Notes on geology

Mineral resources are located on three layers of equal area.

Surface — distinguished by different coloring; mineral composition is visible without a probe. Mining is done with a Quarry; speed is the highest. Standard-group minerals. Iron and silicon are most important as primary construction materials. Copper and titanium are second. A Quarry, Mine and Drilling yield the same amount of rock per cycle; only the time differs. If you can choose between the surface and the middle layer, always prefer the surface: speed usually offsets the low percentage content.

Middle layer — filled with low- and rare-content minerals. Minerals in the layer are arranged completely at random. To see a cell's contents it must be surveyed: a Geological probe on that cell opens the middle layer; a Geological satellite at level 5 opens the middle layer of the whole planet at once. A Mine can be built only on an already surveyed cell. The middle layer is a compromise between rare minerals and long mining time. Speed is better than Drilling; when choosing between middle and deep, prefer the middle layer.

Deep layer — filled with rare-earth minerals. Minerals in the layer are arranged completely at random. A second probe on the same cell opens that cell's deep layer; the satellite at level 10 opens the deep layer of the whole planet. Drilling can be placed only on a cell whose depth is fully surveyed. Mining from the deep layer takes a long time, and rare-element content in the rock is usually low.

Selling or using rock in pure form is practically unheard of; a Nanodispenser is used to obtain pure chemical elements. Processing speed does not depend on the volume of material. Different materials cannot be processed at the same time. You cannot assign a robot to process materials, since processing may destroy (disassemble) useful parts and ships.

An empty planet (with no buildings) has a warehouse of 500 — enough to unload the first materials and start colonization.

It is more economical to survey planets with probes, since a satellite costs more in materials; after surveying, the satellite can be demolished and half the spent materials recovered. Survey data is written to the planet map: anyone who lands can see it, and it remains forever. A satellite is also much faster than probing the whole map.

Tritium cannot be obtained from layer minerals. It comes from the Thermonuclear converter (the hydrogen chain) and from capturing Tritite ships.