Securing the excavation permit turned out to be much easier than Liang En anticipated. After spending over 800,000 euros, he acquired the mining rights to a tract of land exceeding 4,000 acres.
However, merely possessing mining rights was insufficient, especially given the current circumstances where not owning the land outright could lead to various issues.
Liang En maliciously speculated that the Guatemalan officials might have offered the mining rights at such a low price as a trap, possibly to exploit the discrepancy between land ownership and mining rights later on to ensnare him.
However, upon further reflection, Liang En deemed this possibility rather unlikely, as the local officials seemed almost solely focused on bribes and appeared to lack long-term plans.
The reason they were willing to sell the mining rights so cheaply was purely because Liang En had entrusted the task to professionals, who clearly employed some not entirely legitimate methods.
Nevertheless, it was also a fact that the other party did not value that land highly, as the Guatemalans had never mined that mountain area before.
Even though Liang En diligently submitted accurate survey reports about the area, the other party merely increased the original license fee from 600,000 euros to 800,000 euros.
Truth be told, Liang En chose to submit the correct survey reports mainly because he was not American, and he believed it was better to follow the rules to avoid minor advantages turning into major losses.
This was especially true given that Liang En and his associates had a strong enough background to find other means when underhanded tactics failed, potentially leading the other party to seek ways to target them.
Fortunately, after about a week, other interested parties arrived to purchase land in those mines, along with a group of professional geologists.
As the geological survey continued, various mines were gradually unearthed, and everyone began to understand just how large the mine Liang En had previously discovered really was.
According to the professional geologists, the mine contained at least ten thousand tons of jadeite, which the ancient Mayans had mined for over a hundred years without even extracting a tenth of it.
Additionally, a large quantity of jadeite was also found in the river flowing through the mining area, as the long-term impact of the water had eroded the outer layer of some stones, revealing their true quality.
Unlike the finer jade from Myanmar, Guatemalan jadeite was generally coarser and somewhat grayer in color, not as visually appealing as Myanmar jade.
However, this did not mean that all Guatemalan jadeite was of low quality. Within the jadeite family in Guatemala, there were also high-quality types that reached the level of "ice" jadeite, known for their translucency and luster, comparable to the best of Myanmar jade.
Like Myanmar jade, Guatemalan jadeite also boasted a rich array of colors, including green, purple, blue, black, and multicolored varieties, all of which were found by the geologists in the river.
Among these, the most valuable was the high-quality blue water jadeite, followed by the green varieties. However, most of these jadeites contained amphibole, giving the overall color a darker hue.
Fortunately for Liang En, he did not intend to pass off this jadeite as Myanmar jade and sell it as counterfeit; thus, this characteristic could even serve as a unique selling point, distinguishing it from Myanmar jade.
For example, Liang En was now drafting plans to design a set of jadeite jewelry using Guatemalan jadeite as the main material, aiming to launch this brand with a distinctive flair.
Besides large-scale exploration, there was also a sit-down to distribute shares of the mines, and since Liang En was the convenor of this gathering, he coordinated the negotiations.
Thankfully, since the mine was a gemstone rather than an essential energy or metal mine, the discussions were relatively harmonious.
The outcome was the establishment of a mining company in Guatemala, with each party owning shares proportional to their contribution, with Liang En securing a fixed 12.5% of the shares.
Given that Liang En and his associates almost monopolized Guatemala's jadeite mines, a 12.5% share represented a significant income.
During this period, the mine also began small-scale trial production, extracting three tons of jadeite from several exploration sites in just over a week, and Liang En's first batch of Guatemalan jadeite jewelry would use this jadeite as raw material.
According to Liang En's plans, the theme of this batch of jewelry would be the ancient Mesoamerican Indian culture, integrating traditional Mayan carvings with modern design.
Besides investing in this ancient jadeite mine, Liang En also spent 1 million euros plus an annual dividend of 2.5% from the jadeite mine's profits to acquire the White Knight Security Company as his own business.
He bought this security company because he realized he might visit some dangerous places in the
future, making a private military force extremely important.
Sometimes, facing more than just one or two enemies, having professional armed personnel at his side was of practical value.
Liang En was surprised by how smoothly the acquisition of the security company went, as the retired major who ran the business realized he was better at military matters than commercial operations.
So, he happily took the money from Liang En and sold the security company, continuing to work as the military commander within the company.
The first task after establishing the security company was to train a security team for the jadeite mine area, taking on the future mining security responsibilities.
Interestingly, the ultimate command of the trained security team was placed in Liang En's hands, as the stakeholders unanimously agreed that only he could ensure fairness.
As a result, the towns and villages around the mine, such as the one Liang En and his associates had previously visited, soon reaped the benefits, as security personnel were still needed from the local populace.
These indigenous villagers were clearly more reliable than some of the unclear-background individuals from the city, not to mention that for the White Knight Security Company, having their own insiders there helped determine who was more trustworthy.
"Thank you!" expressed a retired veteran of the French Foreign Legion, codenamed "Stag," who specially sought out Liang En before his departure, "You are different from those Americans; I believe you will bring lasting prosperity to our area—"
The reason for his gratitude was simple. With the mine's operation, the area naturally needed miners, security staff, and service personnel, who would primarily be recruited locally.
Given the persistently high birth rates in the Central American region, the biggest issue locally was an excess of labor, and the new industry could help absorb this workforce and promote local development.
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