If you have been exploring planets or happened to stumble across large resources that you can scan, you may notice that a Cutter (Mining Drill) does not work on them.
While mining smaller resources simply needs the Cutter, a lot of players have been wondering why the huge chunks found on planets are unaffected.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to get a larger mining tool as we will go over how you can do this in this guide since it is easier than expected.
How To Mine in Starfield?
Mining in Starfield requires that you have a Cutter with you, which is a mining tool that is used to collect resources by breaking ore deposits.
These can be found on any planet and are easily seen by opening your scanner to view them, which also allows you to scan the resource.
When you are using your scanners, pressing the fire key/button will bring out your Cutter so you can easily mine while having the scanner open.
Be sure to have a Cutter (any type) in your inventory as you will not be able to mine if you do not have at least one with you.
How To Collect Large Resources?
If you are wondering why the larger resources cannot be mined or collected with the Cutter, you are most likely viewing them using your scanner.
The larger resources are not harvested with the Cutter though and are instead obtained by picking them up from the source.
What you need to do is close your scanner, approach the resource until the prompt to harvest appears, and interact with it to gather the resource.
Some of these resources may have gas, chemicals, or other dangerous properties, so make sure you collect them and get away quickly.
How To Use Extractors to Collect Passive Resources?
When you are on different planets, you may sometimes be able to see that a part of the land is rich with a certain resource as the ground will be highlighted in the scanner.
This means that you can deploy an extractor in this location, giving you a passive way to generate the resource in the area.
To do this, you will need to set up an Outpost Beacon, Power Source, and the type of Extractor that you want to have placed down.
There are other features that you can add such as a Transfer Container to allow you to transfer cargo while you are on your ship.
Verdict
Once you start to progress into the game, you will discover that you can craft, build, and more but these require resources.
Luckily, you can gather resources in different ways and even set up an outpost that you can visit now and then to collect the hauls.
Almost everything that can be scanned can provide you with resources, which makes it best to be familiarized with them by surveying now and then.
