Minerals

Minerals are the foundation of Aurora 4X’s trans‑Newtonian economy. Every ship, missile, installation, ground unit, and industrial structure is built from specific combinations of the eleven TN minerals. Mineral availability determines the pace of expansion, the scale of military production, and the long‑term viability of an empire. Each deposit has a finite quantity and an accessibility rating that directly affects mining output; high‑accessibility deposits provide full yield, while low‑accessibility deposits require many more mines to extract useful amounts. As deposits deplete, accessibility declines after the 50% mark, reducing efficiency and forcing empires to expand outward in search of new sources. Strategic mineral management—surveying, prioritizing high‑value deposits, establishing remote mining colonies, and balancing consumption across shipbuilding, weapons, research, and infrastructure—is one of the core challenges of Aurora C#.

Below is a summary of each mineral, its primary uses, and notes to help guide early‑ and mid‑game planning.

Mineral	Primary Uses (links)	Notes / Tips
Duranium	Ship Components • Armour • Installations • Infrastructure • Maintenance Supplies	Backbone mineral; nearly everything consumes it. Early shortages cripple production.
Neutronium	Construction Factory • Maintenance Facility • Shipyards • Railguns	Heavy industrial mineral
Corbomite	Shields • Advanced Armour • Sensors • Fire Controls • Cloaking • Decoys	Required for defensive tech and CI→Financial Centre conversions.
Tritanium	Missile Launcher • Magazine • Ordnance Factory	Missile‑heavy doctrines consume large amounts; watch magazine scaling.
Boronide	Power Plants • Fuel Refinery • Energy Weapon Components	Direct fire weapons (excluding Gauss) require power plants; Boronide shortages stall fleet growth.
Mercassium	Research Facility • Infrastructure • Planetary Installations	Not a sensor mineral for ships; mainly used for colony development.
Vendarite	Ground Forces • CIWS • Gauss Cannons	Only ground‑force mineral (excluding STOs); also used in some point‑defense systems.
Sorium	Fuel • Jump Drives	Fuel bottlenecks halt fleets; gas giant harvesting is essential mid‑game. Sorium is needed for Components, Fuel is needed for Fleets and Missiles.
Uridium	Active Sensors • Passive Sensors • Fire Controls • Maintenance Supplies	Core sensor mineral; demand rises with tech level and fleet size.
Corundium	Mines • Lasers • Particle Beams • Mesons • Plasma Carronade • High-Powered Microwave	Critical mineral: required for mines and energy weapons (other than railguns). Shortages are devastating.
Gallicite	Every Engine • Maintenance Supplies	The engine mineral; most common mid‑game crisis. Limits shipbuilding speed.