Mining Lifts and Logistics

Going deeper with the Lift

The richest material sits below your starting layer, and the only safe way down is a Lift. Build it in three careful steps:

1. Place the Lift Head on solid ground with clear space above it for the cage.
2. Add Extensions one at a time, verifying each segment is supported before going further.
3. Repair any blocked ladder segment — a broken rung stops the cage and traps your crew below.

A lift is not decoration; it is the backbone of any multi-layer operation.

Reach the lower dig site

Once the shaft is sound:

• Pack ore into crates at the face so it travels as a single unit.
• Transfer crates onto the lift rather than hand-carrying them up.
• Stage full crates at the bottom so the cage always rides loaded, never empty.

Move material with conveyors

On the surface, conveyors do the hauling. A few rules keep them flowing:

• Build belts in one direction; a belt that loops back on itself jams.
• Use sorters to split a mixed stream so each machine gets only its item.
• Use classifiers to divert contaminants (dirt, wrong ore) away from refiners.

A sorter upstream is cheaper than a cleanup crew downstream.

Organize the warehouse around the flow

Your storage should mirror the path material actually takes:

1. Raw crates arrive at the intake edge.
2. Refined stock moves to a staging zone for contracts.
3. Trash and tailings leave by a separate exit so they never block a loader.

Label the zones early; a warehouse that "just grew" becomes a maze by Level 8.

Forklift tricks

The forklift is the fastest mover when used right:

• Approach in a straight line — turning while carrying a pallet is slow and can clip racks.
• Drop the forks fully before lifting; a half-lowered fork drops the load.
• Clear the area around the pickup — overlapping pallets make the fork grab the wrong stack.

A forklift that drives straight, forks down, and finds a clear lane will outpace any belt for short hops.

Putting it together

Deep mining is a logistics problem, not a digging problem. Sound lift, one-way belts, sorters at the source, and a forklift that runs clean lanes — that combination turns a hole in the ground into a reliable supply of ore for your contracts and smelters.