I understand that civilians are useful for moving populations and contributing to the net wealth of your imperial economy through taxes, financial centers, etc. However, my question is about competition. Are civilians competing with your empire for resources? In other words...lets say I have a shortage of a mineral, but there is a large deposit of it located on Pluto. The civilian sector sets up a mining operation there before I am able to create a colony of my own.
In this scenario, I know I am able to tax their mining operation. I also know I am able to purchase minerals from them. However, if I still set up my own mining colony, will we be competing over the finite mineral deposit. Do I benefit in anyway by mining it directly, or is it just more cost effective to tax and buy? Fundamentally, when, if ever, is it a good idea to restrict civilian access to certain worlds/moons/asteroids, etc.?
Thanks.
Buying minerals from civvies is VERY expensive compared to the cost of implementing equivalent mining infrastructure.
One civ mining complex is equivalent to 10 mines.
The cost of purchasing the minerals is 375 wealth per yer (the purchase price of 250 plus the lost tax of 125).
The construction cost of 10 auto mines is 2400 wealth and 2400 corundium.
That means that if you buy minerals from a civvy for 7 years, you have spent more wealth than you would have by building the equivalent auto mines.
And if you had built the auto mines, you would be getting the minerals for free, forever (that is, until they run dry).
That said, building and deploying your own auto mines incurs some overhead cost.
You have to haul the mines out there.
You have to haul the minerals back (or build and deploy mass drivers).
So it really comes down to how much that overhead cost is (based on your infrastructure, tech, and the distances involved) and how much you can afford the up-front cost of corundium to build your own mines.
When I start a new game, I like to instantly put a colony on any orbital mining prospect with significant duranium or corundium, because I plan to make orbital mining platforms early and I don't want civvies depleting the easiest sources of those needed minerals.
The civvies make due with the leftovers. They seem to do okay.