Guide to Mining

Introduction to Mining
For a job that is primarily out in space, mining is a relatively safe (given that the miner is experienced), even boring, occupation. Still, the entire station is depending on you to bring back those all-important phoron and minerals. Just follow a few guidelines here to keep yourself from becoming lost in the mines.

Mining is located South of Cargo through the break room. It has access to the smelter, rewards terminal, voidsuits, equipment, and airlock.

While mining can be extremely easy, every good miner knows that they have one mortal enemy. Holes. Avoid them at all costs and be sure to bring a GPS locator just in case.

Your Base of Operations

 * This is the mining bay, your base of operations. Within the area you will find multiple pieces of equipment and machinery to aid you in your work.

Standard Equipment
Within the orange lockers (highlighted in red as mining equipment on the above image) you will find some items to help you start out your shift. This basic gear will be your way to gain some mining points so that you can gain better, more efficient gear. But more on that later. Below is a list of the gear found in the lockers.
 * A GPS Unit - Mining can be dangerous at times, it's wise to take one of these so that you can be found in case of an emergency.
 * A Key - A key that is able to start a minecart. Useful for those who wish to make a transportation network within the mines.
 * A Scanner Pad - This nifty gadget will point you in the direction of any ore around you. However be warned that it is not 100% accurate.
 * A Pickaxe - A standard pickaxe that will break down a rock face in around three swings. Note that the pickaxe must be wielded by activating it in your hand for it to break rock walls quickly.
 * A Shovel - A shovel that can be used to dig up sand and other minerals that may be lurking within the ground.
 * An Ore Satchel - This orange bag is one of the miners greatest tools. Clicking on a tile with this bag will deposit all ore and rock on said tile into the bag for quick storage or transferring of the minerals.
 * An Analyzer - A simple analyzer that shows data collected from your atmospheric environment.
 * Shoes, Some black gloves and a Mining Jumpsuit - Standard uniform should you somehow lose your own.
 * Supply Radio Headset - A headset for the supply channel, should you lose your own.
 * Industrial Satchel/Backpack - A satchel or a backpack that can be used to hold items so long as they fit inside.

EVA Equipment
Within the mining bay you have access to some basic EVA equipment so you can survive within the harsh conditions of the asteroid. The EVA equipment can be found in the bottom left of the mining bay (as marked on the picture above). Below is a list of said items:
 * Mining Voidsuit, helmet and breathe mask - Basic EVA gear. With this you are able to survive the dangerously low pressure and temperature outside of the station. Don't forget to pack your oxygen!
 * Mining Suit Cycler - A machine used to decontaminate and refit voidsuits so that other species may wear them.
 * Tank Storage Unit - Contains partially filled oxygen tanks that can be fitted into a voidsuit
 * Oxygen Cannister - Can be used for filling or refilling oxygen tanks. Oxygen tanks can hold the maximum output of a cannister.
 * Coloured beacons - Useful to marking a route through the mines.

Other gear that can be found within the mining bay:

 * Ore boxes - These boxes hold huge amounts of ore. They work most efficiently with ore satchels. Simply pick up the ore with the satchel and click on the ore box with the satchel inhand to transfer all of it's contents into the box. They can also be placed against the unloading machine, which will deposit it's contents onto the conveyor to be smelted.
 * Portable Suit Cooling Units - These devices are primarily used by IPCs. They keep the IPCs cool within voidsuits and rigsuits due to the lack of airflow within the suits. Industrial IPCs can carry suit coolers on their back and do not require a suit. Other IPC types, however, require a suit as well as a cooler in the suit storage slot (Where an oxygen tank would usually go)
 * Mechanical Toolbox - A toolbox containing a standard set of tools. Useful for adding and removing powercells and modules to rigsuits, or setting up industrial drills.
 * Mobile Ladder - A ladder that can be placed either below an open space (allowing the user to travel up a level) or on an open space (allowing the user to travel down a level).
 * Hoist Kit - A deployable and collapsible hoist that can be used to raise or lower objects between levels. To use the hoist kit, first click and drag the object to the clamp using your mouse. Next, click on the green frame of the hoist kit, this will give a message stating that you reverse the direction. Clicking the green frame again will raise or lower the clamp and thus, the object attached (however an object does not need to be attached for the hoist to raise/lower). To detach an object from the hoist, drag the clamp to an empty tile adjacent to the hoist that is not blocked. If there is nowhere to unclamp to, you can click and drag the hoist to your own tile, as this also works.

Mining
When you've put on all your gear after joining the shift, chances are you'll only have the basics. A pickaxe, ore scanner, ore box and an ore satchel as well as the appropriate EVA gear and possible the ladder/hoist kit; although you should try make sure you don't accidentally hide it from your co-workers, as it can benefit everyone on the mining team.

The first thing you want to aim for is high value minerals, so you can purchase some better gear. This includes, but is not limited to: gold, diamond, phoron and silver. Rumour has it that some levels are more densely packed with minerals than others.

Processing your goods
First and foremost you should set up the smelter, see Furnace 101 below. Assuming you've collected your ore, you're going to want to transfer it to the smelting belt on the far right of the mining bay. To do this, either dump the ore infront of the unloading machine and it will start to move the items onto the belt. Assuming you set the smelter correctly and it is turned on, you should see materials go in as ore and come out as sheets and bars respective to the type of ore put in. After smelting, compressing or alloying, the materials will now follow the belt round to the stacking machine, which will stack the materials. The stacking machine can be controlled via the console on the wall below it. This will allow you to place the materials in a crate for cargo to ship to whomever needs them.

Mining Points
As materials pass through the smelter you may notice that points begin to rack up within the ore processing console. Inserting your ID by clicking the blue "Insert ID" will allow you to claim the points for your own. Which can be cashed in at the mining equipment vendor to purchase new tools and devices to aid your mining. Below is a table to give you some idea on what you can purchase within the mining vendor.

Ripley APLU 101
If Robotics is kind (insert: functioning), odds are one of the first creations from their lab will be a Ripley APLU for Mining. The machine is typically outfitted with a drill and a hydraulic clamp. Although a good Roboticist will quickly explain the features when asked, the Ripley does offer external lighting, life support, and various user-control security measures. To access the APLU's menu, click on the "Exosuit Interface" tab followed by "View Stats." To select your active tool, click on the name under "Equipment." An underline means it is not active. To load a box into the Ripley, click on the box while facing it with your hydraulic clamp active. To mine, walk into the rock wall with your drill active.

Drill 101
For most drill functions, you will need a crowbar, wrench, and a screwdriver. At time of writing, the drill is found in three parts - A mining drill head and two mining drill braces. In order to set the drill up, drag all three pieces to the drill site. The mining station has two drills available for use.

To set up the drill, place the two braces beside the drill head, and if necessary, turn them so the arms face the drill. Click on the braces with a wrench in your hand to secure them in place. To turn the drill on, click on the drill.

As the drill is powered by a power cell, the occasional change is required. To change, click on the drill head with a screwdriver in your hand. Click on the drill afterwards to remove the power cell. Science can upgrade the drill with bigger power cells.

To empty the drill, place an ore box beside it. Click "Unload Drill" under the "Objects" tab.

Furnace 101
The furnace can be loaded via the unloading machine and must be turned on via the ore redemption console infront of it. It is also configured from here. You can produce multiple products at once, but smelting or compressing something that has no corresponding product will produce useless slag.

Shipping the Ores
One of the reasons why the NSS Aurora exists is to mine phoron to send back to Central. Although phoron is always in demand with Medical and Science, by shipping phoron back to Central you receive an abundance of cargo points.