WCGW Chpt 185

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==Chapter 185 - What Could Go Wrong==
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Thazi (Former Outworlds System)
7th December, 3044
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Chief Warrant Officer Harry Caldwell looked at the 1,001 shipping containers that had held the prefabricated housing units, assorted furnishings along with the several thousand tons of spare parts for the Thazi Militia forces. They had arrived over the course of two convoys to Inner End. There had to be a use for them other than just as shipping containers. Most were 100 ton capacity special construction containers that manufacturers used to ship military equipment so that the heavier containers were on the bottom but allowed lighter containers to be stacked on top of the heavier reinforced containers. The special containers came in several dimensions, but each was rated for 100 tons capacity. 
100 Ton Capacity Container (LxWxH in feet)
A) 40x20x18 (80 qty)
B) 40x20x20 (123 qty)
C) 40x30x20 (108 qty)
10 Ton Capacity Container (LxWxH in feet)
A) 20x10x10 (300 qty)
B) 20x20x20 (390 qty)
The prefabricated buildings had been shipped in 10 Ton containers; the pieces were bulky but not heavy. Light weight yet strong and durable. He turned and watched one of the work crews assembling one of the prefabricated houses. Walking over, he studied one of the small restrooms waiting to be hooked up. Everything was quick connections. A simple sink, toilet and shower, roughly 80 sq feet in size. Normal 8 foot in height. He turned around and stared at the containers again, stacked neatly as they were emptied. His mind kept telling him there was a use for the containers, but he could not quite grasp it.
Inside the primary base, Major General David Mitchell was reviewing the small mountain of reports prepared by the various experts on Thazi. In addition to reports from their small operation on Wokha which he focused on more than anything. It at least, was a current revenue source outside of the food shipments to Wokha from Thazi which the Federated Commonwealth paid for. Some of the numbers surprised him on current production levels.
Solar Metals (Wokha Year End Report 3044)
Gold - 118 tons - 579,616,000
Silver - 269 tons - 16,140,000
Iron Ore - 133,954 tons - 15,002,848
Platinum - 14 tons - 38,598,000
Copper - 1,958 tons - 1,067,110
He read the notes from Reinhard Gleinfeld who was running the operation on Wokha.
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Sir, 
Our numbers are slowly increasing as new equipment arrives and the workers here learn how to operate the new machinery. We have just started mining a close by Copper vein so expect that number to increase rapidly. I expect the Iron Ore number to double next year. The Gold vein here is extremely rich and has been our primary focus since the former owners had made several good cuts into it. If I can get good smelting equipment, I can begin processing our own ores and increase our profits more instead of just selling it to the Federated Commonwealth. Currently the Iron Ore is just piling up on us. Processed steel could be sold to the Federated Commonwealth for triple per ton the price we get for raw Iron Ore. While our operation had improved it is still very basic, I estimate I am losing possibly 10% of the precious metals during the processing methods we are currently using. 
---Reinhard Gleinfeld
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The food shipments to Wokha were not expressly stunning in a profit amount, but every little bit helped. 
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Food Shipments Wokha 3044
Wheat - 288,000 tons - 7,776,000
Apples - 24,000 tons - 3,120,000
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All told, 3044 had seen 661,319,958 C-Bills in profit from both operations. Currently, the local farmers were being paid via improvements to their living conditions, the same for the workers on Wokha, but this was going to have to change and change rapidly. He just did not know how to make that happen without becoming a major blip on someone's radar. No way could he use C-Bills out here, and even the use of the D-Bill or the Lyran Kroner would create a blip to central bankers. What if I created our own currency backed by Gold, he thought, and if I do, how hard is this going to be and how the hell do I create money?
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