Mining Mechanics

Resource Planets

There are free, game-owned resource planets which all players can use to obtain resources. These planets are procedurally generated, and are not owned by any player. They automatically replenish their resources over time.

How Mining Works

Upon landing on a planet, players can use a device named a Prospector to evaluate rock samples, and discover their contents. The Prospector can be used to find ores, and other resources.

Once a rock has been evaluated, it can then be mined. Mining a rock will release the yields of the rock, and the rock will be destroyed.

The resources gathered from mining a rock varies, and is dependent on a variety of factors. This includes the richness and size of the rock, the skill of the player and the tools the player is using to mine.

Rock samples may be tainted and/or contain mixed samples of materials. It is unlikely that a single rock would contain a single type of ore. For instance, a rock may contain a small amount of iron, a small amount of copper, and a small amount of gold, mixed in with the rock itself. Additionally, a rock may yield no resources.

Yield

The yield of a rock determines the amount of resources a player will gain when mining a rock.

Yield simply determines the amount of resources a player will gain when mining a rock. It does not determine the type of resources a player will gain.

The yield of a rock is calculated by the ore richness and density of the rock. The yield of a rock is also affected by the skill of the player and the tools the player is using to mine.

Levelling

Players can level up their mining skill by mining rocks. The higher the mining skill, the more resources a player will gain when mining a rock.

The player's mining level is not capped, however will become logarithmically more difficult to level up as the player's mining level increases.

The player's mining level is also affected by the tools the player is using to mine. The higher the quality of the tools, the faster the player will level up their mining skill.

Processing

Refining

Some planets, rest stops and ships have a Refinery. The Refinery can be used to refine ores into refined ores, ingots and gems.

Refining a resource will significantly increase the value of the resource when sold. Selling ores provides you with in-game currency, which can be used to purchase a variety of different items.

Enriching

Certain materials can be enriched which can create more stable and valuable materials. Enriching a material will significantly increase the value of the material when sold, alongside refining.

Most materials will require refining before they can be enriched. For instance, you cannot enrich an ore, but you can refine an ore into a refined ore, which can then be enriched.

Certain materials must be enriched before they can be utilised, including nuclear fuel and certain gems.