Mining - Heliomance/Uncharted-Horizons GitHub Wiki

_{Focus Areas · Design document §3}

Available from: S04 (Ore Identification)

Also reachable in this focus (dual-path; home focus in parentheses): Explosives / non-gunpowder (CH08, from Chemistry).

9 breakthroughs — CORE 5 · STANDARD 3 · UNIQUE 1 — Ancient – Space

Builds on: Fire (1) · Stonework (2) · Observation (1) · Construction (1) · Mechanics (1) · Chemistry (3) · Space Engineering (1)

Leads into: Fire (1) · Farming (1) · Metallurgy (3) · Construction (1) · Warfare (1) · Mechanics (1) · Chemistry (1) · Nuclear Physics (1) · Quintessic Physics (1) · Space Engineering (1) · Energy Systems (3)

_{The numbers count prerequisite links between this focus and the other. How to read the tables.}

Resource System Note: Surface mineral deposits (copper, tin, gold, iron, gems) are revealed by S04 (Ore Identification) and become extractable through F04 (Smelting — for soft metals) and ME04 (Iron Smelting — for iron). The Mining focus is about going deeper, finding strategic resources, and improving extraction efficiency.

flowchart LR
  n_MI05["MI05 Deep Shaft Mining"]:::CORE
  n_MI06["MI06 Coal Discovery"]:::CORE
  n_MI07["MI07 Petroleum Discovery"]:::CORE
  n_MI08["MI08 Saltpeter Mining"]:::CORE
  n_MI11["MI11 Rare Earth Extraction"]:::CORE
  n_MI12["MI12 Asteroid Prospecting"]:::STANDARD
  n_MI14["MI14 Deep Earth Tradition"]:::UNIQUE
  n_MI06B["MI06B Volcanic Ash Processing"]:::STANDARD
  n_MI13["MI13 Wood Gas Production"]:::STANDARD
  n_MI05 --> n_MI06
  n_MI05 --> n_MI07
  n_MI05 --> n_MI08
  n_MI05 --> n_MI11
  n_MI05 --> n_MI12
  n_MI05 --> n_MI14
  classDef CORE fill:#dbeafe,stroke:#1d4ed8,color:#0b1b3b
  classDef STANDARD fill:#f1f5f9,stroke:#64748b,color:#0f172a
  classDef UNCOMMON fill:#dcfce7,stroke:#15803d,color:#052e16
  classDef RARE fill:#fef3c7,stroke:#b45309,color:#3b2005
  classDef UNIQUE fill:#fae8ff,stroke:#a21caf,color:#3b0a3f

_{Prerequisites within this focus. Box colour is the tier (blue CORE, grey STANDARD, green UNCOMMON, amber RARE, purple UNIQUE); dotted arrows are alternatives (“or”); a line can pass behind another box, so follow it from its start. 7 of these 9 breakthroughs also need breakthroughs from other foci, which the overview above lists.}

• Tier: CORE · Era: Ancient
• Prerequisites: S04 + CO01 (Mud Brick — shaft support)
• Unlocks: Reveals Silver and Salt (deep deposits — the second reveal); ⟨[+1 Production] from [Mine] tiles [in all cities]⟩. Going underground changes everything.
• Notes: Going underground changes everything.
• Leads to: MI06 Coal Discovery, MI07 Petroleum Discovery, MI08 Saltpeter Mining, MI11 Rare Earth Extraction, MI12 Asteroid Prospecting, MI14 Deep Earth Tradition, ME06 Damascus/Wootz Steel, NP01 Radioactivity, QM-E16 Boundary Survey, ES09 Geothermal Power

• Tier: CORE · Era: Medieval
• Prerequisites: MI05
• Unlocks: Reveals Coal (the canonical Industrialization revealedBy); ⟨[+1 Production] from [Coal] tiles [in all cities]⟩. Absent in FOSSIL_FUELS_ABSENT worlds, where there is no coal to discover: the Removal Truth gives Coal ⟨Doesn't generate naturally⟩, and a discovery with nothing to find does not exist. Charcoal and renewable paths substitute.
• Notes: Prerequisite for Industrial revolution paths.
• Leads to: ME05 Steel Production, ME08 Blast Furnace

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Ancient
• Prerequisites: S04 + Volcanic region
• Unlocks: Pozzolana Worksⁿ [20/0; cityHealth +10; ⟨[-25]% maintenance cost for [All] buildings [in this city]⟩; ⟨Must have an owned [Volcanic] within [2] tiles⟩]; ⟨[+1 Food] from [Volcanic] tiles [in all cities]⟩ (fertile ash). Prerequisite for Roman Concrete (CO04).
• Leads to: CO04 Roman Concrete

• Tier: CORE · Era: Early Modern
• Prerequisites: MI05 + O08 (Geological Observation) + MC08 (Steam Engine — the steam-driven drilling rig, and an industry that wanted lamp oil)
• Unlocks: Reveals Oil (the canonical Biology revealedBy); Oil well, Offshore Platform (improvements); ⟨[+1 Gold] from [Oil] tiles [in all cities]⟩ (kerosene). Absent in FOSSIL_FUELS_ABSENT worlds, where there is no petroleum to discover: the Removal Truth gives Oil ⟨Doesn't generate naturally⟩, and a discovery with nothing to find does not exist. Bio-organic chemistry and alcohol engines substitute.
• Leads to: MC09 Internal Combustion Engine, CH09 Petrochemistry, ES05 Oil Power Plant

• Tier: CORE · Era: Medieval
• Prerequisites: MI05 + CH01 (Alchemy — saltpetre was an alchemist's find)
• Unlocks: Reveals Saltpeterⁿ (new strategic resource; on Desert, Plains and Hill tiles; improved by Mine; deposits of 2–4, like Iron); ⟨[+1] Unit Supply per city⟩ (preserved rations). The gunpowder strategic — consumed by the Musketman (WA10), the Cannon (WA22) and the Fireworks Ground (F07); the Air Rifleman (WA18) pointedly needs none. A civilisation in a gunpowder world without nitre fights with pikes and crossbows until Rifling (WA16), exactly as an iron-less civilisation fights with Pikemen — and trades or marches for it meanwhile. Valuable even in GUNPOWDER_ABSENT worlds.
• Notes: Valuable for food/military supply even in GUNPOWDER_ABSENT games.
• Leads to: F07 Advanced Pyrotechnics, FA16 Nitrate Fertiliser, WA10 Gunpowder

• Tier: CORE · Era: Atomic
• Prerequisites: MI05 + CH06 (Periodic Table)
• Unlocks: Reveals Rare Earthsⁿ (new strategic resource; on Hills and Mountain-adjacent tiles; improved by Mine; each deposit provides 2–4, like Aluminum); ⟨[+1 Science] from [Rare Earths] tiles [in all cities]⟩. The late-game high-tech strategic Civ V never had: consumed by the Microchip Foundry (EN03), the Fab (EN06), the Drone (WA20) and the Solar Farm (ES07), and a prerequisite for Miniaturisation (EN10). A civilisation without it cannot build the electronics line — or must trade, conquer, or (Substance worlds) transmute for it.

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Space
• Prerequisites: SE02 (Orbital Assembly) + MI05
• Unlocks: Asteroid Mining Stationⁿ [940/5; ⟨Provides [2] [Iron]⟩; ⟨Provides [2] [Aluminum]⟩; ⟨Provides [2] [Aluminum] <after discovering [Orbital Resource Delivery]>⟩; ⟨Provides [2] [Rare Earths] <after discovering [Orbital Resource Delivery]>⟩; ⟨Limited to [3] per Civilization⟩] — the Recycling Center pattern: strategic resources from orbit end scarcity.
• Leads to: SE06 Orbital Resource Delivery

• Tier: STANDARD · Era: Early Modern
• Prerequisites: F03 (Charcoal) + CH05 (Oxygen Theory)
• Unlocks: ⟨[-25]% construction time for [Lumber mill] improvements⟩ — timber becomes fuel. Strategically critical in FOSSIL_FUELS_ABSENT worlds. Also discoverable through Chemistry.
• Notes: Historical: wood gas vehicles were widespread in WWII fuel-scarce Europe.
• Leads to: ES03-W Biomass Power Plant

• Tier: UNIQUE · Era: Ancient
• Prerequisites: MI05 + Mountain/highland biome
• Unlocks: Mining Templeⁿ [replaces Stone Works; 75/1; +1 Production, +1 Faith; ⟨[+1 Production] from [Mine] tiles [in this city]⟩; +5% Insight to Mining]. Civ unique: ⟨[+1 Production] from [{Mine} {Hill}] tiles [in all cities]⟩ — the mountain's mines are sacred, and they pay.
• Notes: Cornish/Saxon/Andean mining traditions where mining was a sacred craft.