Questions tagged [mines]
For questions about an excavated hole or tunnel that may or may not be used for the unearthing of minerals or ore. Also, for questions about the excavating and working of a mine (which is the above definition).
24
questions
1
vote
2
answers
103
views
Would a high iron content world have particular effects on its more common minerals/elements?
I have a world which has a high iron content in its core, like a more extreme version of Mercury, geologically speaking. The system only has this world and a tidally locked hot Jovian (of which the ...
- 91
22
votes
9
answers
5k
views
How do you build an underground city that "cuts through" a mountain range?
Let's say I have a mountain range similar to the Andes but with no easy passes, hence forcing everyone to circle around it (for hundreds or even thousands of miles) in order to get to the other side.
...
- 4,657
14
votes
2
answers
650
views
Where do I put diamond mines on my map?
I've got a home-brewed D&D setting. Diamonds, in D&D, are needed for resurrection magic, so access to diamonds is literally life and death for any country with clerics capable of casting such ...
- 1,652
16
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Iron deposits mined from under the city
I would like to have a city sitting on top of a large iron deposit that will be mined by the inhabitants of the city. Is that feasible for them? Won't the city collapse under the mines? Are there some ...
- 851
7
votes
4
answers
517
views
Can reckless idiots wake up a dormant volcano using mining equipment?
My story for a video game has some kind of "enemy" (think "the Others" from Lost—little is known about them; they have control over a small settlement or two and appear to be engaging in some manner ...
- 384
16
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Tunnels under the ocean
So I build a city on the ocean floor out of handwavium, Bioshock style, but I want an easier way to get there besides taking a boat to the middle of nowhere and then getting into a submersible.
I ...
- 34.6k
7
votes
3
answers
757
views
Is planetary drill possible?
I was wondering would a planetary drill be possible?
The drill should go inside the planet on one side and exit on the other.
Would that kind of a drill be possible on Earth and if not on what kind of ...
- 228
10
votes
8
answers
2k
views
Why do dwarves usually live in mountains?
This is as much a question as it is a thought that I've had. You see, folding mountains (as in made by tectonic plates movement) are very poor in heavy minerals like metals, and they seem to be the ...
- 121
4
votes
1
answer
889
views
Which minerals are needed to make a sustainable medieval country?
Which minerals (iron, coal, copper, etc.) are needed in the same country to make it sustainable (medieval age)?
For example: A country is made in the middle of a gigantic island (like a little ...
- 8,853
0
votes
1
answer
381
views
How would a war over a mountain work?
If two countries were fighting over a mountain (for mining rights), how would the warfare work? Would there be multiple large-scale battles or some sort of guerilla warfare? There are valleys between ...
4
votes
3
answers
653
views
Where and how can we mine diamonds outside of Earth but within our Solar System?
Edited to give a reason why synthetic diamonds wouldn't work instead.
In the distant future, all the diamonds are gone.
While synthetic diamonds are an excellent sollution for technology - as @...
- 20.5k
6
votes
5
answers
347
views
How to hide past mining
Ok, quick overview of the situation: An alien planet, reaches basically the same stage we are at now in regards to fossil fuel reserves and environmental loss, a major war breaks out, and after both ...
- 3,607
5
votes
5
answers
420
views
What could you mine from a city squashed by an ice sheet - in a new ice age?
Western civilisation fell over a few centuries ago, because the Earth shifted back into a full on ice age climate. Oh and Skynet kind of happened.
Ice sheets expanded, inexorably rolling over the ...
- 10.3k
10
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Could we mine the Moon if we replaced the taken mass?
There is the strong theory that the Earth and the Moon were part of the same core at one point. This would lead one to believe that there are precious minerals under the surface of the Moon.
Metals ...
- 981
6
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How did people know where to mine in the middle ages?
Before there were underground imaging technology, how did people know where to direct a mine tunnel? Presumably people knew from the kind of rock on the face of a mountain whether it contains veins of ...
- 3,290
11
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Is helium 3 lucrative enough to justify the mining of the moon?
I've been trying to come up with a scenario in which space stations and lunar bases are established but are considered controversial. I sort of figure that if corporations started mining the moon that ...
- 213
13
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Who should mine the Asteroids? Humans or Robots?
Discounting the actually quite good idea of having the asteroids be the site of colonization would it be better to use human miners or automated ones?
Both would probably deliver the goods by ...
- 3,719
4
votes
1
answer
698
views
Real Life Zohar
In the movie Noah, which puts a new spin on the old legend of Noah's Ark, In the movie Cain's descendants mine a ore called Zohar. For those of you that have yet to see the movie, first go watch it! ...
- 56k
5
votes
1
answer
308
views
Asteroid flux or: How to make a planet perfect for mining
One of the cool things about the Moon is that the far side has a thicker crust that the near side.1 One theory explaining this is that the Moon was hit by an object, possibly a moonlet created by the ...
- 99.6k
4
votes
3
answers
1k
views
The Desert of Ore, how would people mine and process ore sand
Based of my previous two questions, which respectively talks about the geography of a desert of metal ore, and how people would live in such a place, here comes the last and most important question.
...
- 6,247
5
votes
2
answers
494
views
The Desert of Ore, how would people live in it
Based on my previous question over here, which starts up and talks about a desert which is full of ore sand instead of normal sand.
What would people need to be able to simply live in it, since ...
- 6,247
8
votes
2
answers
862
views
The Desert of Ore, how is it different from a desert of sand
So, within my setting, I would like to also have a kingdom based in a special desert. Absolutely all of the sand in the desert would be ore sand. Ores of any and all kinds that you could traditionally ...
- 6,247
4
votes
3
answers
322
views
Ways to dig deep into a liquid core
Take for example, Neptune, a planet with a slushy mantle and outer core. Imagine we want to mine for water (or some substance beneath it - maybe an exotic ice form under all that liquid).
How do you ...
- 2,159
12
votes
4
answers
676
views
Assuming One Couldn't Die, What Effects Would Radiation Have on the Body?
I'm trying to create some more original monsters for a fantasy story and I was wondering...
Assuming you couldn't die, what would happen to your body and how would you appear if you were exposed to ...
- 423