This is the most common type of mining in Entreprenauts. Your equipment will dig directly into the ground forming a ‘pit’ from which ore of various types is excavated. Below are both the steps to begin your first pit mine, as well as helpful information regarding how they operate.

So you’ve taken the plunge and you are ready to go. Or are you? Mining is what is considered a ‘Tier 2’ industry. This means that it is more expensive than a Tier 1, or ‘Starter’ industry, to get going in. This should be a consideration before taking the leap. Some helpful bullet points are listed below. If you answer ‘no’ to one or more, you may want to consider holding off on a pit mine.

• Do you have atleast 5m in liquid capital?

• Is the mine site located near a trade hub, port, or place where there is a lot of player activity?

• Is the resource that is minable worth a base value of no less than $150/m3?

• Do you have driver(s) with Heavy Haul Certifications or LE Semis to deliver equipment to and from the mine site?

• If you haven’t prospected yet, do you have the 1.5m of funding and the means to transport the surveying equipment to the site?

• Do you have driver(s) with Hazmat & Tanker certifications to help reduce your fuel costs? (If not, fuel is $5/L and can add up quickly, especially on less valuable mines.

• Do you have a plan to distribute the ore once done? Generally you won’t be able to bulk sell everything in one place, as it will drive the price down and make your efforts less and less worth the time.

• Can you sustain operations for no less than 30 days with little to no income while you get everything established and orders placed for selling?

• Do you know that in general NPCs and players don’t buy huge orders all at once, but rather what they need when they need, meaning it may take weeks or months to sell all of your product?

If you’ve made it through the above and were able to answer yes to most or everything, then you may be ready to take the plunge. But as a last piece of advice, we would highly recommend talking about your plan in our Discord. We have many experienced players who are always willing to lend ideas and opinions if you are unsure on anything.

Step 1

Prospect the site. Visit our article on Prospecting to learn more.

Step 2
Once the site is prospected and you have deemed it a fit for a pit mine, you will need to purchase a mining setup. This generally will consist of atleast…

• 1x Excavator

• 1x Jaw Crusher (Processor)

• 1x Bulldozer

• 1-3x Wheel Loaders (There are 3 jobs for wheel loaders, so having less than 3 will mean having to switch their duties regularly, but if you are on a budget, you can make it work with 1!)

• 1-2x Dumptrucks (Enough to be 10x the size of your Excavator, but not more than 60m3 per acre overall.)

Below is an example picture of a setup for a smaller mine of around 3 acres.

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This setup cost around $3.75m. You could get by with as little as around 1.5m but realize this will be the smallest equipment and therefore the slowest rate of extraction. Be sure to buy the equipment for the city and the country that the mine is located in!

Step 3
Load equipment onto Low Boys. This will require drivers who have a Heavy Haul certification, a semi, and a Low Boy trailer. Each low boy can haul one piece of equipment at a time, meaning if you are limited on certified drivers or trailers, you will need to make multiple trips. Equipment is loaded after the trailer is attached, and can be done on the semis details page, located at Interactions > Logistics > Semi Of Choice

The video clip below shows attaching a trailer, and then how to load equipment in that city.

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And after it is loaded, you will see this under your trailer info area, showing what is loaded and the ability to unload it if you choose.

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Step 4

Bringing equipment to site. You will need to navigate to your Mine.

This is done by

Interactions > Land > Country & City > Resource > Details (On the plot you are planning on mining.)

Once here, you will see the mining interface. It can be overwhelming at first, so we will only worry about the things that apply to our first mine. Click the ‘Logistics’ tab. This is the tab where you will see anything relating to logistics. From there, click ‘Semi Operations’. This will open a window.

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Once you have opened that link, you will see a list of any semis in your local city that are idle with a trailer attached. Find the one(s) with the equipment you need and click “Sent To Mine”. This will dispatch the semi to your mine.

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Step 5
Once your semi has arrived on site, you will have the option to “Unload Cargo”. Doing so will start the process of removing the equipment from your semi, and prepping it to be used on site. This is pictured in the above image. During this time, which can range from an hour to multiple days depending on the size of equipment, your equipment will be in “Arrival Prep” and your semi will be unloading.

Step 6
Once you have the necessary equipment on site, you will go to the main overview of the site, and click the “Operations” tab. The only area we are interested in for a pit mine is the “Surface Operations” tab. Here you can see each pile and the current amount of paydirt/waste in them, as well as a link to view your equipment and give them orders.

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In the graphic to the left, each line has a specific purpose.

• Line 0 = Link to viewing/ordering equipment on site for surface operations.

• Line 1 = Waste/Overburden Pile.

• Line 2 = Paydirt Pile.

• Line 3 = Awaiting Processing Pile

• Line 4 = Processed Pile

• Line 5 = Awaiting Shipment Pile

• Semis Line = Number of Semis hauling ore.

• Trains Line = Number of Trains hauling ore.

Step 7

Now it’s time to assign orders to the equipment on site. This is done by clicking hte “Surface Equipment” link in the above image. Once here, you will see all equipment and be able to assign it to a task. Below shows a mine that has equipment handling every line of the pit mine.

• Lines 1 + 2 are created (Added to) by an excavator. “Excavate”

• Line 3 is added from line 2 via a wheel loader. “Load Processor”

• Line 4 is added from line 3 via a jaw crusher. “Process Paydirt”

• Line 5 is added from line 4 via a wheel loader. “Clear Processor”

• Semis & Trains are loaded from line 5 via a wheel loader. “Load Shipments”

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Step 8
At this point, it’s time to put the final piece in your beginner mining puzzle. Navigate back to the main site overview, and click the logistics tab, and go back to your semi overview. At the top of the screen, you will see a Hire & Fire trucks form, shown below.

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Hauling trucks are hired simply by entering the number you wish to hire (Up to 10 at a time), and hitting the “Add Site Trucks” button. You will be charged $25,000 per truck as a startup fee, and then will pay daily $200 per truck that operates at the mine. You are not responsible for fuel for these trucks. If you ever wish to decrease the number of trucks, simply use the right side of the form and hit “Remove Site Trucks”.

Step 9

At this point, it is time to monitor and manage! Congratulations, you have set up your first pit mine, and soon the fruits of your hard labor will begin to arrive in your warehouse in the city of the mine. Do remember that while equipment is running you will be burning fuel! Fuel is charged daily at the end of each day along with any labor charges, and will be found in your ledger.

Once you have these basics down, you have a foundation for becoming a successful miner. As you continue your journey we encourage you to look into our articles covering other forms of mining, as well as more advanced methods of operating including delivering your own fuel, utilizing foreman, and maximizing your distribution from your warehouse.

Good luck out there miner!