Here's the new image for the latest factory version, dated April 10, 2025

Every silo used for material output can of course be replaced by something else to suit your taste.

The location of the factories is optimized for maximum production of high-value materials.

Ore veins can be found across the maps and they are dark green patches on the ground ( or open veins)

Note: The above figures are not always identical. To get a precise idea of what the ground beneath your feet contains, we strongly recommend using a drill installed on an excavator.


How to examine what ore vein it is? - You can use your hand tool (pickaxe and hold E) or for more precise prospecting you can use excavator and mining drill to see depth and ore types. (EXM Excavator and drill attachment )
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Ground layers and depth:
0-6m - dirt
6-32m - paydirt
32m+ - solid rock

ore deposits can pass through all layers, but will vary in size and direction in the ground. For example, the coal you start mining can suddenly shrink by half if you dig 2 m deeper... and then suddenly double or even triple in size 5 m deeper.

So don't give up hope... there's always something hidden under your feet.


Sometimes you can find paydirt only 5 m away, sometimes 50 m or more.

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Ore deposits and what you can get out from them:

Paydirt - Dirt ; Gold ; Diamond ; Ruby ; Jadeite
Coal - Coal
Solid rock (you have to blast it or use special machines) It contains random quantities of materials such as copper, gold, iron, etc. Once transformed by the machines (see image in guide), you'll end up with precious materials and tailing as waste.
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How to earn XP?

XP you gain from selling ore. (also every time you purchase something and checkout from store. Fast +9 ; Normal +6 ; Slow +3)
Selling ore directly to sell point will boost your XP! (Coal plant map)
Difficulty setting will determine how much XP you will gain from each ore
Example: Lithium= Slow: +2.6 ; Normal: 5.1 ; Fast: 7.3 per ore (sold via storage)


XP gain per ore ( with slow xp gain, sold via Storage )
Dirt - 0 xp
Paydirt - 0.1 xp
Coal - 1.4 xp
Solid Rock - 1 xp
Blasted Rock - 0.9 xp
Crushed Rock - 0.7 xp
Gravel - 1.2 xp
Magnetite - 1.5 xp
Copper - 1.7 xp
Bauxide - 3 xp
Rhodium - 2.6 xp
Gold - 2.8 xp
Diamond - 7.8 xp
Ruby - 7.8 xp
Platinum - 8.9 xp
Jadeite - 9.6 xp
Lithium - 2.6 xp

Depending from ore Normal mode gives you +35% boost and Fast mode gives you +65% boost ( my math may be off, it was late night)
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Production:

With variety of production parts you can choose how you want to set up your factory. Here is just basic recommendation for getting most out of each ore:
(You can place it anywhere on your production line)
Paydirt - washplant
Coal - dont require refining, but adding washplant will help to purify paydirt you capture with it

Solid rock -* requires explosives or excavator with hammer attachment to create* Blasted rock - Jaw crusher to refine it to Crushed rock - Fractioner to further separate valuable metals ( Lithium ; Bauxide ; Rhodium ; Magnetite ; Copper ) Froth Floater to refine gravel into valuable metals and tailing

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Main production parts:
washplant, jawcrusher, fractioner and Froth Floater are main parts to refine ores.
but if you wanna sort things even further there is variety of parts to use:

Trommel sorter - upper passes thru valuable ores. lower Dirt, paydirt,
Storage unit - you can store everything in them.