on Cuba's Snake Island, then what should I do? The leaders on the ship will definitely tear me alive and sacrifice them piece by piece to the Lord God. ! ”

That night, Tikalo lay on the straw bed in Maria, tossing and turning, unable to sleep all night. He prayed lowly to the Lord God, with a rare sense of piety.

The moonlight was like water, and the surrounding villages were quiet. For tomorrow's iron ore exploration, even the sailors who landed said goodbye to the enthusiastic Taino woman and took a rest early. This journey of nine thousand miles has only the last and most important ending left.

The next day, when the sky was dark and the jungle parrots had not yet started crowing, Priest Tomat, wearing a sacrificial robe and carrying a copper ax, knocked open the hut of Tikalo. The samurai and sailors on the ship were fully armed, and a hundred people were dispatched. Under the leadership of Ti Carlo with a nervous expression, everyone couldn't wait to go to the mountains in the southeast.

However, Ti Carlo's nervousness at this time was actually unnecessary. Given the astonishing scale of the Mayali Iron Ore Belt, as long as the approximate location is determined, even if it is more than ten miles away, it cannot be missed.

The group of people set out from Mayari and walked for only an hour when the compass in the hand of Priest Mekat began to spin crazily. That kind of crazy scurrying energy is like a male hummingbird in heat and unable to find a mate.

"Ah! Lord God! We, we are here!"

Priest Mekate shouted in surprise and was the first to run up the hill in front. Then, the old militiaman and Priest Tomat exchanged a glance, and followed the uneasy Tikalo up the hill. At this moment, everyone's vision was instantly widened and everything was visible!

"Lord God! This blind man!"

Old militiaman Chivaco stared blankly at the front, his old face twitching in shock. In front of him, a black, gray and red mountain range was quietly lying among the sparse grass and trees, stretching as far as the eye could see, almost extending across the entire horizon. If these were all iron ore, then it would be an iron ore mountain range beyond everyone's cognition.

"This! Really? All of them are iron ore? Did that blind man really say it?"

"Praise the Lord God!!"

Priest Mekate shouted and continued to run down the hill quickly. He held the compass that was spinning wildly in one hand and a small mining hammer in the other. Then, he picked up a piece of black and red ore that could be found everywhere, knocked off some powder, and held it in his mouth to feel it.

"It tastes a little salty, a little fishy, ​​and a faint smell of blood! This is, this is, this must be"

Priest Mecart paused, his face was so excited that he was about to shine.

"Praise the Lord! This is the iron ore! The whole mountain, the whole mountain range, is all iron ore!"

"Ah! Ah! Lord God bless! We finally found the predicted Cuban iron mine!"

Hearing the affirmative judgment of Priest Mecart, Priest Tomat immediately knelt on the ground, raised the sun amulet around his neck, and prayed loudly. His eyes were filled with tears, but his face was full of smiles.

"Praise the Lord! Praise His Highness! Our voyage has finally reached the end!"

"Praise the Lord! Praise His Highness! Awooo!"

Puap pulled out the copper axe, screamed and shouted wildly, and hundreds of kingdom warriors also howled fanatically. And in the cheers of the crowd, the Mayan merchant Ticaro looked blank. He stood there for a long time, and suddenly shouted wildly.

"Praise. Lord!"

The deafening cheers resounded throughout the forest. The accompanying Mayari guide Heishi blinked his eyes, at a loss. He didn't know what these tribes from afar were so excited about. These were just the most common black stones, as ordinary as his name. He looked into the distance in confusion. Compared with the past, this black, gray and red black stone mountain range was no different. And such ordinary scenery has been seen by the villagers of the tribe for countless years.

"Hua Yahei! What a strange longboat tribe!"

The guide Heishi pulled his hair and muttered in a low voice. But after a while, he looked at the happy people and cheered happily. Because he heard the joyful shouts of the translator Kuba, repeating the declaration of the longboat leaders.

"Drink fruit wine tonight! No one is allowed to leave unless they are drunk!"

The boiling shouts echoed in the sparse forests, startling the flying birds in the sky. The Mayali iron ore belt, with a reserve of more than 2 billion tons and extending for dozens of miles, has been sleeping quietly in front of everyone, spanning tens of millions of years, waiting to be disturbed by future generations.