Northwest Copper Processing Factory: Industrial Attacks Of Time
Surrounded by the Byrne Mountains in Gannu Province, it is a factory carrying industrial memory - Northwest Copper Processing Plant (codename 884). The third-stage enterprise was built in 1965 and was once the largest heavy metal processing base in the Northwest region and has made great contributions to national defense and military industries and national economic construction. Its story is a microcosm of the New China industry that started from scratch, from glory to transformation.
Industrial spine restored with fire>
At the factory workshop, the fire was endless in the day and night, with copper water pouring in like lava. Workers wear thick protective clothing and use shovels to accurately control the coke to ore ratio. The copper liquid condenses into plates, pipes and special profiles in the mold. The copper alloy materials produced here cover 164 brands and over 6,000 specifications. From the precise components of defense equipment to the conductive pendants of electrical railways, workers' wisdom and sweat are reflected. The older generation of workers often recalled the situation in the 1970s: roaring in the workshop, brightly lit up the home buildings outside the factory, and thousands of employees raised the glory of the "national first-class unit of measurement" with their hands.
The road to rebirth of the pain of transformation>
With the changes of the times, this "industrial giant ship" has also experienced ups and downs. In 2009, after the plant was reorganized into a wholly owned subsidiary of the non-producing metal group in 2009, the plant began to expand into the civilian sector while retaining its military industry tradition. The engineering team developed innovative products such as highly corrosive condenser tubes and coaxial cable copper tapes, and some technologies even undermined foreign monopoly13. Although today’s factory is no longer the hustle and bustle of its heyday, spectrometers in testing labs are still flickering, and national standards are still being formulated, witnessing the transformation of old state-owned enterprises into high-tech enterprises.
Industrial memory engraved with time>
Through the factory area, the slogan "Preparation for War and Famine" can be vaguely seen on the mottled brick walls, while the dry river under the light vertical bridge is as silent as a monument. These artifacts form a sharp contrast with the brand new CNC machine tools, just like a dialectic about the inheritance and innovation of industrial civilization. As the master who insists on working said, “Copper water will cool, but the spirit of the craftsman is always hot.”
The story of the factory not only records the physical process of the expansion and formation of copper, but also carves the spiritual maps of generations of builders to bring its young people into the lifeline of the country. Its existence makes the spark of industrial civilization survive on the Loess Plateau CNC services and becomes a metal mark that will never fade in the long river of the times.
