How To Mine Resources Outside Of Your Base in Rimworld

Mining resources outside your home base is an essential strategy in Rimworld for gathering valuable materials like steel that you’ll inevitably run out of. This tutorial walks you through the entire process—from locating distant resource deposits to assembling a caravan, managing carrying capacity, and returning home safely with your haul.

Getting Started: Locating Resources

Begin by clicking the world button at the bottom of your screen. If you’ve already identified resource deposits using tools like the long-range mineral scanner, you’ll see them marked on the map. For example, a lump of compacted steel is a valuable find since steel is a resource you’ll consistently need more of at your home base.

Simply click the icon on the map where the steel (or other resources) is located and press “Send caravan.”

Planning Your Route

Once you’ve selected your destination, the game will display the travel route and calculate how long it will take your caravan to reach the location. Review this information carefully, then press “accept” to proceed.

Assembling Your Caravan

The caravan screen will now appear, allowing you to choose which colonists will join the expedition. You’ll need to decide who stays behind at your base and who travels with you. While you can technically leave just one person to maintain your base, it’s not always recommended—leaving more colonists behind ensures your base continues functioning smoothly.

Maximizing Carrying Capacity

One of the most critical aspects of mining expeditions is carrying capacity. The game displays this in kilograms, showing the maximum weight each colonist can carry. Since minerals and resources are very heavy, you’ll want to bring pack animals to significantly increase your hauling power.

Heavy animals like elephants can carry enormous amounts of weight. Horses are also excellent choices for supplementing carrying capacity. By bringing multiple strong animals, you can increase your total carrying capacity to nearly 1100 kilograms or more—essentially a full ton. This ensures you won’t waste the trip by leaving valuable resources behind.

Packing Supplies

Don’t forget to pack food for your journey. Your colonists will need to eat during their expedition, and the travel time can span multiple days. Make sure you have adequate provisions—for example, three days of food is a reasonable amount for a standard mining trip.

Departing on Your Expedition

Once you’ve confirmed your caravan setup, your colonists will gather all necessary animals and materials and head toward the map edge. You’ll see them collecting supplies from storage, grabbing sleeping bags, and assembling with the animals. The game will automatically show them departing the map.

During nighttime on the world map, your caravan will automatically sleep. You can watch as they travel across the world map toward the lump of compacted steel.

Arriving at the Resource Location

When your caravan arrives at the destination, the game automatically generates a mini-map specific to that encounter. You can jump straight to the location and see the massive lump of compacted steel (or whatever resource you’re mining) waiting for extraction.

Mining Your Resources

To begin mining, go to the architect menu, select “orders,” then choose “mine.” You can then designate the entire resource deposit for mining. Your colonists will arrive drafted, so you’ll need to undraft them first so they can actually perform the mining work.

Make sure you’re sending colonists with adequate mining skills. In this example, Pyruvate has an 18 mining skill, which means they’ll mine through the deposit very quickly and efficiently. While you only need one skilled miner, bringing additional colonists serves two purposes: they can carry the mined steel back to your caravan, and they provide protection in case of attacks.

Dealing with Threats

Be prepared for danger. Your colonists can be ambushed while mining in the wilderness—you never know what threats might emerge. This is why bringing extra people is recommended: safety in numbers. If an ambush occurs, you’ll need to deal with the threat before resuming mining operations.

A high-level miner will work extremely quickly, so other colonists are primarily there for protection and hauling capacity rather than mining ability.

Returning Home

Once you’ve mined all the resources you need, return to the world map and click on the same location. Press “reform caravan” to reassemble your group. Then right-click on your home base and send the caravan back home with all their valuable materials.

Conclusion

Mining resources outside your base is a straightforward but rewarding process in Rimworld. By carefully selecting your colonists, maximizing carrying capacity with pack animals, and preparing for potential threats, you can successfully gather the materials your colony needs to thrive. Remember: bring skilled miners, strong pack animals, enough food, and extra colonists for safety and hauling power. With these principles in mind, you’ll be extracting distant resources efficiently in no time.

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