v0.34:Mining

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

Mining
Skills used
Miner
Tasks
Dig

v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34.11 · v0.31 · v0.28 · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

Mining is an essential part of building a fort in Dwarf Fortress. There are several reasons you might want to mine, such as searching for various stone types, ores and gems, or simply to create the basic tunnels and rooms in your fort. Mining refers to either the skill that performs mining, the labor assosciated with it, or simply the task or job of performing said labor.

There are several types of jobs associated with this skill:

• Mining removes the section of the wall while preserving both the ceiling and the floor.
• Channeling removes the section of the wall, the floor and if possible places a ramp one level below.
• Ramps replaces the section with a upward ramp, also removing the tile and floor one level above.
• Stairs carves out upward (or downward) stairs.

Mining can only be done in pre-existing stone or soil. Constructed wall, stairs or ramps cannot be mined; these must be removed using the 'remove construction' option (d, n)

Making a dwarf a miner

1. Specify your dwarf to be a miner via view, pref, labor.
2. Select "Mining" using + or -, then press enter.

A miner also requires an available pick. A dwarf's agility and mining skill affect how quickly they mine.

Selecting the mining labor will disable the wood cutting and hunting labors, as they all involve the usage of different tools.

Designating the area to be mined

1. Press designate to bring up the Designations Menu.
2. Highlight the requested action by pressing:
   • d for mining
   • h for channeling
   • r for an upward ramp
   • u for stairs towards the upper level
   • j for stairs towards the lower level
   • i for stairs in both directions
3. Move the cursor to the starting point, then press enter. You should see a green flashing cross symbol indicating that it's in Selection Mode.
4. Move the cursor to another point to define the opposite corners of a rectangle, press enter again. A yellow area should now be highlighted, indicating the area to be mined. The opposite corner can also be placed on a different z-level, designating areas across z-levels for mining. Tiles can also be designated by using the mouse and left-clicking.

Understanding digging

Each layer in the three-dimensional Dwarf Fortress map consists of two parts: a wall-part, and a floor-part. Digging a tunnel removes the wall-part but leaves the floor-part in place. Channeling removes the floor-part as well, leaving open space above, and if a floor-part exists below, it becomes an upward ramp.

Mineral production (profit!)

When the wall-part is removed from a stone tile, there is a 25% chance that a single stone (also known as a boulder) will be left behind. The same applies to most ores. Any minerals that are found in small clusters have a 100% chance of leaving a stone or rough gem behind (and so does raw adamantine).

When tunnels are dug in soil, nothing is left from the wall-part. The floor-part will remain, if it wasn't channeled, and might be suitable for farming.

In older versions, higher mining skill would lead to more boulders being dug out. As of 0.34.08, the standard drop rate for boulders is 25% and skill gain only decreases the amount of time it takes to mine each tile. Also as of 0.34.08, the mason's workshop creates four blocks from one boulder instead of the previous one block. This means that for the purpose of constructions or buildings there is just as much stone available as before, although an extra processing step has been added. Tasks that use boulders as raw material now have a quarter as much raw material to work with. The same goes for ores, one piece of ore will produce 4 bars at a smelter.

Training mining

Dwarves gain mining experience for each tile mined, be it stone, ore, gem, or soil. Soil is mined extremely quickly and is one of the fastest ways to train miners. Since the skill of mining also is used in combat, a dwarf with mining enabled that is carrying a pick will increase their mining skill through combat drills. This process is much faster than learning by digging through stone, but not nearly as fast as learning by digging through soil.

The fastest way to train mining is to first dig out upstairs, then remove the upstairs. Removing upstairs (even rock ones) is extremely quick and still provides mining experience.

Mining warm and damp stone

When designating any digging operation, warm and damp tiles will flash, indicating magma or water in adjacent tiles. Miners can dig these safely, provided there is an escape route. Channeling and ramping designations involve two operations, and your dwarf will be submerged in the fluid when done. Unskilled swimmers can reach an exit ramp out of water if near enough, but magma will certainly cost your miner's life (the flow from either can knock dwarves off ledges, or naturally flood the fortress.)

How to cancel a mining operation

If you placed a designated area for mining but want to cancel the mining (for example if you approached damp stone) simply go to Designations d and select Remove Designation x. Then select the starting point of the area you want to cancel with enter, move to the ending point and confirm again with enter.

Notes

To create a channel with no downward ramps, you have to mine out the area underneath the channel first, or manually designate the ramps created for removal afterwards d -> z. If you wish for these channels to be completely inaccessible from the outside, channel out the access-point (downward staircase). Another (more complicated) way of removing any access to the moat is to replace the dug out ramps with constructed ones and creating a cave-in with constructed floors. Rampless channels are an effective substitute for walls against melee enemies that cannot fly, and they can be dug out far faster than a wall can be built. However, channels offer no defense against archers or dragonbreath.

When digging or removing upward ramps, watch out for loose stone or other items that might be in the way, as falling objects can now injure the unfortunate miner.

See also

• Map tiles – Different types of walled, floor and open spaces.
• Caverns – Large underground tunnel systems.
• Exploratory mining – Mining focused on finding valuable stone.
• Soil – A list of soil types.
• Stone – A list of different types of stones and ores left behind from mining.
• Smoothing – Increase fortress value and dwarf happiness by improving the quality of your rough-stone mineshafts.

V · T · E Labors
Mining	Mining
Woodworking	Carpentry • Crossbow-making • Wood cutting
Stoneworking	Masonry • Stone detailing
Hunting/Related	Animal training • Animal care • Hunting • Trapping • Small animal dissection
Healthcare	Diagnosis • Surgery • Setting bones • Suturing • Dressing wounds • Feed patients/prisoners • Recovering wounded
Farming/Related	Butchery • Tanning • Farming (fields) • Dyeing • Soap making • Wood burning • Potash making • Lye making • Milling • Brewing • Plant gathering • Plant processing • Cheese making • Milking • Shearing • Spinning • Cooking • Pressing • Beekeeping
Fishing/Related	Fishing • Fish cleaning • Fish dissection
Metalsmithing	Furnace operating • Weaponsmithing • Armoring • Blacksmithing • Metalcrafting
Jewelry	Gem cutting • Gem setting
Crafts	Leatherworking • Woodcrafting • Stonecrafting • Bone carving • Glassmaking • Weaving • Clothesmaking • Strand extraction • Pottery • Glazing • Wax working
Engineering	Siege engineering • Siege operating • Mechanics • Pump operating
Hauling	Stone hauling • Wood hauling • Item hauling • Burial • Food hauling • Refuse hauling • Furniture hauling • Animal hauling • Push/Haul vehicles
Other jobs	Architecture • Alchemy • Cleaning