Mining
Mining is used to extract resources from the world. Mining drills are the first step to automating manufacture, although most resources have to be smelted in a furnace for further usage.
Mining speed formula
The rate at which resources are produced is given by:
Mining speed / Mining time = Production rate (in resource/sec)
To calculate the time needed for one resource-item use this formula:
Mining time / Mining speed = Seconds for one resource item
Mining speed is a function of the miner while mining time is a function of the metal or mineral you are currently mining (you can place a miner over a mixed field).
Mining by hand
When mining by hand, the formula is modified slightly:
(1 + Mining Speed Modifier) * .5 / Mining time = Production rate (in resource/sec)
Expanded description:
(1 + Force Modifier) * (1 + Character Modifier) * (Character mining speed) / Mining time = Rate
Infinite resources
The output of the unmodified resource is the percentage yield of the tile currently used by the miner.
Output of unmodified field * ( Number of modules in miner * Bonus from module ) + Output of unmodified field * ( Number of beacons * ( Number of modules * Distribution efficiency ) * Bonus from module + Productivity research bonus + 1 ) = Raw output per second
(Raw output per second * Mining speed) / Mining time = Production rate (in resource/sec)
The mining drill or pumpjack will sum the production rate of all tiles below it and show that value in the tooltip.
Drill types
| Item | Total raw | Mining speed | Mining power | Covered area | Max health | Pollution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
- | 0.5 | - | 1 × 1 | 250 | - |
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  |
0.25 | 150 kW (burner) | 2 × 2 | 150 | 12/m |
 |
 |
0.5 | 90 kW (electric) | 5 × 5 | 300 | 10/m |
  |
    |
2.5 | 300kW (electric) | 13x13 | 300 | 40/m |
Note, that the Burner mining drill covers exactly its size (2×2, the covered area is also 2×2), while the Electric mining drill is one tile bigger (size is 3×3, but covered area is 5×5), and the Big mining drill is two tiles bigger than the electric mining drill (size is 5x5, and area covered is 13x13).
Mining drills can only be placed on resources.
Output
| Resource | Burner M. Drill | Electric M. Drill | Big M. Drill | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed: 0.25 | Speed: 0.5 | Speed: 2.5 | ||
| Scrap | Time: 0.5 |  |
|
|
| Iron | Time: 1 |  |
|
|
| Copper | Time: 1 |  |
|
|
| Coal | Time: 1 |  |
|
|
| Stone | Time: 1 | |
|
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| Calcite | Time: 1 |  |
|
|
| Uranium | Time: 2 |  |
| |
| Tungsten | Time: 5 |  | ||
Productivity and resource drain
Mining productivity is a research that increases the productivity of all mining drills, technology, which adds to any bonus from productivity modules. Productivity for miners works similarly to productivity for assemblers: extra ore products for every "real" ore mined from the patch. However, since mining productivity research does not slow the mining drill down (unlike productivity modules), mining productivity effectively makes the drill faster. Furthermore, because more ore is output than is removed from the patch, mining productivity extends the amount of ore generated from a patch.
Mining drills have a property called resource drain. When the drill generates a non-productivity ore, it subtracts one ore from the patch. Resource drain is the probability that this subtraction actually takes place. 100% resource drain means that the subtraction always happens; 50% resource drain means that the resource is only drained from the patch 50% of the time. This means that, with 50% resource drain, the patch will last twice as long.
Unlike mining productivity, low resource drain does not generate more ore in the same period of time; it merely extends the life span of the mineral patch. As these are two independent factors, they multiply into each other. 100% productivity combined with 50% resource drain means that a 1M ore patch will generate 4M ore. It will generate that 4M ore twice as fast as it would with no productivity, and the patch will last twice as long as with 100% resource drain (assuming ore is consumed as quickly as it is produced).
Burner and electric drills have 100% drain, while big mining drills have 50%. Quality lowers the resource drain by 1/6th of the base-quality drain per quality level, with legendary providing a double-bonus.
Resource output
Unlike most other equipment, mining drills will output resources directly without the need of inserters. This includes transport belts, chests, other mining drills, furnaces, assembling machines, etc.
Burner drill to chest
Burner drill to furnace
Burner drill to burner drill
