Mines
The MC can either purchase mining rights at the Town Hall in Hamilton Square or conquer mining locations from rogue factions in remote areas.
Mines are used for harvesting minerals (copper, silver, gold) and gemstones (emeralds, diamonds and embryl).
Available output and extraction rate depends on a wide variety of factors:
Ore veins and tunnels
A mine comes with a pre-defined base output of either copper, silver or gold. A mine can contain more than one mineral type. All minerals are finite and a mine will eventually become depleted.
Expanding mining tunnels will provide access to additional mineral veins and increase output/day by a small degree.
Accommodations
This factor displays the condition of your mine workers' facilities. Increasing Accommodations raises maintenance but also worker happiness (and output).
- Bad: Workers sleep in a dilapidated barrack without real beds.
- Poor: Workers sleep in a simple barrack but enjoy separate beds.
- Average: A common dorm room with comfortable beds, privacy curtains and a nearby entertainment room.
- Good: Single rooms for each worker with a comfortable bed, a chest and a closet for clothes. The entertainment room also sports a fully equipped kitchen with a coffee maker.
Production
A mine's production capacity determines its daily output. Production capacity is calculated by the foreman's skill, number of workers and level of accommodations.
Ore
A mine produces ore, which can be sold in larger batches at Westside Assembly plant. Ten units of ore equal one unit of pure metal.
Smelter
Installing a smelter will automatically convert ore to pure metals that can be sold for a higher price at markets or at other establishments.
A smelter also converts any previously mined ore to pure metals.
Workers
You can assign any NPC to a mine (as workers), as long as he's either a Convict, Slave or Servant. Assigning NPCs to a mine works just like donating captives to a faction. This means the NPC is PERMANENTLY removed from the game and added to the worker pool of the mine you assign him to.
- A mine can house a total of 75 workers.
Security
Due to the presence of valuable minerals and gemstones, it's highly recommended that the MC assign guards to his mines. These can be transferred directly from Fort Sera or by transferring NPCs with Affection Neutral+ and either Ranged combat or Melee combat 40+.
Assigned workers might escape, regardless of their previous Affection and loyalty, due to the extremely harsh conditions in Ikaanian mines. Having at least 5 guards assigned to a mine will minimize escape attempts.
There's a small risk (Domestic event) that your mine will be targeted by raiders. If raiders are able to deplete your guard pool, they'll also take some of your mined minerals with them as loot.