The exploration work at the West Mountain Coal Mine lasted for a full three days. Xia Huai'an stood at the entrance of the mine tunnel, gazing at the rolling mountains in the distance, where the morning mist lingered like ribbons of silver. In his hand, he held a freshly mined piece of coal, jet-black and glossy, shimmering with a metallic luster in the sunlight.
"Master, the preliminary survey results are out," Main Bookkeeper Zhou said, hurrying over with beads of sweat on his forehead and a rolled-up blueprint in his hand. "The main coal seam of West Mountain stretches for fifteen miles, with an average coal seam thickness of over two zhang. Initial estimates put the reserves at no less than tens of millions of tons. More importantly—" he lowered his voice, "this coal burns with almost no smoke and has an extremely high calorific value! Furthermore, it lacks the large amounts of flammable gases you were worried about."
"Good! Excellent!" Xia Huai'an took the blueprint, gently stroking the coal sample with his fingers as the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily. "Establish the 'Huaxia Coal Mine' immediately and begin extraction."
Chapter 178