There was a ridiculous deal in history, 80,000 tons of pork for 80,000 tons of slag, which seemed illogical, but in fact reflected Japan's proposal in a period of food scarcity and people's difficult lives.
They proposed to exchange one kilogram of pork for one kilogram of "waste ore" in China, and exchange 80,000 tons of pork for 80,000 tons of waste ore refined in the Keketuohai No. 3 pit at one time.
This proposal could have alleviated the crisis of food shortage in our country, and exchanging scrap ore for pork was also a profitable deal, which can be called "a pie-in-the-sky good thing".
However, our revolutionary forefathers rejected this proposal. Their strategic vision can only be understood by an in-depth understanding of the historical context.
Keketuohai No. 3 Pit, a pit that hides a huge secret, not only has precious ore resources, but also plays an important role in the long history.
On October 16, 1964, a mushroom cloud rose over Lop Nur in Xinjiang, marking China's successful possession of the atomic bomb and straightening its waist to speak on the international stage.
All these achievements are inseparable from the contribution of Keketuohai No. 3 pit. This pit not only provides the necessary ore raw materials, but also cultivates a large number of scientific researchers who have quietly contributed and dedicated themselves to the cause of national defense.
Although Japan was willing to exchange a lot of wealth for the ore here, our country finally rejected their proposal out of its determination to protect *** and independently develop.
The Keketuohai No. 3 Mine, a pit that will be remembered by history, will continue to contribute to the prosperity and development of the country.
Located in the northeast edge of the Junggar Basin in Xinjiang, at the southern foot of the eastern end of the Altai Mountains, the Keketuohai No. 3 pit is known as the highest mine in China, with a length of 250 meters, a width of 240 meters, and a depth of 200 meters.
The winding road on the side wall of the pit is spiral-shaped, like a straw hat placed backwards. From 1955 to 1967, in order to develop national defense forces, the Keketuohai No. 3 pit disappeared from the map of the republic under the code name "111 Mine" and was only circulated among insiders.
Today, its full name is "No. 3 Vein of Keketuohai Rare Metal Deposit in Fuyun County, Xinjiang", which is a rare mineral treasure in the world, containing rare and radioactive element metals such as beryllium, molybdenum, rubidium, lithium, tantalum, niobium, and cesium.
During the development of the atomic bomb, Vein 3 became the starting point for a special chain.
Pit 3, known as the "Beryllium Capital of China", mines beryl rich in beryllium, which has been smelted many times before eventually becoming an important part of the atomic and hydrogen bombs.
The pit has a reserve of up to 3 million tons of beryllium oxide, accounting for about 70% of China's total reserves. And at the bottom and outside of the open-pit mine, there are more than 25 million tons of beryllium ore.
These valuable resources have provided strong support for China's nuclear research and development. In addition, the Xinjiang Lithium Salt Plant extracts high-quality lithium hydroxide monohydrate from the lithium ore here, and further produces lithium deuteride for hydrogen bombs.
This enabled our country to develop the hydrogen bomb only two years after the success of the atomic bomb, demonstrating our country's strong scientific and technological strength. What's more worth mentioning is that the contribution of this pit to China's aerospace industry is also huge.
Among them, the controller of China's first artificial satellite "Dongfanghong No. 1" - the "cesium atomic clock" with an accuracy of only one second for 300 years, and its key part is made of high-purity metal cesium produced by the No. 3 ore vein.
It is these precious mineral resources that enabled our country to successfully launch the first artificial satellite and sing its song into space. In short, the No. 3 pit is not only an important guarantee for China's nuclear and aerospace industry, but also an important cornerstone for China's scientific and technological development.
China's space industry has opened a new era, becoming the fifth country in the world to have the ability to independently develop and launch artificial satellites. In addition, we also use our self-developed tantalum and niobium high-temperature alloys to be used in key components of aerospace equipment, including rockets launched from Xichang and Jiuquan.
In addition to the aerospace industry, China's mineral resources are also very rich. In addition to the common copper, nickel, zinc, tungsten, manganese, lead, bismuth, tin and other non-ferrous metals and ferrous iron, there are also non-metallic minerals such as coal, salt, alkali, limestone, mica, quartz, barite, etc.
There are even precious gemstone deposits such as hailanite, violet, garnet, hibiscus and so on. These abundant mineral resources provide great development opportunities for local residents.
The mining and processing of ore requires the construction of factories in the local area, which has attracted a large number of entrepreneurs and builders, such as Xinjiang Nonferrous Metals Company, Xinjiang Lithium Salt Plant and other enterprises to set up here, creating a large number of local employment opportunities and promoting the development of the local economy.
Keketuohai: In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order to repay foreign debts, Keketuohai Village developed into the earliest modern industrial town and rare metal mineral base in China. This development has provided employment opportunities for tens of thousands of people in Xinjiang, improved the local people's livelihood and economic problems, and also strongly supported China's economic development.
Keketuohai No. 3 Mine: The "Meritorious Mine" Carrying the Development of Science and Technology] Behind our modern scientific and technological and military development, there is a magical ore hidden - lithium ore.
Keketuohai No. 3 pit is such a place known as "meritorious mine" and "hero mine", which not only contains lithium, beryllium, boron, tungsten, tantalum and niobium, molybdenum, tin, piezoelectric quartz and other raw materials, but also 10,000 tons of reserves.
The historical contribution of this pit was the repayment of part of the foreign debt of the Soviet Union. However, the mining process in this pit was not all smooth sailing. As early as 1930, the local herdsman Agakozibai discovered the pit and processed the ore into ornaments.
But it didn't take long for the pit to be taken away by the warlords. It was not until after the founding of the People's Republic of China that this pit was rediscovered and mined.
Keketuohai No. 3 Pit: An Important Discovery and Mining Story in Chinese History"In 1940, the Soviet Union discovered beryl and other ores essential for the manufacture of nuclear ** in the Keketuohai Sea, and shipped them to the Soviet Union.
However, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xinjiang was peacefully liberated, and the Keketuohai No. 3 pit returned to our own hands. At that time, due to the backwardness of mining technology, we needed technical assistance from the USSR.
Therefore, on March 27, 1950, we signed the "Agreement on the Establishment of Sino-Soviet Nonferrous and Rare Metals Joint Stock Company in Xinjiang" with the Soviet Union in Moscow to jointly develop the ore of Keketuohai.
This is one of the 156 large-scale projects aided by the Soviet Union in the construction of our country. However, the Sino-Soviet joint venture lasted only five years, and all the enterprises in the mining area were handed over to China for sole operation.
After that, the Keketuohai was mined entirely on our own. Due to the need for secrecy, Keketuohai has no name on the map, but its important position in Chinese history cannot be ignored.
The Keketuohai No. 3 pit is a place full of mysteries. Although it is already well known in the country, every entry is subject to strict checks by heavily armed soldiers.
At that time, in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Province, buildings were very scarce, but in order to mine the ore of Keketuohai, several Soviet-style buildings were built. In order to facilitate the travel of mining personnel, in 1965, the Civil Aviation of China set up an air terminal in Fuyun and opened up a new route.
Even so, the living conditions of the employees at that time were very difficult. At its peak, there were more than 47,000 employees and family members in Keketuohai, all of whom lived on the south bank of the Irtysh River.
The density of the houses is very high, and each hut is lit by only one window on the roof, and every 40 people are crammed into a room, very crowded, and the beds are like shelves.
Winters in Xinjiang are particularly cold, especially in Keketuohai, which is known as the "cold pole" of Xinjiang, with a minimum temperature of -57, and the breath exhaled by workers can be frozen into ice.
In the No. 3 pit of Keketuohai in winter, the cold of the night makes it difficult to get out of the house, and some people even solve the internal emergency in the dark in the house. Housing for employees and their families was also a problem, with the couple having to dig a nest in the middle of the hill.
How can such a living environment withstand the cold? The elder Kongurbai, who has been working in the No. 3 pit since he was 11 years old, recalls that in order to solve the housing problem, the leaders of the mine management office called on everyone to cut wood, set up firewood, make bricks and burn bricks, and use arch kilns to burn bricks.
Although several houses were built, the surrounding vegetation also suffered damage.
Keketuohai No. 3 Mine Night View) In the era of lack of materials and difficult conditions, without advanced equipment, they could only rely on manpower to transport ore, and went through hardships.
In the concentrator, workers sift through ore by hand, supported only by a pair of gloves, and their fingers were already frozen and numb. The harsh working conditions and extremely poor food conditions are unbearable.
There is only one big pot of rice every day, only mush, milk tea, steamed buns, yellow radish, and cabbage soup barely fills the stomach. Occasionally, potatoes are a rare delicacy.
As a manual laborer, such a diet simply cannot support physical strength, let alone supplement meat nutrition. Despite the harsh environment and difficult conditions, they never gave up and firmly worked hard for the construction of the motherland.
Miner's Statue) The legs of the mine workers were swollen from hunger and cold, and the Keketuohai Mining Bureau decided to farm and support themselves. In a short period of time, they cultivated 5,000 to 10,000 acres of land to grow grain and vegetables, and sometimes even went to the Irtysh River to fish to satisfy their hunger.
Luckily, there are 35 species of fish in the Irtysh River, among which the big red fish is known for its amazing appetite and is said to be able to swallow a cow in one bite. In the most difficult times, the Irtysh became a savior for the local workers.
Despite the difficult conditions, the soldiers of Keketuohai No. 3 Mine still lived up to the expectations of the motherland, they completed the mining task, and helped the military industrial force of New China to create one miracle after another.
Under the guidance of the Keketuohai spirit, the people of Xinjiang have demonstrated the strong will and great courage of the people of Xinjiang with the spirit of defying difficulties and working hard and dedicating. From the living environment of the miners in Keketuohai, we can see the hardships of that era.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country's economy had not yet recovered, the economic blockade of New China by Western countries, and the frequent occurrence of natural disasters led to a serious shortage of national food resources and a difficult life for the people.
It is in this environment that the Keketuohai No. 3 Mine, with its rich mineral resources and huge reserves, has become a "treasure trove" on a par with the world's most famous Lake Bernik Mine in Canada.
However, it is precisely because of this predicament that Japan has proposed to our country to exchange pork for ore. This further highlights the importance of the Keketuohai spirit, which inspires the people of Xinjiang to contribute to the development of the country with selfless dedication.
Although China's smelting technology at that time was not advanced enough, many waste ores still contained reusable elements.
And Japan, which is scarce in resources, has a soft spot for this. These rare metals are invaluable on a global scale and have a huge impact on the country's technological and military development.
It can be said that whoever can master a large number of rare metals will be able to control the future of the country. On the surface, Japan seems to be kind enough to exchange a kilogram of pork for a kilogram of "waste ore" to help us solve our food problem, but in fact, it is actually taking advantage of the fire to rob and try to buy our rare metals at the lowest price.
In fact, one ton of ore can be exchanged for tens or even hundreds of tons of grain and agricultural products. Japan's "calculations" have been known to the whole world, so how can their minds be hidden from our eyes?
When it was learned that the Japanese wanted to buy the ore from the No. 3 pit of Keketuohai, the people of the mining area did not hesitate to reply: "Even if you starve to death, you must make it impossible for the Japanese to get these ores." ”
This was completely reasonable, because at that time, the relations between Japan and Japan had not yet eased, let alone established diplomatic relations, and were in the stage of ideological confrontation. In 1931, Japan launched the "918 Incident" to occupy China's northeast region, and supported Puyi to establish the "puppet Manchukuo" in an attempt to ** China.
In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale war of aggression against China and committed countless heinous crimes on the land of China. After the end of World War II, Japan did not admit its crimes, but distorted history, denied the war of aggression against China, and visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
Although national and family hatred still existed, the people in the mining area still firmly rejected Japan's demands. These ores were obtained by them by enduring cold and starvation, and how could they be easily obtained by Japan?
Keketuohai Geopark) from the perspective of China's own long-term development, should not accept Japan's proposal on these "waste ores". Although our smelting technology is not yet mature, these ores are rich in metallic elements, and if we can refine and retain them through technological improvements, we can reserve precious resources for the future development of the country.
This can not only ensure the control of China's rare metal resources, but also save costs for future mining. More importantly, Japan's rapid development after World War II is inseparable from the strong economic support of the United States in containing China and the Soviet Union in the Asia-Pacific region, which has made Japan a loyal ally of the United States and has targeted China everywhere.
If we give these ores to Japan, it will undoubtedly help it develop by leaps and bounds, which is extremely detrimental to China's future. Therefore, it is wise to keep these resources for your own development.
Keketuohai No. 3 pit has contributed to the construction of New China for 50 years. In 1999, the pit was forced to close due to the depletion of ore resources.
The following year, the Keketuohai Geopark came into being and became a tourist attraction. However, inadequate mining techniques make it difficult to tap into more resources. However, after re-mining, in June 2007, the Keketuohai No. 3 pit was mined again.
This treasure house, which has been dormant for eight years, has once again been revitalized and contributed to the new China. The annual output of beryllium concentrate alone has reached 800 tons, and this mine has undoubtedly once again proved its valuable value.
Keketuohai: The No. 3 vein of the meritorious mine awarded by the China Aerospace Association in July 2015. Here you can see its past and present life, as outlined on the panel.