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Quick Answer

  • Mineral Extractors passively mine resources from underground hotspots, no player action needed once they're powered.
  • Unlock the blueprint at the Space Anomaly's Construction Research Station for 10 Salvaged Data; Supply Depots and Supply Pipes cost 10 and 1 Salvaged Data respectively.
  • Build materials for one Mineral Extractor: 5× Metal Plating and 100× Chromatic Metal. Each extractor draws 50 power units.
  • Higher-tier hotspots (S > A > B > C) produce more resources per cycle: S-class yields the most, C-class the least. Placement closer to the hotspot center also improves yield.
  • Connect extractors to Supply Depots with Supply Pipes so output doesn't cap out between visits. Each Depot holds 1,000 units of a single resource.
  • For a fully self-sustaining operation, locate a site where a mineral hotspot and an Electromagnetic Power Hotspot overlap, no fuel required.
  • Activated Indium from an S-class hotspot is the community's go-to mineral for maximum passive unit income.

Overview

Automated mining is one of No Man's Sky's most satisfying mid-to-late-game systems. Once you've put in the upfront work (finding a good hotspot, building the infrastructure, and running power lines) your base quietly accumulates resources while you explore, trade, or sleep. Return hours later and collect a stack of valuable minerals to sell at the Galactic Trade Network.

The key pieces of the puzzle are Mineral Extractors, which do the actual digging, Supply Depots, which buffer the output so it doesn't go to waste, and Supply Pipes, which connect the two. Underneath all of it is the hotspot system: invisible underground deposits that the Survey Device reveals. Higher-quality hotspots mean higher yields, so choosing the right site matters enormously.

If you're new to base construction in general, visit the No Man's Sky Base Building Guide for Beginners before diving into extractors.

Step 1: Unlock the Blueprints

All three blueprints (Mineral Extractor, Supply Depot, and Supply Pipe) come from the Construction Research Station aboard the Space Anomaly. Find the Construction Modules vendor and spend Salvaged Data.

Blueprint Salvaged Data Cost
Mineral Extractor 10
Gas Extractor 10
Supply Depot 10
Supply Pipe 1

You'll need multiple Supply Pipes, so buying the blueprint early is cheap and worthwhile. If you're running low on Salvaged Data, see our Salvaged Data Farming: Buried Technology Modules Guide for fast farming routes.

Step 2: Find a Hotspot

This is the single most important decision you'll make for your mining operation. A hotspot is an underground resource concentration that extractors tap into. They come in four tiers (C, B, A, and S-class) with S-class yielding the most per cycle. Output per extractor per cycle scales with tier: S-class produces the most, roughly two and a half times the output of a C-class site. Hotspots do not deplete, so a great S-class site will produce indefinitely.

How to find one:

  1. Install the Survey Device upgrade into your Multi-Tool (purchased from technology merchants or found as upgrade modules).
  2. Open your Analysis Visor and activate Surveying Mode.
  3. Walk across the planet surface. The visor will show proximity indicators as you approach mineral, gas, or electromagnetic hotspots.
  4. Once on a hotspot, hold the visor open until the scan completes. It shows the resource type, tier, and density percentage.

Hotspot tier and yield: The density reading maps directly to tier: S-class shows 100%, A-class 80%, B-class 60%, and C-class 40%. Placement matters too: build your extractor as close to the center of the deposit marker as possible, since yield drops off with distance from the center.

What to look for: The community considers Activated Indium the most profitable extractable mineral due to its high sale price. If you find a site with a mineral hotspot and an Electromagnetic Power Hotspot nearby, you've found prime real estate for a fully automated, fuel-free operation.

Step 3: Establish Your Base

If the hotspot sits outside your existing base boundary, place a Base Computer at or near the hotspot to claim a new base. Your base needs to encompass the hotspot so you can build on it. For more on base boundaries, see the Base Computer & Base Boundary Guide.

Step 4: Build and Power Your Extractor

Craft a Mineral Extractor using:

  • 5× Metal Plating
  • 100× Chromatic Metal

Place it directly on the hotspot marker. Each extractor draws 50 power units to operate. Your power options:

  • Solar Panels + Batteries: reliable and renewable; batteries cover nighttime gaps.
  • Electromagnetic Generator: zero fuel, zero maintenance if you're on an electromagnetic hotspot site. Output scales with hotspot tier, with S-class EM hotspots producing substantially more power than C-class.
  • Biofuel Reactor: works anywhere but needs Carbon to refuel.

The cleanest setup is an Electromagnetic Generator on an EM hotspot powering one or more Mineral Extractors on a nearby mineral hotspot. Once built, the operation is completely self-sustaining.

For a deep dive on wiring, see the Base Power & Wiring Guide.

Step 5: Add Supply Depots and Pipes

The Mineral Extractor has limited internal storage. Without a Supply Depot, it will fill up and stop producing until you collect from it manually. Supply Depots solve this by acting as overflow tanks. Until this is running, bulk hauling is done by hand — the Colossus is the vehicle for that phase, and the one you stop needing once extractors are placed.

How it works:

  1. Place one or more Supply Depots anywhere within your base. They don't need to be adjacent to the extractor.
  2. Connect the extractor to the first depot using Supply Pipes. Each pipe segment covers a fixed distance, and you can chain segments to cover longer stretches.
  3. Chain additional depots together in a line. Each depot holds 1,000 units of the extracted resource.
  4. When you visit, open any depot to collect everything in the connected network.

Important: A connected pipeline network can only hold a single resource type. If you're mining two different minerals, keep their pipe networks separate.

How Many Extractors Should You Stack?

You can place multiple extractors on the same hotspot and pipe them into the same storage network, but there are diminishing returns. Community testing shows that per-extractor output begins to fall noticeably once a connected network exceeds roughly 1,000 units per hour of total throughput. For high-throughput setups, many players build separate, independent extractor networks (each with its own storage chain) rather than linking everything together into one large cluster.

Step 6: Gas Extractors (Same System, Different Resource)

Gas Extractors work identically to Mineral Extractors but tap Concentrated Gas Cloud hotspots instead of mineral deposits. They produce gases like Nitrogen, Sulphurine, Radon, and Oxygen, all useful for crafting or selling. They also cost 50 power units each and connect to Supply Depots the same way.

If you want to run a crafting operation producing high-value items like Stasis Devices, gas extractors provide an automated supply line for otherwise tedious ingredients. See the Stasis Device & Fusion Igniter: Max Units per Hour guide for how extractors feed into that pipeline.

Optimization Tips

  • Match your planet to your resource. Activated Indium only appears on planets in blue star systems. If you want the most valuable mineral, you'll need to travel to the right system first.
  • S-class everything if possible. An S-class hotspot with an S-class EM generator on the same site produces dramatically more than a C-class setup.
  • Separate networks for separate resources. Never mix resource types in one pipe chain.
  • Keep each network under the diminishing-returns threshold. Once a single connected network exceeds roughly 1,000 units per hour, per-extractor yield drops significantly. Build multiple independent networks rather than one massive linked cluster.
  • Build depots at your main base, not at the extractor site. Pipes can run long distances: place depots somewhere convenient for collection, like near a teleporter.
  • Offline production is real. Extractors continue working when the game is closed. A large depot bank means you can log off and return hours (or days) later to harvest a full tank.

What About the Autonomous Mining Unit?

There is an older piece of equipment that sounds like it does this job and does not: the Autonomous Mining Unit.

It attaches to a surface Resource Deposit rather than a hotspot, extracts from it without depleting it, and runs on a Fuel Inverter that takes 100 Carbon or 34 Condensed Carbon for a full charge. On paper that reads like a cheaper Mineral Extractor.

In practice it is superseded, for three reasons:

  • It targets deposits, not hotspots. Deposit yields are far below what an S-class hotspot produces, so the ceiling is much lower.
  • It needs refuelling. The whole point of the Extractor and Supply Depot setup above is that it runs unattended; the Mining Unit reintroduces the chore.
  • It has a long-standing reliability problem. Community reports going back to its introduction describe stored output and charge disappearing after a reload, a long absence, or simply time passing. We have not been able to confirm whether this is fixed in the current build, and would not build an economy on it either way.

Recommendation: skip it. If you already have the blueprint, treat it as a curiosity rather than infrastructure. Everything it was meant to do, the Mineral Extractor does better and without babysitting.

Gas Extraction & Power Hotspots

Mineral hotspots are only one of three surveyable types. The power and industrial extractors guide covers gas extraction and electromagnetic power sites, including how hotspot class changes yield.

FAQ

How do I get the Mineral Extractor blueprint?

Visit the Space Anomaly and find the Construction Research Station. The Mineral Extractor blueprint costs 10 Salvaged Data. You can farm Salvaged Data by digging up Buried Technology Modules found with your Analysis Visor on planet surfaces.

Do I need to stay on the planet for extractors to produce?

No. Mineral Extractors work continuously even when you're in a different system or have closed the game entirely. The only limit is your Supply Depot storage. Once it's full, production halts until you collect. Stack multiple depots to extend your collection window.

What's the best mineral to farm with extractors?

The community widely agrees that Activated Indium offers the highest unit value per resource unit, making it the top choice for passive income. It only spawns in blue star systems, so you'll need to travel to find the right location. Check our Activated Indium Mining Base guide for a full walkthrough.

Can I run extractors without building a base?

No. Extractors are base building parts and require a Base Computer to be placed nearby first. You'll need to claim a base at or near the hotspot location. If the hotspot is far from existing structures, just drop a new Base Computer on the spot.

How does hotspot tier affect output?

Higher-tier hotspots produce more resources per extraction cycle. S-class hotspots offer the highest output, C-class the lowest. The Survey Device shows density as a percentage: 100% for S-class, 80% for A-class, 60% for B-class, and 40% for C-class. Placement close to the hotspot center also matters: the further from center, the lower the yield even at the same tier.

Do Supply Depots need power?

No. Only Mineral and Gas Extractors require power (50 units each). Supply Depots and Supply Pipes have no power requirement. This makes it easy to place depots anywhere that's convenient for collection without worrying about running additional power cables.

Key Takeaways

  • Unlock Mineral Extractor (10 Salvaged Data), Supply Depot (10), and Supply Pipe (1) blueprints from the Space Anomaly's Construction Research Station.
  • Find a hotspot using the Survey Device. S-class hotspots (100% density) produce the most; C-class (40% density) produce the least.
  • Each extractor requires 50 power units; Electromagnetic Generators on EM hotspots enable fully self-sustaining setups with no fuel needed.
  • Connect extractors to Supply Depots with Supply Pipes to buffer output; each depot holds 1,000 units of a single resource type.
  • Keep each connected extractor network under roughly 1,000 units per hour to avoid significant diminishing returns. Use multiple independent networks for larger operations.
  • Activated Indium from blue star systems is the community's top choice for maximum passive unit income.
  • Extractors produce while offline, making this among the most genuinely passive income methods in the game.