Text | Editor: Chestnut
Preface: Do you dare to believe that going to the river to dig for "rags" can earn thousands of yuan a day? As long as you take an iron rod and carry a bucket around the river every day, collect black particles into the bucket, and sell them to buyers, you can earn thousands of yuan a day. The state has clearly stipulated that such behavior is not allowed to occur for a long time, so why is it now starting to risk being fined to dig for "rags"? Why should the state ban it? What secrets are hidden in this?
Treasures in the river
Recently, this phenomenon has occurred again on the lower reaches of the Yellow River, a group of people with large iron rods to the beach to rub back and forth, after a while, the big iron rods are stained with black substances, they are putting this substance into barrels to bring back to sell.
This seemingly easy work can actually bring them a lot of income, and some people can even earn thousands of dollars a day.
Netizens called them "iron rush", and the iron rod in their hands is the legendary "iron rod". As early as 2008, the state introduced relevant regulations, ranging from fines to prison sentences, but why are some people still taking risks?
Speaking of "iron sand" from the 50s of the last century, when the mainland was vigorously developing the steel industry, in order to increase steel production, people began to put their own kitchen knives and hoes into the smelting furnace to melt, but this was only a drop in the bucket for the demand at that time.
At this time, someone discovered that there was a large amount of iron sand in the riverbed of the Yellow River Basin, so people began to collect iron sand from the river beach and then refined it into steel.
Because this iron sand is spread over the rocks on both sides of the Yellow River, after a long period of river washing, wind and sun, the rock surface slowly oxidizes, washing it away with the current.
At the same time, because of its high density, the rocks washed down are carried downstream of the river to be deposited in the riverbed, and are affected by the movement of the earth's crust at high temperatures, so that other minerals are also integrated into it to form iron ore.
The iron content in this iron ore is as high as 70%, which has strong adsorption. Many people see "business opportunities", individuals with iron rods rush to the river to dig for iron, just rub on the river beach a few times, iron sand is covered with iron rods. Therefore, this behavior is called "iron rod", which is the fastest and most convenient way for individuals to pan for iron sand.
Some companies take a more "high-end approach", they first invest in the cost of buying sand mining boats, then fix the sand mining boats on the riverbed, start the high-pressure water pump to salvage all the sand and gravel, and then filter out the iron sand.
Some people once calculated that a person can collect more than 1 ton of iron sand a day, and in 2010, 1 ton of 700 yuan to calculate, excluding the cost net profit can earn 500 yuan.
Gradually, villagers along the river participated in the "iron sand", and some people began to build tents by the river when they saw the opportunity to make money, day and night, and even this behavior affected the children to learn to "work" like adults.
The whole village can earn 10,000 yuan a day, no one is far behind, if anyone digs more, they will be selected as the "best" by the villagers.
For a time, iron rushing on the river beach became a beautiful "landscape" at that time.
In the 80s of the 20th century, mining ships in the lower reaches of the Yellow River gathered thousands of ships. A professional industrial chain was soon formed, and merchants directly used large trucks to transport iron sand away. A boat earns a net profit of tens of thousands of yuan a day, and some people get carried away for the sake of temporary profits, and even mortgage their fields and houses, and borrow usury to buy equipment.
When a batch of iron sand is salvaged, after the flood season, a new batch of iron ore will come down, and the villagers will continue to start their own mining road.
In 2008, when the "iron rod" was at its hottest, just one boat near the Second Yellow River Bridge in Zhengzhou could make tens of thousands of yuan a day, and there were more than 300 boats working at that time.
Due to people's overexploitation, ecological damage followed, which upset the balance of the Yellow River's current, the riverbed continued to decline, and dangerous situations appeared in some places during the flood season.
In order to prevent problems before they occur, the relevant departments issued a notice on a complete ban on iron sand panning in the Yellow River Basin, requiring Shandong and Henan to immediately stop rectification.
But people still have to live, and for the sake of profit, some people risk fines to continue to work.
Illegal mining: Long rivers flow for water
Human beings live on the earth, in a continuous cycle, the river flows spontaneously, under the action of the river and solar radiation, through evaporation, condensation and rain, and then converges into a river, and repeatedly.
If something goes wrong in one of these areas, there are a series of consequences. And the same goes for people and rivers. Deep soils provide the river with a constant flow of nutrients, and people draw on their nutrients.
Once people overexploit, they destroy their own systems, the foundations are washed away, the riverbed is lowered, and the river water is flooded, which in turn endangers people's lives.
However, people focus only on immediate benefits and forget the rules behind this. Even with the orders of the relevant authorities, when night falls, they carefully continue to mine iron sand while guarding against the inspection department.
On the contrary, now either the river has sediment in the river, or the water in the river emits a bad smell, and the fish in the water remember when they were children, the water by the river is crystal clear, and many children do not even know the original appearance of the river.
This is a very intuitive feeling for us, the visible destruction of iron sand to our living environment. The villagers were unconscious, and the government had to increase the punishment and increase the cost of breaking the law.
If you want to take iron sand, you must obtain permission from the government department, apply to the relevant department, and follow the steps. For those who mine iron sand without authorization, the relevant departments stipulate that the maximum sentence is up to 7 years in prison.
According to statistics, the world consumes more than 40 billion tons of sand and gravel every year, but due to the shortage of supply, there is a seller's market, and the price of iron has increased significantly, from November 2021 to February 2022, the unit price per ton of iron has risen from 509.5 yuan to 850 yuan.
Many people think that this kind of iron sand is used for iron smelting, but it is not, even if the mainland produces more than 20 billion tons, the raw materials provided by these iron sand are only the tip of the iceberg of demand.
In the mainland, these iron sands are mainly used to make filters to treat domestic sewage and wastewater, in addition, it will also be mixed with anthracite, quartz sand, etc. to make reverse particle size filter beds, and even into paint, welding materials and abrasives.
Even though the government has tightened regulations and restricted boats without formalities, some people always have policies on top and below, sitting on the river fishing during the day and quickly switching roles at night.
I hope that not only the government will strengthen supervision, but also for the sake of all of us, other people will also give timely feedback when they see this situation.
There are many hazards, and sand mining is difficult to please
Although some people have benefited from it, the reason why iron sand mining is banned is because the country sees that illegal iron sand mining has brought irreversible effects on people's lives.
Some expert studies have shown that part of the riverbed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River has dropped by 5 meters, which has threatened the stability of the foundations and piers of neighboring bridges, and some people have dug directly next to flood control dikes, directly threatening the lives of local villagers.
As we all know, iron sand needs to be dug from the sand and gravel of the river, and then cleaned and filtered, until the surface sand and gravel are dug up, people further dig deep into the riverbed, over time, the riverbed is constantly eroded by the current, forming a large pit, affecting shipping safety during shipping.
At the mouth of the river, when the riverbed is below sea level, seawater backfilling and even flooding will occur. When a disaster strikes, we must not only prevent floods, but also coordinate manpower to do dangerous work, making it more difficult for staff.
In addition, people live here for a long time, the infrastructure is not perfect, the life is not guaranteed, there will also be garbage everywhere, polluting water resources, water pollution deterioration, affecting residents' water security.
This question is not limited to the mainland, some people have asked why not learn from European and American countries to use sea sand, and then this question was answered, because sea sand has a high salt content and is not suitable for construction.
At present, even if the state stipulates that enterprises with legal procedures can continue mining, some enterprises often do not build according to standards in order to save costs, which still has a significant impact on the environment.
There is still a long way to go on this road that restricts people from mining iron sand, and we must strengthen publicity, raise everyone's attention to this matter, and jointly safeguard national resource security.
The author thinks
The harm caused by illegal mining to the ecological environment is unimaginable, everything must be done in moderation, sustainable development should be achieved, and the problem should be viewed from a long-term perspective, and the overall development should not be ignored for the sake of short-term small profits.
For the re-"return" of illegal mining, the state should promptly introduce relevant policies, strictly supervise, and call on all sectors of society to jointly supervise and protect the environment and protect our common home.
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