Long-range mineral scanner

Long-range mineral scanner

A lateral sensor unit used by researchers to detect a specific type of mineral across the planet. The chance to find a resource depends on the operator's research ability. This sensor can be tuned to target a specific resource type. It consumes a lot of electricity. If you find a resource, you'll need to travel to collect it.

Base Stats

Type

Miscellaneous – Resources

Market Value

1010  ^[Note]

Beauty

-8

HP

250

Flammability

50%

Path Cost

25 (34%)

Building

Size

3 × 3

Placeable

Yes

Cover Effectiveness

40%

Power

- 700 W

Creation

Skill Required

Construction 8

Work To Make

1,000 ticks (16.67 secs)

Resources to make

200 + 6 + 2

Deconstruct yield

150 + 5 + 1

The long-range mineral scanner can detect mineral deposits in the nearby areas outside your colony when manned by a researcher. It can be tuned to different minerals, such that it will only find deposits of a certain kind.

The scanner spawns mineral lumps mini-maps in the world map and triggers its respective world event which always has an expiry date of 30 days. They can either be unguarded (60% chance), guarded by pirates or surrounded by a manhunter pack. Once the area is clear of hostiles, you have 10 days to mine everything before the caravan leaves.

• Pirate defenders will surround the lump with a rudimentary base and possibly turrets.
• Manhunter packs will charge at your colonists. Some are slow allowing evasion and kiting, while others are fast and require a defensive stance.

The amount of time taken is random, though better researchers increase the chances that a mineral deposit may be found. At its baseline, it finds lumps with a mean time between of 9.2 days and will guarantee a lump after 8 days of work. The mean time between finding deposits can be altered by research speed of the user, though how this is done remains unknown.

While scanning, a pawn will gain Intellectual skill, but only at about half the rate they would while working at a research bench.

Although not explicitly mentioned in the item description, the long-range mineral scanner is not usable if there is a roof over it. (Similar to the ground-penetrating scanner.)

Resources

All minerals, as well as components, can be discovered with the scanner. The expected yield and mass from a lump can be found in the table below; this is useful for knowing how many Pack animals to send to various discovered lumps.

Resource	Number of Tiles	Total Yield	Total Mass (kg)
Steel	55 - 60	2200 - 2400	1100 - 1200
Plasteel	10 - 15	400 - 600	100 - 150
Components	50 - 70	100 - 140	60 - 84
Silver	60 - 80	2400 - 3200	16.8 - 22.4
Gold	8 - 12	320 - 480	2.5 - 3.8
Uranium	15 - 20	600 - 800	600 - 800
Jade	20 - 25	700 - 875	350 - 438

Version history

It received a rework in Beta 19. Prior to that:

• It can only find gold or jade, and cannot be tuned.
• It did not require a colonist to operate.
• The lumps did not expire.
• Only one scanner is effective in the same map - building more did nothing (multiple scanners for different resources seem to work as they should).

In 1.1 its power cost was increased, and the time between finding ore veins is displayed.

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Architect

Misc

Caravan hitching spot • Egg box • Grave • Marriage spot • Party spot • Pen marker • Sarcophagus • Tool cabinet • Meditation spot • Nature shrine (Large, Small)

(research)

Comms console • Cryptosleep casket • Firefoam popper • Ground-penetrating scanner • Long-range mineral scanner • Moisture pump • Multi-analyzer • Orbital trade beacon • Pod launcher • Stele (Large, Grand) • Transport pod • Vitals monitor • Ship landing beacon