43: Chapter 43 Studies Gold Mines in Southeast Asia

On Monday morning, Li Xin got up early. He turned on his computer, brewed a cup of tea, then leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the screen.

Today, his main task was to investigate the distribution of gold mines in these Southeast Asian countries. What he had known before was all fragmented information. Now that he wanted to secretly carry out Extraction of gold mines, he had to understand it thoroughly.

He opened his browser and entered a few keywords into the search bar.

"Southeast Asia → Gold Mine → Distribution Map"

"Myanmar → Gold Mine → Resources"

"Thailand → Gold Mine → Mining"

"Laos → Mineral Resources"

...

Web pages popped up one by one. He browsed through them quickly, copying useful information into a newly created document.

The gold mine resources in Southeast Asia were richer than he had imagined.

There were gold mine distributions in Kayin State, Kachin State, and the Shan Plateau in Myanmar.

In northern and western Thailand, from Chiang Mai to Tak, there was a north-south trending gold mineral belt along the Myanmar border.

In the northern mountainous regions of Laos, including Luang Prabang, Houaphan, and Xieng Khouang, gold mine resources were also very abundant.

In the central coastal region of Vietnam, from Thanh Hoa to Quang Ngai, there was an east-west trending gold mineral belt.

Li Xin organized this information one by one and marked over a dozen potential targets on the map.

Then he began to filter them.

The first one he filtered out was Kachin State in Myanmar. That place had local armed forces; it was too chaotic.

The second one he filtered out was central Vietnam. The Vietnamese government had strict regulations, and foreigners had to go through a lot of procedures to enter mining areas, which was too conspicuous.

The third one he filtered out was the legal mines within Thailand. Those places had security, and he couldn't get in.

What remained were those abandoned, remote, and unmanaged mining areas.

Mae Ramat Village on the Thailand-Myanmar border and Mount Phufa in northern Laos were his top two choices.

Li Xin zoomed in on the satellite map and carefully studied the terrain of these two areas.

Mae Ramat Village was north of Tak, Thailand, only a few kilometers from the Myanmar border. The village was surrounded by rolling hills, with a small stream flowing down from the mountains and merging into the Salween River. The riverbanks on both sides of the stream were where placer gold had been mined historically.

Judging from the satellite map, the distance from the village to the stream was about an hour's trek through the mountains. The entire route was forest and shrubbery, with no decent roads.

Mount Puka was east of Luang Prabang in Laos, with an altitude of over 1,600 meters, and the mountain was very steep. There was a small village at the foot of the mountain, and it would take several hours of climbing to get from the village to the mine ruins.

Neither place was easy to access.

But being difficult to access was a good thing. Accessible places had long been dug clean by others.

Li Xin wrote down the detailed information for the two targets in his memo.

Target 1: Thailand-Myanmar border, Mae Ramat Village, Mei River placer gold mine.

· Location: Approximately 5 km north of Mae Ramat Village, Tak, Thailand

· Type: Alluvial placer gold mine

· Risks: Border Patrol Team, local armed forces, venomous snakes

· Disguise: Herb-gathering villager

Target 2: Northern Laos, Luang Prabang Province, abandoned gold mine at Mount Phufa.

· Location: Approximately 80 km east of Luang Prabang

· Type: Quartz vein gold mine

· Risks: Difficult mountain roads, wild elephants, landslides during the rainy season

· Disguise: Adventure backpacker

He stared at these two targets for a long time, then opened a new document and began planning the routes.

Route 1: Shenzhen → Bangkok → Tak → Mae Ramat Village

· Shenzhen to Bangkok flight: 2.5 hours

· Bangkok to Tak: 5-6 hours by car

· Tak to Mae Ramat Village: 2 hours by chartered car

· Mae Ramat Village to Mei River: 1-1.5 hours on foot

Route 2: Shenzhen → Vientiane → Luang Prabang → Mount Phufa

· Shenzhen to Vientiane flight: 2 hours

· Vientiane to Luang Prabang: 7-8 hours by car

· Luang Prabang to the foot of Mount Phufa: 2-3 hours by chartered car

· Foot of Mount Phufa to the mine ruins: 4-5 hours on foot

The two routes added together would take about ten days or so.

Li Xin wrote down the schedule in the memo.

· Day 1: Fly from Shenzhen to Bangkok, rent a car to Tak

· Day 2: Enter the mountains to explore Mei River

· Day 3: Backup or return to Bangkok to fly to Vientiane

· Day 4: Vientiane to Luang Prabang

· Day 5: Enter the mountains to explore Mount Phufa

· Day 6: Return to Luang Prabang

· Day 7: Return trip

He didn't worry about equipment at all. The system space had everything — tents, sleeping bags, dry rations, water, entrenching tools, flashlights, first aid kits, snake repellent powder, satellite phones, GPS trackers... everything was neatly stacked in the space, ready to be retrieved at any time.

He only needed to carry a small backpack as a cover, with a bottle of water, a few biscuits, and a change of clothes inside. Going through security and customs, he would not arouse any suspicion at all.

The corners of Li Xin's mouth curled up slightly. This was the greatest benefit of the system — others only saw an ordinary tourist, but in reality, he was carrying a "mobile warehouse" with him.

He also noted down a few things in the memo:

"Thailand-Myanmar border: Apply for a Thailand tourist visa. After arriving in Tak, ask for information; it's best to find a local guide to introduce things."

"Northern Laos: Laos has visa-free entry for China, making it easy to enter. Contact a local guide in advance to learn more."

"Equipment: Everything is in the space, a small backpack for cover is enough."

He organized all the information once more, confirming there were no omissions.

Then he opened the system panel and took a look at his data.

[Gold Search and Refining System 2.0]

[Host: Li Xin]

[Current Level: 10]

[Detection Range: 3990 meters]

[Cumulative Gold Extracted: 19.9257 tons]

[Gold Required for Next Upgrade: 50 tons]

He was still short 30 tons of gold to upgrade. If he could find that placer gold mine on the Thailand-Myanmar border, he should be able to get a few tons. If he was lucky, that abandoned gold mine in northern Laos might have tens of tons.

Adding the two places together, gathering 30 tons should be no problem.

However, what Li Xin wanted was more than just 30 tons.

If he could find 100 tons, 200 tons, and upgrade the system to level 11 or 12, expanding the detection range to several or even over ten kilometers, then he would be able to search for gold mines within a much larger area.

By then, gold mines in Southeast Asia, or even global gold mines, would be within his grasp.

He closed the system panel and continued studying the map.

He had planned two routes for the Thailand-Myanmar border.

The first one: Fly from Shenzhen to Bangkok, take a car from Bangkok to Tak, then charter a car to Mae Ramat Village. This route was easy to travel, but had many checkpoints to pass through.

The second one: Fly from Shenzhen to Chiang Mai, take a car from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son Province, then hike across the border. This route was difficult to travel but concealed.

Li Xin thought for a moment and decided to take the first one. He had a legal tourist visa, so walking through the official port openly would actually not arouse suspicion.

He wrote in the memo: "Apply for a Thailand tourist visa. Find a guide after arriving in Tak."

The route to northern Laos was simpler. Fly from Shenzhen to Vientiane, take a car from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, then find a local travel agency to charter a car to the foot of Mount Phufa. Laos offered visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, making it easy to enter.

The key was the guide.

Li Xin thought for a while and sent a message to Chen Hu: "Chen Hu, do you know anyone in Laos? Someone who can act as a guide."

Chen Hu replied instantly: "Boss, a comrade-in-arms' cousin of mine works as a tour guide there. Do you need me to contact him?"

"Yes. Help me arrange it, I'm going over next week."

"Understood."

Li Xin put down his phone and continued his research.

He wrote down specific preparations in the memo again, but most of the content he already knew by heart.

Thailand-Myanmar border:

· Disguise as herb-gathering villager: Bamboo basket, straw hat, Liberation shoes, gray T-shirt, dark trousers (available in the space)

· Light small backpack: A bottle of water, a few biscuits

· Other equipment: All in the space, take as needed

Northern Laos:

· Disguise as adventure backpacker: Mountaineering backpack (stuff some clothes inside for show)

· Actual equipment: Tent, sleeping bag, dry rations, water filter, satellite phone, etc., all in the space

He stood up, walked to the window, and stretched.

The sky outside was already dark, and the lights in the residential compound were turning on one by one.

Then he turned off the computer and looked back at the map on the wall.

Red circles, red lines, annotations.

Mae Ramat Village, Mei River.

Mount Phufa, abandoned gold mine.

Two targets, two journeys.

He took a deep breath. Southeast Asia, here he came.