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Mining Operation Descriptions
from the Old Scriptment
Around him is the roar of equipment as huge tractor-like machines thunder past. There is loading equipment, and massive earth movers, mining equipment, and bulldozers almost two stories high.
He sees construction workers in heavy environment suits. A tractor, its wheels as big as a house, rumbles past, dwarfing the new arrivals. Beyond it, two VTOL vehicles take off.
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Schematic of a Massive Truck from user's manual that is used to transport kilos of Unobtanium from the mines back to Hell's Gate. This truck is so Massive that the average man on Pandora is only three quarters the height of one of its tires.
The cargo vehicles transport the extracted Unobtanium from the mines back to Hell's Gate for processing. This vehicle is truly a colossal piece of work. Its strength is as important as its ability to shield people from the atmospheric toxins. And mining personnel are advised to spend fewer than 20 minutes per day outside the truck cabs.
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The mining of Unobtanium - this is what pays for the whole party. The RDA works diligently to carefully extract the precious resource found only on Pandora.
Selling for 20 million dollars a kilo, RDA's mining interest is substantial. Not only is Unobtanium crucial to the economy on earth -- it is crucial to the earth's survival.
Since we are here, I will also educate on the vehicles used to make mining possible. Besides massive machinery such as the Slash-Cutter (sidebar on your left and below), mammoth vehicles are required.
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The indigenous civilization on Pandora, the Na'vi, call Unobtanium "rock with magic". Found only on Pandora, it is a high-temperature superconducting mineral that we’ve grown dependent upon for powerful energy. The RDA extracts Unobtanium here to use for interstellar and deep space travel, but also for operating the magnetic levitation trains on Earth. How was this highly magnetic mineral created? Researchers believe that billions of years ago, a Mars-sized planet crashed into the still-molten Pandora. I’m not certain how long the RDA will be here mining the Unobtanium, but they’ve invested highly in this project.
UNOBTAINIUM (from the original scriptment): "Pandora is blessed with a naturally occurring substance a million times more precious than gold. Its joke name of "unobtanium" has stuck, over the years. Unobtanium is a rare-earth mineral, formed volcanically, which is a room-temperature superconductor. The room temperature superconductor has been the "snark" of modern materials science... a substance which transmits electricity with zero resistance, but at normal temperatures, rather than the liquid-helium cooled superconductors of human science.
Unobtanium does not exist in our solar system. It is unique to Pandora. And it is the reason to go there... the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow bridge. Another interesting property of superconducting materials is that they will levitate in a powerful magnetic field. This magnetic levitation, or maglev, effect has been used to lift trains and run them without wheels since the late 1980's. On Pandora the effect causes huge outcroppings of unobtanium to rip loose from the surface and float in the magnetic vortices."
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RDA Mining Update from AVTR
Mining operations at ESM 01 (the main mine on Pandora) have proceeded according to plan, despite casualty rates running somewhat higher than anticipated. Continuing reports of miners feeling strange tactile sensations and distortions in vision and hearing- likely result of electromagnetic field. Some report disturbing thoughts or compulsions, irregular heartbeats, limb paralysis, muscle tremors, or vertigo and nausea.
Excavation has been carried out with standard non-ferrous beryllium copper and tungsten carbide fusion-electric powered mining equipment modified with sealed operator cockpits and atmosphere filtration units. A typical mining cycle involves placing chemical charges above an ore deposit using satellite-positioned drill trucks, detonating the charges to loosen the overburden, then removing the overburden with excavators and dozers.
After the ore has been exposed, it is carefully removed with diggers and trucks; if the ore is pure enough to spontaneously levitate, special belt diggers feeding into covered trucks are used instead. The mine and refinery complex is relatively untroubled by Pandoran life-forms, with 50-cal sentry guns on guard towers easily able to cope with marauding ground and air attackers. Regular effluent sprays around the perimeter of the complex keep vegetation in check.
Vehicle cabs are shielded against toxins; mining personnel are advised not to spend more than 20 minutes per day outside their vehicle cabs and are routinely decontaminated before they are allowed into Hell's Gate.
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