Shaft Miner

OPERATIONS STAFF
Prospector	Access: Mining. Qualifications: At least 18 years of age, have passed an SCC Certified Mining Accreditation course and have at least a recognised certificate in operating shuttle-craft Employers: Orion Express, Hephaestus Industries. Supervisors: Operations Manager Duties: Ore extraction, processing and accounting Guides: Guide to Mining, Guide to Piloting

The Prospector is in charge of all ore extraction and processing in the sector. Generally seen as a low-class assignment, there are minimal requirements to work in this field - however knowledge in piloting shuttle-craft is mandatory in order to arrive at the destinations and knowledge of heavy machinery is helpful in order to make the most of the stellar objects that you will be mining, by setting up the drills and being able to pilot a mining mech.

Overview

Simply put, the Prospector has three duties, as follows:

• Extract ore from resource rich areas in the current sector
• Process ore at the Ship's smeltery
• Report the materials yield using a Yield Declaration from the smelter console.

Obtaining Equipment

You operate on a point-reward system while working with The SCC. You will have to mine to obtain points, to then exchange for equipment at the Mining Vendor. For more information, please check the Guide to Mining.

Duties

Piloting the Mining Pod

Once you have all of your equipment ready, you'll be making way to the mining pod on deck one. You'll definitely want to read the Guide to Piloting if you're new to this. It may seem daunting at first, but it's really quite easy. The pod is already set roundstart for you to leave right away but for some extra insurance you can ask for some additional carbon dioxide for your thrusters. Engineering can source it directly or the hanger technicians can order you some.

You can also leverage the advantage of the Horizon's stronger sensors to have the bridge relay to you interesting locations and asteroids. Feel free to ask them to pilot the Horizon where you need them to be. but keep in mind the Horizon is a big ship and very slow compared to your pod. The fastest way to do things is to go to where you need to be yourself and ask the Horizon follow you if possible.

Ore extraction

The process of breaking rock in order to obtain materials. Generally speaking, you will need the following equipment:

• Hardsuit, recommended with a breathing mask (available at the airlock)
• Oxygen tank
• GPS device
• Active suit sensors

As far as equipment go, there is a variety of tools available - the configuration you choose will depend on what you wish to extract, how, and what resources are already available. For a more detailed list consult this guide. Examples of tools that you may work with:

• Pickaxe (for breaking rock)
• Shovel (to obtain impure silicas from the ground)
• Mining Drill (An upgrade to the Pickaxe)
• Sonic Jackhammer (An upgrade to the Heavy Drill)
• Plasma Cutter (A sidegrade to the Jackhammer - digs as fast, but is also capable of cutting through tougher materials if needed
• Wrench (for operating the Mining Drills)
• Ore Detector (for finding locations for the Heavy Drill)
• Flags (for noting the location of deposits)
• Ore Satchel (to quickly amass your ores)

Of course, all of the handheld equipment serves only as a backup when piloting a mech. Do not forget - synthetic units need, instead of an oxygen tank and a breathing mask, a suit cooling unit (obtainable from any autolathe).

Preparation, Foot Mining

To ensure your safety, you are provided with steps to ensure that once you step within the airlock, you are ready:

• Attach the hardsuit helmet and magboots to the hardsuit
• Put an oxygen tank of your choice inside the hardsuit
• Put on the hardsuit (additional breathing mask recommended)
• Verify that breathing mask is properly adjusted (over your mouth, not hanging down)
• Gather all of your chosen gear in your backpack (Pickaxe is too large for operation - hold in hand or attach to belt)
• Put on a backpack
• (Optional)Obtain second air tank and stash it in a backpack
• Stash or satchel and GPS/tracking beacon in hardsuit's hip sockets, roughly at the pocket location

Preparation, Mech mining

If you are experienced in mech piloting, there are a few extra steps required in making a mech EVA-safe.

• (Optional, but recommended) Follow the first five steps of the "Preparation, Foot Mining" guide.
• Enter your mech
• Verify the structural integrity of your mech and charge of its power cell - charge and get repairs as needed.
• Verify the presence of all equipment - minimum drill and hydraulic clamp
• Switch the internals of the mech itself on
• Load an ore box

Furthermore, as a general reminder: Mechs do not actively cool the air of their cabin - and thus, synthetic units also require a sealed suit and suit cooling unit to avoid overheating while operating one.

Setting up the Mining Drills

Setting one up is a very simple process:

• Using the Ore Detector, find an adequate location to place the drill, mark location with a flag
• Bring drill to flag's location, along with support anchors
• Place the anchors to the sides of the drill
• Secure the anchors using a wrench
• (Optional) Place an ore box north of the drill
• Activate drill

And if you did not place an ore box, here is how to unload the drill once it reports being full:

• Place ore box north of drill
• Using the panel, command the drill to unload.

Mining

Once that is done, the actual mining process can begin.

• Bring an ore box with you (or in a mech)
• Locate ores embedded in the rock of the asteroid
• Use the tool of choice to break rock/soil
• Use ore satchel to quickly grab all ores (automated with a mech drill)
• Put ores in ore box (also automated in a mech)

Once you have a sufficient amount of ore, return to the Ship (do not forget to take the materials dug up by the heavy drills, if you have any)

Ore Processing

Back at the Ship comes the step of processing. Place the ore box next to the crate unloader, it will not gather materials out of a box that is held by a mech so you might need to unload it from that, too. Once you pull the lever, the machine will automatically extract ore and funnel them into the Smelter. Unless specifically requested otherwise, the Smelter should be set according to this guide.

By default, the stacking machine will output stacks of 50 units of material, which makes it easy to count. However, you can configure the machine to produce smaller stacks, or force it to eject an incomplete stack. Put them in a crate and head up.

Yield Declaration

The smelter console will allow you to print those reports. On it are the details of what you gathered. Don't forget to put your name on it and a signature at the bottom. Get it stamped by at least a Hangar Technician if not the Executive Officer while handing off the crate of resources to claim the title of best prospector or simply show that you have not been in the bar all shift.

Beyond the Job

There is, honestly, very little to do in Mining beyond Mining. Though something you can do is, since you are on the asteroid with mining gear, assisting a Xenoarcheologist in their digs - avoiding strange-looking rocks and dig through everything else. Sometimes your GPS might pick up a strange signal from somewhere on the rock, leading to crashed shuttles or abandoned structures. Exploration can be fun and rewarding, or really dangerous. As a prospector, you will learn to bring the right tools for the job in no time. Teaming up with a buddy or two might also help.

Traitoring

You are an EVA specialist with a lot of destructive tools at your disposal. Breach the bridge with seismic charges, perform magboot checks on security, test your kinetic accelerators in a vented hallway and figure out why exactly the diamond pickaxe is so feared in bar fights. Creativity is your limit with this job, just make sure to have a reason for blowing up parts of the ship or fistfighting scientists in your own hardsuit. Connections help a lot with your tasks. Unsuspecting scientists will let you in if you bring them nice things and equip you with way to much weapons if you tell them there is carp outside, while your best friends in operations might ignore a sniper rifle you just ordered with the captain's spare.