Salt from the Qaidam Basin supplies the chemical industry in Xining, and the vast grazing land in the province is used in wool-spinning, fur, and tanning operations.
There are many other examples: products such as vegetable oils and rubber are used in a wide variety of manufacturing industries; based on the preparation of hides and skins, tanning operations can be started, as can the manufacture of footwear and other leather goods.
The Battle of Long Tan and Operation Bribie had weakened the communist forces in the province, while further operations had restricted their movement and logistics.
The most intense fighting involving 1 ATF since Long Tan, during Operation Bribie the Australians had suffered their highest casualties since August 1966.
"We're building this model farm with an operation manual," Mr. Tan said.
More recent studies on populations near industrial swine operations, slaughter and tanning facilities and wastewater treatment complexes exposed to low-level H2S report odour nuisance and an increase in hospital visits due to respiratory diseases.
Detailed studies have been made in the unit operations related to leather such as diffusion rate enhancement through porous leather matrix, cleaning, degreasing, tanning, dyeing, fatliquoring, oil water emulsification process and solid liquid tannin extraction from vegetable tanning materials as well as in precipitation reaction in wastewater treatment.
"Now, this was not a good seller," she said, walking over to a pile of tan T-shirts emblazoned with the words "Operation Iraqi Freedom".
The tanning guys called my undercover plight a "sting operation".
The highway to Xuyen Moc in the east had been reopened by the Australians in March and April, and with the Viet Cong 275th Regiment believed to have been severely weakened following Long Tan, a series of operations aimed at destroying the Viet Cong 274th Regiment were subsequently launched by 1 ATF.
