Mining
Mining is an important mechanic in Factorio. Mining drills are used to automate the extraction of resources. Drills are the first step to automating manufacture, although most resources have to be smelted in a furnace for further usage.
Mining speed formula
The rate at which resources are produced is given by:
Mining speed / Mining time = Production rate (in resource/sec)
To calculate the time needed for one resource-item use this formula:
Mining time * Mining speed = Seconds for one resource item
Mining speed is a function of the miner while mining time is a function of the metal or mineral you are currently mining (you can place a miner over a mixed field).
Mining by hand
When mining by hand, the formula is modified slightly:
(1 + Mining Speed Modifier) * .5 / Mining time = Production rate (in resource/sec)
Infinite resources
The output of the unmodified resource is the percentage yield of the tile currently used by the miner.
Output of unmodified field * ( Number of modules in miner * Bonus from module ) + Output of unmodified field * ( Number of beacons * ( Number of modules * Distribution efficiency ) * Bonus from module + Productivity research bonus + 1 ) = Raw output per second
(Raw output per second * Mining speed) / Mining time = Production rate (in resource/sec)
The mining drill or pumpjack will sum the production rate of all tiles below it and show that value in the tooltip.
Drill types
| Item | Total raw | Mining speed | Mining power | Covered area | Max health | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
- | 1 | 0.5 | 1 × 1 | - | 250 |
 |
  |
0.25 | 300 kW (burner) | 2 × 2 | 150 | |
 |
 |
0.5 | 90 kW (electric) | 5 × 5 | 300 |
Note, that the Burner mining drill covers exactly its size (2×2, the covered area is also 2×2), while the Electric mining drill is one tile bigger (size is 3×3, but covered area is 5×5).
Mining drills can only be placed on resources.
Output
| Resource | Burner M. Drill | Electric M. Drill | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed: 0.25 | Speed: 0.5 | ||
| Iron | Time: 1 |  |
|
| Copper | Time: 1 |  |
|
| Coal | Time: 1 |  |
|
| Stone | Time: 1 | |
|
| Uranium | Time: 2 |  | |
Unlike most other equipment, mining drills will output resources directly without the need of inserters. This includes transport belts, chests, other mining drills, furnaces, assembling machines etc.
The above figures are modified by Mining productivity technology, which adds to any bonus from productivity modules.
