"The sea of ​​death" sets sail on the "wheel" of potash fertilizer

Business Club October 31th Lop Nur was a legendary and mysterious place. The ancient legends of Loulan, Silk Road, "The Sea of ​​Death," "Earth of the Ear," Peng Jiamu, and Yu Chun-Shun. Today, the legend continues.

From Hami, proceed along Provincial Highway 235 for approximately 410 km to the auricle of the “ear of the earth”. This is the lowest point of Lop Nor. Today it is more than 100 square kilometers of salt lake. Standing on a salt lake embankment, a group of buildings that look like mirages are reflected in the “sea of ​​death,” as if they were waves on the surface of the sea.

In 399 AD, the Jin Dynasty monk Fa Xian was westbound and asked the law. When passing through here, he sighed: “There are no birds on the ground, no beasts under the gaze, and nowhere to look at the horizon. For more than 1,000 years, Fa Xian’s Paragraphs have become a classic portrayal of Lop Nur. In this desertless desert, what made such a "wheel"?

General Manager Li Hao of Guotou Lop Nur Potash Corp told the reporter that this “wheel” is already the largest potash fertilizer production base in the world. China is a country with extremely scarce soluble potassium resources. The current annual demand for potash fertilizer is about 10 million tons. From this year onwards, 1.3 million tons of potash fertilizer will be produced each year, which will increase the self-supply rate of potash fertilizer in China to about 45%.

A single crop of flowers, thanks to gold and potassium. The development of Lop Nur's abundant potash resources not only brought about stable supply of potash, but Li Hao led the research and development of "Lophre's Magnesium Sulfate Subtype Brine for Producing Potassium Sulphate" technology and won the first prize for national science and technology progress. In September this year, Guotou Luoka started the second phase of the project. "Up to the second phase of the 2015 production project, our annual output will reach 3 million tons, and through comprehensive utilization, turning waste into treasure, we will produce new types of fertilizers such as potash and magnesium fertilizer, and become the guards for China's potash fertilizer supply and agricultural security. Important force," said Li Hao.

Li Hao came to Lop Nur in 2000 and talked about the entrepreneurial journey in this "life exclusion zone." The difficult past and tremendous changes have clearly witnessed the beginning of the "sea of ​​death" with compasses and maps, and the flat road. Directly to the factory area; from living places, tents, simple houses, to orderly work and living facilities; from eating instant noodles, cooking, to garden-like canteens and delicious meals in the south of the Yangtze River; from high-power radio stations to stable Mobile phone signal and high-speed broadband “The country’s investment in the ROK can depend on the pioneering spirit of consecrating the salt lake, working hard, the first-class technology, the unceasing innovation spirit, and the spirit of cooperation that is united with one heart and one iron bucket.”

At the Guotou Luoka Plant site, the two rows of ground-covered dinos still retain their original appearance: less than one meter of exposed mud walls, weathered and eroded, muddy roofs reveal wooden beams; Less than half a square meter in size, but it is the only lighting and ventilation opening into Room 102. A “hi” word and a ribbon attached to the roof have faded, but for Li Wenpeng and Huang Lili, the memory here is Difficult to get rid of, on September 8, 2003, 23-year-old they held a wedding here, became the first pair of newcomers in Lop, for decades, the 10 square meters of room is their new home.

“At night, when the wind blows, sand will come in through the window and the mud on the wall will blow off. When I wake up, my face is full of mud and salty.” Liu Lili said that at the time it was the best treatment. "Other colleagues, including company leaders, are five or six people squeezing a room. Everyone eats, eats and works in the ground. It takes a couple of months to bathe in luxury."

Here, everyone has a difficult past. Even today, the living conditions and working environment have greatly improved, and these pioneers of the “sea of ​​death” still cannot but disappoint.

Dr. Cao Yumei, deputy director of Guotou Luoka Laboratory, has been working in Lop Nor for more than 10 years. He can only return to Turfan's home in a week or two. In the past, Lop Nur took more than 10 hours to reach Hami. It took two days to get home. Now that the road is good, it leaves at 10:00 a.m. and it takes 4 o'clock the next day to see their loved ones.

“When I returned home, I became the queen of the family. Nothing to do with housework, and my 8-year-old son would keep turning around me.” Cao Yumei said that she is not afraid to work harder and harder, and the most unbearable is the thought of her son. .

Hard work will eventually bear beautiful fruits. Wang Yong, the operator of the pumping station of the raw material company, uttered a message from the employees: Whenever the sun shines on the lake, we sit by the pool and watch the flying waterbirds revel in the use of our hands. Out of the water in the wonders of Tian Zeguo, cherishing the pride of paying hard labor, we have no regrets in this piece of soil watered with sweat!