Chapter 494 (1/2)

Chapter 494: New Resources

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

When diaspore reached the gem class, it gave off a dazzling light due to its high refractivity and was highly polychromatic. Unlike other gemstones, which changed from one color to another, it gave off many different colors at the same time, most noticeably red and green. It was obvious why locals called it the multicolored stone. Roland did not connect the stone to diaspore when Barov was introducing it, but he instantly recognized it when he saw it in person.

Also, when diaspore was dehydrated, it would turn into corundum and gem class corundums were the famous ruby and sapphire. Compared to the former, the latter was even more renowned.

However, it was not the gemstones themselves that excited him.

“What about the residue dug out from the mine?” the prince asked excitedly as he closed the wooden box after a long time.

“Are you asking about… the debris from digging the mine tunnels?”

“That’s right, and not just rocks, but mud as well. How did you deal with them?”

“They were all carted out and dumped at the bottom of the mountain.” Denver seemed confused about why the prince was interested in this. “Don’t worry, Your Highness, all good quality ores were carefully picked out and the remains were either broken in the mining process or of poor quality and can’t be polished into gemstones. Moreover, the screening process is done by the most experienced members of my family. They never miss out good quality ores.”

“You’re wrong.” Roland smiled and shook his head. “Those things you dumped… might be the real ‘treasure’.”

“What?” Denver froze in shock, and the other people also seemed confused. None of them could see the mine residue as treasure.

At the time, Roland find it hard to explain this to them, because in this world even steelmaking was difficult to imagine, let alone pure aluminum extraction.

Diaspore consisted mainly of aluminum oxide and was a by-product of bauxite and its discovery suggested that there was probably a large amount of aluminum in this area. That meant, the mud and rocks dumped by them could be used as raw materials for aluminum extraction. As the most abundant metal element in the earth, aluminum was more common than iron and could practically be found everywhere. Lucia could extract small amounts of aluminum from any rock on the ground, but it was clearly not efficient enough for industrial needs. Only places that were rich in aluminum were worth excavating.

This cave in front of him was one of those places.

Roland called Petrov aside and asked quietly, “How has the Crain Family managed this gem mine in the past 200 years? I mean… how did the past lords pay them?”

“I checked Osmond Ryan’s checkbooks, and the payment methods were simple. Every year, the Crain Family could choose a box of second-tier gemstones as their fee in a similar manner as weighing grain,” explained Petrov. “This box is as long and wide as one hand and deep as half a hand, and as long as the cover could be closed, they could take as many gemstones as possible. Of course, the rarest gemstones had to be given to the lord.”

“That means the two gemstones from their family treasure that he just gave me aren’t of the best quality?”

“They really are the best in terms of quality, since he wouldn’t dare to deceive you, but you know that gemstones are always more expensive when they’re bigger.”