Functions (Mining)
Many resources can be harvested directly from the planetary object you're sitting on. The difference between the parts is what is extracted, how it's extracted, and how much is extracted.
- Sifters take in
Dirtand sift out any resources for which you have storage. They find a lot, but at very low rates compared to drills. - Drills are built for specific resources and produce higher yields than sifters. Drills come in three sizes, with each larger size having more available separators.
These will allow you to excavate resources from the body's surface at a speed dependent on concentration at that location. These resources can then be used to make more useful products. All three drills come equipped with multiple separators that can be switched between resources in situ, but doing so requires SpecializedParts, MaterialKits, and ElectricCharge. The separator slots in drills can all be configured for a single resource or multiple resources. The total efficiency of the drill is divided equally across the separators.
The 'Ranger' Regolith sifter processes 54 Dirt per day using 55,080 ElectricCharge per day.
The Tundra Industrial Refinery processes 2,052 Dirt per day using 2,093,040 ElectricCharge per day.
Outputs for sifting are based off planetary abundance, the Ranger version is limited to resources at more than 1% abundance. The results below are based off testing at KSC with the Tundra Industrial Refinery
Dirt Sifted * ore abundance * 0.225 = Resources gained
For example, using the Tundra refinery on a moon or planet with 15% abundance of ore and 5% of minerals at a 50% load on the sifter. 2052 dirt * 0.5 = 1026 dirt sifted per day. Of this dirt sifted you would gain 1026 * 0.15 * 0.225 = 34.6275 ore per day, at the same time you would also gain 11.54 minerals per day.
Drill output is determined by taking the percentage of the planetary efficiency multiplied by the local planetary percentage of that resource, multiplied by one per second, or 3600 per hour.
For example, if a MEU-100 Pulse Drill is configured for Gypsum in a biome with 2.5%, it will produce
100% * 3600 units per hour * 0.025 = 90 units of Gypsum per hour
The percentage varies by drill and by resource, as shown below
| Separator Type | MEU-100 Pulse Drill | MEU-500 Pulse Drill | Industrial Strip Miner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dirt | 500% | 1000% | 3000% |
| Rock* | 500% | 1000% | 3000% |
| ExoticMinerals | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| Gypsum | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| Hydrates | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| MetallicOre | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| Minerals | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| RareMetals | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| Silicates | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| Substrate | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| Uraninite | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| Water | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| Ore | 100% | 200% | 600% |
| Karbonite‡ | 25% | 50% | 150% |
| Karborundum‡ | 25% | 50% | 150% |
To produce these resources, the drills need ElectricCharge (shown per hour)
| Separator Type | MEU-100 Pulse Drill | MEU-500 Pulse Drill | Industrial Strip Miner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dirt | 180,000.0 | 720,000.0 | 6,480,000.0 |
| Rock* | 180,000.0 | 720,000.0 | 6,480,000.0 |
| ExoticMinerals | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| Gypsum | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| Hydrates | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| MetallicOre | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| Minerals | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| RareMetals | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| Silicates | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| Substrate | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| Uraninite | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| Water | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| Ore | 36,000.0 | 144,000.0 | 1,296,000.0 |
| Karbonite‡ | 9,000.0 | 36,000.0 | 324,000.0 |
| Karborundum‡ | 9,000.0 | 36,000.0 | 324,000.0 |
Swapping the separators for the drills can be done after they deploy but requires the following resources
| Drill | SpecializedParts |
MaterialKits |
ElectricCharge |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEU-100 Pulse Drill | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| MEU-500 Pulse Drill | 3 | 15 | 15 |
| Industrial Strip Miner | 8 | 40 | 40 |
* Requires ART
‡ Requires Karbonite