?SOL STRATEGIC GEOLOGICAL REVIEW
A. MINERALS & THEIR USES
Duranium – We use duranium in everything we build, as it is an essential fundamental to the construction process. Four to five kilotons a year is the current need: Earth produces 3.3kt, and will only be able to sustain that level for about another five years, maybe six. When it begins to fall(or possibly even sooner), many factories on earth will fall silent for extended periods of time if the supply cannot be replaced. Extreme rationing will result.
Neutronium – Primarily used as a key element in all shipyard perations(building them, retooling, expanding) though not in shipbuilding itself, neutronium is also used for ground force training facilities, mass drivers, and maintenance facilities. Earth’s deposits have been exhausted, and less than 4.5k remains, resulting in all neutronium usage requiring the personal authorization of Director Dungey and only approved in cases of the most urgent need.
Corbomite – Not many traditional industrial concerns use it: financial centres, spaceports, and military academies. A small amount(5 tons) is used in each ship we construct. Earth still has over 16k left at low accessibility, and over 5k stockpiled which would last us for the forseeable future at current expenditures by itself. Corbomite is not a short-term concern.
Tritanium – Required for building construction and ordnance factories as well as military academies. Quite a bit was used initially for the economic conversion, but it is expected to see extremely limited use. It is earth’s richest deposit with over 110k left at low accessibility, and we presently have 2.5k with none being used. As there will be no need for new factories for some time, tritanium is also not a short or medium-range issue.
Boronide – was the first mineral to be exhausted on earth: thankfully we didn’t need much of it. There is 9.5k in the stockpile and a huge reserve of 1.0 accessible on Venus whenever we want more. Mass drivers, spaceports, and terraforming installations require it, as well as a very small(1.5 to 5 tons) on each of our spaceships. Boronide is as close to a complete non-issue as anything could be.
Mercassium – The most essential use is a considerable amount required for research labs, and some also for spaceports. It also sees considerable use in starship construction, with all of our current designs requiring 20-25 tons, with the exception of the Spruance-class colony ships which require over 400 tons each! Fortunately, mercassium is fairly plentiful and accessible on earth. We have 15k in the stockpile with over 20k left to mine. We need to make sure we don’t run low on it if possible, but for the next several years at least there would be no way for us to spend more than we have.
Vendarite – Used in construction and fighter factories only, Vendarite is not expected to be needed for quite some time. There are 6kt in the stockpile, and another 63k available to be mined on earth, the most plenteous mineral aside from tritanium. It’s only 0.3 accessible, but as it isn’t being used at all right now the stockpile should grow gradually for the forseeable future.
Sorium – Sorium’s sole use is a very important one: it is refined into fuel for our starships. Run out, and our fleet will cease to function, so running out is not an option. At present the stockpile is at 7.6kt and growing – the refineries are only using up around half of each year’s yield. Earth has only 7.3k left though, and accessibility is at 0.45 and shrinking. We have time, but not more than a decade probably, to find additional sources.
Uridium – Used in deep space tracking stations, financial centres, military academies, spaceports, and small amounts in starships, uridium is a versatile mineral that is required in small amounts for several different purposes. It is currently our largest stockpile with nearly 21k on hand and another 17 left at pretty good but declining accessibility(0.72).
Corundium – Required mostly for mines, but also used in military academies. Corundium is in dire straits, exhausted on earth and 5k in the stockpile.
Gallicite – Used in modest amount for starships(5-20t each for current designs), but that’s it. With a 20kt stockpile, we’re not all that worried that there’s less than 5k left to mine.
SUMMARY
Clearly our top concerns are duranium(so the economy doesn’t grind to a halt) and corundium(the more we have, the more of everything, duranium included, we can extract). Neutronium, and after that sorium also have to be concerns because we have limited amounts of them and because they are essential to what passes as the fleet. Mercassium is a long-range concern, the rest are just icing on the cake in terms of immediate mining.
