Super Mining Mechs: Guide to Mine Production

A list of all elements available on each planet's mines, their rarity, time per resource output ("speed"), value, and value per unit time (V/T) as calculated.

If you gather frequently, V/T is the most important metric to the mine's output; if you leave mines running for a long time, then you'd want the resource with the highest value.

The elements with the highest value and V/T will be listed for each mine, and if the element is not available from y0 then alternatives will be also provided.

As the planets and elements are discovered along the progress of the story, this guide may be considered to contain spoilers. V/T as listed are rounded half to even[en.wikipedia.org] to the nearest 0.01/s.

The deepest y level an ore can be obtained from is omitted from the descriptions for brevity's sake, as this guide is focused on producing income with the mines.

This guide is a work in progress and will be updated as I progress through the game.
[Update 1] Added Tin and Indium; Updated information on how rarity affect drop rates.
[Update 2] Added Tier 4-5.
Future content: A section on how the mines produce and store resources, and analyses of ore income with consideration of the storage of the mines being full before collection.

Guide to Rarity

Rarity of an element determine their drop chance and the speed a mine output a unit of resource.

An element of rarity 1 is the base drop when mining an ore. If the ore also produce other elements, then the other elements will be of rarity 2 or above and have a drop rate of rarity cubed over one, rounded to the nearest 0.01%. The drop rate is subtracted from the base resource's drop rate. For example, magnesium ore drops calcium with rarity 2 at a drop rate of 1/8 or 12.50%, therefore magnesium drops at a drop rate of 7/8 or 87.50%.

The time it takes for a mine to produce a unit of resource is 20 seconds times rarity cubed, so boron, with rarity 3, takes 20s * 3³ = 540s to produce.

The drop rate and mine output speed of each rarity is shown in the table below.

| Rarity | Drop Rate        | Time |
|--------|-------------------|------|
| 1      | Base drop        | 20   |
| 2      | 1/8 or 12.50%    | 160  |
| 3      | 1/27 or 3.70%    | 540  |
| 4      | 1/64 or 1.56%    | 1280 |
| 5      | 1/125 or 0.80%   | 2500 |
| 6      | 1/217 or 0.46%   | 4320 |
| 7      | 1/345 or 0.29%   | 6860 |

Note: This is speculation, but drop rate as listed of an element and drop rate as an upgradable skill seem to refer to different things. The drop rate of an element is the chance that this element drop when a resource is dropped from mining an ore, and a single tile of ore can produce multiple units of resources, while the drop rate as mentioned by the skill seem to refer to the amount of resources dropped per tile of ore. The former is additive between elements from the same ore and add to one among all the possible drops, therefore make no sense that it can be increased. If the drop rate skill upgrade actually increases the drop rate of the rarer drops of each ore, the game fails to explain so.

Islandora 1 (Tier 1)

Highest Value: Calcium @ 1,944
Highest V/T: Calcium @ 12.15/s
Alkali Metals

| Element | Rarity | Time/s | Value | V/T s⁻¹ | Notes |
|---------|--------|--------|-------|---------|-------|
| Sodium  | 1      | 20     | 144   | 7.20    |       |

Alkaline Earth Metals

| Element   | Rarity | Time/s | Value | V/T /s⁻¹ | Notes                           |
|-----------|--------|--------|-------|----------|---------------------------------|
| Magnesium | 1      | 20     | 144   | 7.20     |                                 |
| Calcium   | 2      | 160    | 1,944 | 12.15    | Rare drop of magnesium ore.     |

Transition Metals

Element      Rarity  Time/s  Value  V/T /s⁻¹  Notes
Titanium     1       20      128    6.40     
Iron         1       20      113    5.65     
Yttrium      2       160     512    3.20      Rare drop of titanium ore.
Zirconium    1       20      144    7.20     

Frostera 1 (Tier 2)

Highest Value: Argon @ 932 (V/T: 5.82/s)
Highest V/T: Oxygen @ 20.40/s

Halogens

Element     Rarity   Time/s   Value   V/T s⁻¹    Notes
Fluorine    1        20       142     7.10

Noble Gases

| Element | Rarity | Time/s | Value | V/T /s⁻¹ | Notes                     |
|---------|--------|--------|-------|----------|----------------------------|
| Neon    | 1      | 20     | 233   | 11.65    |                            |
| Argon   | 2      | 160    | 932   | 5.82     | Rare drop of neon ore.     |

Transition Metals

| Element | Rarity | Time/s | Value | V/T s⁻¹ | Notes |
|---------|--------|--------|-------|---------|-------|
| Oxygen  | 1      | 20     | 408   | 20.40   |       |

Vulcanar 1 (Tier 3)

Highest value:

y < 200: Thallium @ 4,592 (V/T: 3.59/s)
y < 300: Germanium @ 6,528 (V/T: 5.10/s)
y ≥ 300: Indium @ 20,916 (V/T: 4.84/s)

Highest V/T:

y < 200: Hydrogen @ 20.40/s
y < 300: Hydrogen tied with Arsenic @ 20.40/s
y ≥ 300: Tin @ 31.15/s

Hydrogen

| Element  | Rarity | Time/s | Value | V/T /s⁻¹ | Notes |
|----------|--------|--------|-------|----------|-------|
| Hydrogen | 1      | 20     | 408   | 20.40    |       |

Other Metals

Element      Rarity    Time/s    Value    V/T /s⁻¹     Notes
Aluminium    1         20        202      10.10        
Gallium      2         160       808      5.05         Rare drop of aluminium ore.
Thallium     4         1280      4,592    3.59         Rare drop of lead ore.
Lead         1         20        287      14.35        
Indium       6         4320      20,916   4.84         Rare drop of tin ore. Available starting at y300.
Tin          1         20        623      31.15        Available starting at y300.

Metalloids

| Element   | Rarity | Time/s | Value | V/T /s⁻¹ | Notes                                |
|-----------|--------|--------|-------|----------|--------------------------------------|
| Boron     | 3      | 540    | 2,097| 3.88     | Rare drop of silicon ore.            |
| Silicon   | 1      | 20     | 233   | 11.65    |                                      |
| Germanium | 4      | 1280   | 6,528| 5.10     | Rare drop of arsenic ore. Available starting at y200. |
| Arsenic   | 1      | 20     | 408   | 20.40    | Available starting at y200.          |

Islandora 2 (Tier 4-5)

Highest value:

y < 300: Calcium @ 1,944 (V/T: 12.15/s)
y < 500: Rhodium @ 4,784 (V/T: 3.74/s)
Current y ≥ 500: Strontium @ 137,800 (V/T: 55.12/s); the abnormally high value is erroneous and will be fixed next update, as stated by the dev in the Discord server[discord.com].
Post-fix, y < 600: Rhenium @ 12,150 (V/T: 4.86/s) (speculation: will tie with Strontium, as both are rarity 5 resources available starting at y500, and barium sells at the same price as manganese)
Post-fix, y < 800: Ruthenium @ 22,284 (V/T: 5.16/s)
Post-fix, y ≥ 800: Scandium @ 49,294 (V/T: 7.19/s)

Highest V/T:

y <300: Calcium @ 12.15/s
y < 400: Nickel @ 14.95/s
y < 500: Zinc @ 19.05/s
Current y ≥ 500: Strontium @ 55.12/s; the abnormally high value is erroneous and will be fixed next update, as stated by the dev in the Discord server[discord.com].
Post-fix, y < 600: Barium tied with Manganese, @ 24.30/s
Post-fix, y < 700: Cobalt @ 30.95/s
Post-fix, y < 800: Hafnium @ 39.45/s
Post-fix, y < 900: Niobium @ 50.30/s
Post-fix, y ≥ 900: Tantalum @ 64.15/s

Alkali Metals

| Element | Rarity | Time/s | Value | V/T /s⁻¹ | Notes |
|---------|--------|--------|-------|-----------|-------|
| Sodium  | 1      | 20     | 144   | 7.20      |       |

Alkaline Earth Metals

| Element    | Rarity | Time/s | Value   | V/T /s⁻¹ | Notes                                                 |
|------------|--------|--------|---------|-----------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Magnesium  | 1      | 20     | 144     | 7.20      |                                                       |
| Calcium    | 2      | 160    | 1,944   | 12.15     | Rare drop of magnesium ore.                           |
| Strontium  | 5      | 2500   | 137,800 | 55.12     | Rare drop of barium ore. Available starting at y500. The abnormally high value is erroneous and will be fixed next update, as stated by the dev in the Discord server[discord.com]. |
| Barium     | 1      | 20     | 486     | 24.30     | Available starting at y500.                           |

Transition Metals

| Element     | Rarity | Time/s | Value  | V/T /s⁻¹ | Notes                                      |
|-------------|--------|--------|--------|-----------|--------------------------------------------|
| Scandium    | 7      | 6860   | 49,294 | 7.19      | Rare drop of niobium ore. Available starting at y800. |
| Titanium    | 1      | 20     | 128    | 6.40      |                                            |
| Vanadium    | 3      | 540    | 1,656  | 3.07      | Rare drop of chromium ore. Available starting at y100. |
| Chromium    | 1      | 20     | 184    | 9.20      | Available starting at y100.                |
| Manganese   | 1      | 20     | 486    | 24.30     | Available starting at y500.                |
| Iron        | 1      | 20     | 113    | 5.65      |                                            |
| Cobalt      | 1      | 20     | 619    | 30.95     | Available starting at y600.                |
| Nickel      | 1      | 20     | 299    | 14.95     | Available starting at y300.                |
| Copper      | 1      | 20     | 234    | 11.70     | Available starting at y200.                |
| Zinc        | 1      | 20     | 381    | 19.05     | Available starting at y400.                |
| Yttrium     | 2      | 160    | 512    | 3.20      | Rare drop of titanium ore.                 |
| Zirconium   | 1      | 20     | 144    | 7.20      |                                            |
| Niobium     | 1      | 20     | 1006   | 50.30     | Available starting at y800.                |
| Ruthenium   | 6      | 4320   | 22,284 | 5.16      | Rare drop of cobalt ore. Available starting at y600. |
| Rhodium     | 4      | 1280   | 4,784  | 3.74      | Rare drop of nickel ore. Available starting at y300. |
| Hafnium     | 1      | 20     | 789    | 39.45     | Available starting at y700.                |
| Tantalum    | 1      | 20     | 1283   | 64.15     | Available starting at y900.                |
| Rhenium     | 5      | 2500   | 12,150 | 4.86      | Rare drop of manganese ore. Available starting at y500. |