Sand

Sand

Sand is a natural resource obtained through mining. It can be dumped within a dumping designation as waste or in strategic areas to create landfill or ramps. It is particularly useful for producing Concrete Slabs, Glass, Filter Media, and in late-game for the processing of Copper Ore Crushed.

Prior to Beta 0.3.11 (2022-01-23), the only method of obtaining Sand was directly mining it on the island, with no external sources such as outposts or trading. Thus, Sand was often the limiting factor in how much Glass a colony could produce and ultimately a limiting factor progression. With this patch, a recipe was added to create Sand from Rock by processing it in a Crusher to create Gravel, then crushing it again once more into Sand. This change greatly increases the amount of Sand which is available on a given island.

Island reserves

Each Home Island contains varying amounts of natural resources. The amount of resources mined by Excavators is modified by the resources size modifier on the Map Selection screen while the amount which can be extracted per tile is further affected by the ore mining yield modifier on the Game Difficulty screen. On the other hand, the amount of Crude Oil and Water is modified by Extra Starting Material modifier on the Game Difficulty screen. Any modifier cannot be changed once the island has been founded.

Resource reserves in Home Island (version 0.4.11)

Map	Iron Ore	Copper Ore	Gold Ore	Coal	Limestone	Crude Oil	Rock	Sand	Dirt	Groundwater	Wood
New Haven	1,400,000	1,400,000	620,000	1,700,000	1,200,000	80,000	12,200,000	1,000,000	4,000,000	57,000	80,000
The Beach	4,500,000	2,500,000	1,000,000	2,100,000	1,200,000	92,000	25,100,000	1,500,000	5,700,000	66,000	110,000
Curland	5,700,000	4,900,000	1,200,000	2,500,000	4,200,000	1,100,000	39,600,000	4,800,000	6,600,000	51,000	110,000
The Crater (Supporter edition)	3,700,000	2,300,000	670,000	5,800,000	1,800,000	70,000	56,800,000	700,000	6,500,000	48,000	87,000
The Golden Peak	2,200,000	2,100,000	7,300,000	1,900,000	1,400,000	110,000	26,000,000	680,000	4,100,000	63,000	93,000
File:Insula Mortis.png Insula Mortis	8,700,000	2,900,000	2,800,000	3,900,000	1,400,000	220,000	46,700,000	760,000	6,300,000	60,000	120,000
You Shall Not Pass	8,300,000	10,600,000	3,300,000	4,100,000	7,800,000	100,000	71,100,000	8,300,000	6,300,000	99,000	100,000

It should be noted that most of the above natural resources are non-renewable. But there are alternative ways to get unlimited resources.

• Dirt can be created by dumping Compost onto the ground or mixing Compost and Gravel.
• Sand can be created from Quartz by processing it in a Crusher twice.
  • Manufactured Sand, made from Rock via Gravel, can substitute for sand in Concrete Slab and Filter Media production
• Wood is infinite, since Trees can be planted with Tree Planters.
• All other resources can be imported infinitely from Outposts or by Contracts, and some of them can be indefinitely created/collected in more ways:
  • Water can be indefinitely collected by 3 different ways:
    • Rain replenishes the Natural Groundwater Resource lode (which can be pumped with a Groundwater Pump).
    • Rain can also be collected directly with the use of a Rainwater Harvester.
    • Seawater can be pumped limitlessly from the sea with a Seawater Pump(Tall) (This method requires the post processing of the Seawater into the Water.)
  • Coal can be created from Wood with a Coal Maker.
• Crude Oil consumption can potentially be avoided in the late game using the Biodiesel technology for Diesel and Naphtha Reforming for Naphtha.

History

Beta 0.3.11 (2022-01-23):

• Added a new recipe for Sand which can be now made by crushing Gravel.