Ore Collector, Crusher & Prospector

Why ore processing matters in 1.0

Before Scrap Mechanic 1.0, most metal came from surface wrecks and warehouse crates. Drilling Thunder added an underground economy built around three linked machines — the Ore Collector, Ore Crusher, and Ore Prospector — plus the Battery Generator that keeps the chain powered off-grid. You unlock these parts through Schematics scanned at the Schematicbot, then craft them at the Craftbot once the underground questline progresses.

This page documents every machine in the chain, how they connect, and where they fit relative to the Plasma Drill and your first mining rig.

The four core machines

Machine	Role	Input	Output
Ore Collector	Gathers loose rock from drills or conveyors	Broken terrain, drill debris	Raw ore chunks in adjacent container
Ore Crusher	Pulverises chunks into gravel powder	Raw ore chunks	Crushed gravel
Ore Prospector	Filters gravel for rare materials	Crushed gravel	Gold, titanium shards, rare metal ingots
Battery Generator	Powers the chain without surface engines	Manual crank or engine spin	Fresh batteries

None of these machines replace the Plasma Drill — they process what the drill breaks loose. Think of the drill as the front end and this chain as the refinery behind it.

Ore Collector

The Ore Collector is a vacuum-style intake block designed to sit at the bottom of a drill rig or at the end of a conveyor line. When activated, it pulls loose ore chunks within a short radius into an attached container chest. Key details:

• Range: roughly three blocks in every direction from the intake face.
• Power: requires a battery or engine connection via the Connect Tool.
• Throughput: one chunk per second at default speed; stack collectors in parallel for large rigs.

Mount the Collector directly under your vehicle-mounted Plasma Drill array so ore never hits the cavern floor. For stationary bases, place it at the conveyor drop point above your Crusher input chest.

Ore Crusher

The Ore Crusher converts raw ore chunks into crushed gravel — a powder-like intermediate material. Without crushing, the Prospector cannot filter anything useful.

Setup tips:

1. Connect an input chest (from the Collector) to the Crusher intake side.
2. Connect an output chest to the Crusher discharge.
3. Wire a Battery Generator or surface engine to the Crusher power port.
4. Start the Crusher before feeding large batches; it queues up to five chunks.

The Crusher is loud and visible on the minimap-style quest tracker when running — useful for finding your processing room after getting lost in deep caverns. Pair it with a motion sensor so the Crusher only runs when the Collector chest receives new ore.

Ore Prospector

The Ore Prospector is the payoff machine. It filters crushed gravel and extracts rare materials — gold flakes, titanium shards, and the refined metal ingots needed for late-game Craftbot recipes and Trash Bot prep gear.

Prospector behaviour in 1.0:

• Filter rate: one gravel unit every two seconds.
• Yield: randomised per biome vein; desert underground skews gold, mountain underground skews titanium.
• Schematic upgrade: Foreman Kael on Mining Island sells a Prospector efficiency schematic after Quest 7.

Run the Prospector last in the chain. Feeding it uncrushed ore wastes input slots and produces nothing. If your output chest fills, the Prospector pauses automatically — add a second output chest or a conveyor overflow route before long AFK sessions.

Battery Generator

Underground bases often sit too far from the Mechanic Station to run extension cables efficiently. The Battery Generator solves off-grid power:

• Manual mode: crank the valve by hand for one battery per ten seconds.
• Engine mode: attach a small gas engine or electric motor to spin the valve automatically.
• Output: standard batteries compatible with every 1.0 machine.

Place one Generator per three machines in your processing line. A single Generator cannot keep up with a full Collector-Crusher-Prospector chain at maximum throughput — add a second Generator or rotate batteries from the surface.

Example processing layouts

Mobile rig (vehicle-mounted)

1. Plasma Drill array on the front of a tractor chassis.
2. Ore Collector under the drill, wired to a rear container.
3. Drive ore back to base; unload into a stationary Crusher-Prospector line.

Best for early underground before you establish a permanent cavern outpost. See how to build a mining rig for the full vehicle blueprint.

Stationary cavern refinery

1. Drill room at the vein face (vehicle or turret seat drill).
2. Conveyor from drill drop to Collector chest.
3. Crusher → Prospector chain with shared Battery Generator.
4. Output chest next to a bed and Cook Bot for long sessions.

Best after you unlock the collapsed elevator or a stable underground entrance.

Links to related systems

• Plasma tools — drills and saws that feed the Collector.
• Schematics — every machine here requires a scanned Schematic.
• Underground mining — where you build the chain.
• Grow Labs — tutorial conveyor room that teaches the same logic in a safe environment.

Common mistakes

• Running the Prospector before the Crusher. Unprocessed chunks produce zero output.
• Forgetting power. Every machine in the chain needs a battery or Generator connection.
• Building the refinery at the surface. Hauling gravel up from deep caverns wastes more time than processing in-place.
• Skipping the Foreman Kael upgrade. The base Prospector misses roughly 30% of rare metal in titanium veins.

Where the value ends up

Processed Ingots feed the Mining Hub Vault. Quota milestones (10,000 / 100,000 / 1,000,000) gate deeper floors — full strategy in How to Complete Vault Quotas.