Silicon Ore

Silicon ore is a basic natural resource used to produce High-Purity Silicon. It is mined from Silicon Veins with Mining Machines, and it can also be obtained by smelting Stone in a Smelter when no natural source is available. Silicon ore is found on only a few planets in a given star system, so establishing a mining line on a planet with rich Silicon Veins is usually much more efficient than relying on stone refinement.

Its only direct industrial use is as the input for High-Purity Silicon, so it is generally best to smelt it as soon as it is collected rather than stockpiling large amounts of ore. Because 2 Silicon ore are required per High-Purity Silicon, refining the ore near the mine before sending the product through an Interstellar Logistics Station reduces transport load and halves the number of trips needed compared to shipping raw ore. Small amounts of Silicon ore can also be found when the mecha manually collects rocks and pebbles on the starting planet.

Stone-to-silicon production exists, but it is extremely inefficient: one of the sources describes a recipe of 10 Stone for 1 Silicon ore over 10 seconds. This is only suitable for very small early-game demand, such as limited building supply. For sustained production, natural Silicon Veins are the intended source.

Silicon ore demand stays modest at first, but rises sharply once higher-tier electronics enter the production chain. It is used indirectly for many late-game components through High-Purity Silicon, including Processor lines and especially Quantum Chip production. Because those recipes are layered, importing raw Silicon ore into a central manufacturing hub can create a heavy logistics burden, including greater power use from Logistics Vessels and more Space Warper consumption. Local refinement is usually the cleaner solution.

• Veins Utilization increases Silicon ore mining rate by 10% per level and reduces ore consumption by a compounding 6% per level.
• On the starting planet, only small quantities may be gathered manually from rocks; full Silicon Veins are not normally present there.
• Star systems can vary a lot in Silicon ore reserves, so some starts provide abundant deposits while others are much poorer, making early access to interstellar transport important.
• Because the resource has only one direct use, storing large reserves is usually less useful than converting it into High-Purity Silicon immediately.