Emeras: Dust Mining

The dust is found in deposits all over the island. Although it is widely distributed, the concentration of dust in most areas is so small that large areas of land need to be covered and large quantities of material need to be excavated to gather an appreciable amount. In the wooded portions of the island, the roots of the trees and other vegetation hamper digging too much and the mountainous areas are too difficult to access, meaning that the easiest deposits to exploit are those in the the sand in the island’s central basin. The main mining area is found within the area bounded by squares J8:L10 on the island map, although when conditions prevent venturing too far from camp, it is possible to scratch some production from the areas of scrub-land bordering this.

The mining operation s basically an exercise in finding a good patch and doing your best to gather as much as possible. As the dust is much finer textured than most sand, it is possible to do an initial rough sift on the spot (using big sieves that are carried with the miners) which will give a much smaller volume to carry back to the base camp where the refining equipment is.

The refining equipment uses shaking tables, more screens and sieves and finally a gust of wind effect which propels the product through wards (that screen out anything living still mixed in) and then through a wall of air (which the normal grit/sand passes through, if slowed down a bit, but the Dust sticks to.

Quotas/ Measurement

Since it was found by early investigators that the density of a sample of dust can vary dependng on conditions, dust is measured by volume. In the quantties of dust that are handled day-to-day, the most commonly used unit is the minim. (( 1 minim is an imperial apothecaries’ unit roughly equal to 1/20 ml)).

The franchise awarded to the Baron Van Heusen sets the price of dust at 1 florin per minim. With bonus payments for exceeding the regular quotas set by the Royal Council and sanctions for missed quotas.

Quotas are set on a monthly basis, with the Baronial contingent being notified of the next month’s quota by the Island Harbour master when he takes delivery of produced product.

Other units/ conversions
1 minim – 1 florin
20 minims = 1 scruple – 2 groats
3 scruples = 1 dram – 6 groats
8 drams = 1 fluid ounce – 48 groaats
20 fl oz = 1 pint – 960 groats

Mining productivity