ok i deleted the other game ... redownloaded it and started a new game .... got a question for the dev(s)
the amounts of each mineral from sand is way off .... i'm trying to get Zircon which if you notice says 95% return .... but if you look at the screenshot it is no where near that . it might be 5% maybe .... meanwhile silica you always get a ton of its more like 95% ... this needs to be fixed
I used to work in the mining industry, hence sometimes I gloss over things in these specific information pages, that whilst clearly apparent to me, are not clear to others. If I try to explain everything though, it would become extremely verbose and hence players would skip over it.
When sand mining you look for deposits with a maximum amount of heavy mineral (Rutile / Zircon). The majority of the remaining material tends to be silica (SiO2). For simplicity in Callisto I have assumed that this heavy mineral consists of 50% Rutile and 50% Zircon. For example in game if you have 1000T of sand at 12% heavy mineral (grade) it consists of:
- 88% (880T) Silica
- 6% (60T) Rutile
- 6% (60T) Zircon
When processing you have what is known as recovery, which is the percentage of the feed material that is successfully processed into a product, whilst the remainder is waste. Thus in your case with the Zircon priority you get the following:
- Silica: 44% of feed (88% x 50%)
- Rutile: 3.6% of feed (6% x 60%)
- Zircon: 5.7% of feed (6% x 95%)
The mining and processing mechanics are based upon actual real world scenarios, although heavily simplified for implementation in the game. Things like the presence of ilmenite (FeTiO3) and the mass loss from Rutile and Zircon into metal forms from the reduction of oxygen during smelting are ignored.
Many elements in the game are not fully explained, however where possible are based upon actual scientific knowledge. A google search will often provide greater understanding of game elements. If not, perhaps you learnt something you didn't know before.