Marin was overjoyed. With ferrochrome, stainless steel can be released. Unlike nickel steel and ferrochrome, stainless steel is the steel that can truly withstand seawater corrosion. Although nickel steel and ferrochrome are also corrosion-resistant, they are only very slow to be corroded, rather than being completely resistant to corrosion.

Stainless steel with chromium and nickel added at the same time can ignore the corrosion of seawater to the greatest extent, allowing the iron sheet covering the bottom of the ship to last for a long time.

But it is very difficult to find ferrochromium, because Marin is not very clear about the specific appearance of ferrochromium. Laterite nickel ore is easy to find. After all, laterite nickel ore is red, very conspicuous and easier to find. The appearance of ferrome and ordinary stones is not very different. Now prospectors don’t know what ferrome is like. They naturally get blinded by finding it based on their feelings. Therefore, it took Wilts several years to find a ferrome. After smelting it, after a long period of corrosion resistance test and comparing with the performance reference given by Marin, it was confirmed that it was ferrochromium...

However, the chromite in Cuba is relatively small in scale. For example, the chromite found by Wiltz, the total ore is only 200,000 tons. According to the finished products smelted, the content of chromite dioxide is less than 40%. Compared with those large ores that cost 100 million tons of ore, this chromite looks inconspicuous. However, this is not bad. Because chromite itself is a rare thing. Marin remembers that a document I read in my previous life showed that the reserves of chromite in western Tibet in western Tibet were 4.25 million tons, accounting for 39.4 of the national reserves... In other words, the reserves of the whole Huaxia chromite are only more than 10 million tons...

But it is no wonder, because China is a country with chromium deficiency. For example, the 56 and a half barrel uses 50ba carbon steel because the country lacks special metals such as chromium nickel. Therefore, the life of the 56 and a half barrel is only 10,000 rounds. The Soviet barrel was coated with chromium on the inner tube wall, which greatly improved the refractory corrosion resistance, and the life of the AK barrel can reach 100,000 rounds.

Moreover, the distribution of chromium reserves in the world is extremely uneven. Among them, the vast majority (about 72%) of chromium ores are in the Republic of South Africa. Then, Zimbabwe also accounts for 12%. The former Soviet Union's Kazakhstan stationed at 5%, Turkey accounts for 0.9%, and China cannot rank... Moreover, Turkey, which only accounts for 0.9%, is an important source of imports of China's ferrochromium. Otherwise, China would not be eager to win over Turkey and sell Hongqi missiles to the other side. You must know that Türkiye is a member of NATO...

Similar to chromium ore resources, the distribution of nickel ore is also very uneven. For example, later reports said that 81 million tons of nickel resources around the world, Australia accounted for 19 million tons, and 12 million tons of French colony New Caledonia (this is also an important reason why France refused to let go. The earliest warship, Harvey armor, was obtained by the Americans after surface carburizing French nickel steel), 9.1 million tons in Brazil, 7.9 million tons in Russia, 5.5 million tons in Cuba... The remaining countries are only a fraction... As big as China, nickel ore resources account for less than 4% of the world...

...

As a geography master, Marin knew that chromite was mainly distributed in the inland South Africa. However, it is currently the Portuguese territory. Without sufficient confidence, Marin did not intend to seize it now. When the time is ripe in the future, he would seize it together with the South African gold mines. Anyway, South Africa's chromite and recent situation are all in the northern inland areas, so it is convenient to do it together.

But first of all, Marin didn't remember much about what chromite looked like. He only remembered that it seemed to be gray and very similar to ordinary stones. He did not graduate from the prospecting major, so he was really not clear about the differences between stones. Only with bright colors like laterite nickel ore, can Marin be easily determined.

Therefore, Wiltz, a governor who was a prospecting engineer, took several years to travel around Moa and climb many mountains before finally finding this small reserve, but it could not be considered small chromite...

Moreover, the most important significance of finding this chromite is - in the future, you can just compare the ore of this chromite ore, which is countless times simpler. Unlike looking for this kind of mine at the first time, Wiltz has no reference objects, so she searched for several years to find it... It was really Marin's mouth, and Wiltz broke his legs...

However, Marin actually doesn't need much stainless steel. The main thing is to wrap the bottom of the warship, and the amount is still very thin, and the amount is very limited. At most, make some weapons or decorations. After all, it is not the industrial era, and the consumption of metal is very limited.

Therefore, this small chromite with a reserve of 200,000 tons is definitely enough for Marin to spend money, which is enough for him to use stainless steel for all his guns and cannons.

As for the future, Marin has already made arrangements - South Africa, the world's largest chromite and gold power, must be included in the colonial system. Cuba is also inevitable, because Cuba has a lot of nickel ore. As long as Cuba and South Africa are available, stainless steel can be built vigorously in the future. In addition, South Africa's gold reserves are too large and must be kept in hand.

You should know that South Africa in later generations made the country messed up after blacks came to power, but was able to get into the "BRICS" team and join the boss Xi and other bigwigs. Isn't it because the country's first letters are connected together to make it called "BRICS countries", while South Africa is an authentic "BRICS countries" because some of them are gold...

God knows why the British gave up South Africa. Even if the United States forces them to give up their colonies, they should not throw away such high-quality colonies as South Africa. For example, France is resolutely refusing to give up New Caledonia, and obviously understands the strategic value of the New Caledonian nickel ore.

However, this matter was also said that Britain did something wrong at the beginning and did not pay attention to population issues. Most of South Africa is still old and black, so how could it be willing to let Britain rule? Unlike Australia and Canada, because they are basically British, they were still British maids and younger brothers later, and the head of state was still the Queen of England.

So, after all, if you want to completely occupy a certain colony, you have to rely on your own people to control that place. As for why the United States is independent, it is that the population composition of the United States is different from Australia and Canada. Although the United States was developed first by British people, it later introduced too many immigrants from various countries, such as German, French, Hispanic, etc., and many Irish people. Even the number of Germans exceeded that of British people. Therefore, of course, the people there are no longer interested in the suzerain country Britain. Unlike Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, which are mainly British, they are unwilling to be completely independent and insist on letting the British king be the head of state...

With the lessons learned from his previous life, Marin will certainly not make the mistakes of the British again. In the future, in the core areas of his colonies (such as North America, South Africa, Cuba, etc.), we must ensure the absolute advantage of the Germans and the English, so as to avoid uneven people's hearts and rebellions due to inclusion in other countries' descendants.

Just like South Africa, there will definitely not be a population of more than 50 million, with a maximum of millions as in later generations. Marin plans to drive away the locals and drive them to Mozambique or Botswana. Or, catch some immigrants to Japan and lower the level of civilization in Japan. When Japan is "blacked", there will be no threat in the future...
Chapter completed!