Mine Quality
Because a mine has been established does not mean that it automatically yields valuable metal or gems. The quality of the ore must be determined. Even the highest quality metal requires some processing before it can be sold.
Metals
If the yield of the mine is a metal, it will probably be in the form of ore (metal-bearing rock). While pure nuggets may be discovered occasionally, a character with the smelter proficiency must separate the metal from the ore.
The quality of the ore is equal to the number of coins that can be produced from it by a single miner in one week. A copper mine, with a rating of 200 cp, would mean that a single miner, working for one week, produces a pile of ore that can yield 200 cp of copper when smelted. The amount of coinage indicates how much is produced, not that coins must be produced. One-thousand coins of iron, for example, equal one suit of plate armor, 100 spear heads, or 500 arrowheads. To determine the quality of the mined ore, roll 1d10 and compare it to the result for that metal on the Ore Quality Table. This equals the coin equivalent produced per week per miner.
Ore Quality Table (Roll 1d10)
| Metal | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | 100 | 200 | 250 | 300 | 350 | 400 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 2000 |
| Iron | 200 | 300 | 500 | 700 | 900 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 | 3000 | 4000 |
| Silver | 25 | 50 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 2000 |
| Gold | 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 750 | 1000 |
| Platinum | 5 | 10 | 20 | 40 | 75 | 100 | 250 | 400 | 800 | 1000 |
* If a 10 is rolled, roll 1d10 again. If another 10 results, the mine is a pure vein of the highest quality and requires no smelting. If 1-9 results, the metal must be smelted.
Ideally, the smelted metal has the same value as its coin equivalent: i.e., 20 10-coin ingots of silver are worth 200 sp. In a true medieval economy, however, everything is negotiable. Miners may not be able to get this much for their bullion, or may get more, depending on local conditions, who the buyer is, and regional supply.
If a character sells the ore without smelting, the selling price can be no more than 25% of the value of the pure metal, and it may be as low as 5%. The asking price will depend on the difficulty of transportation and the cost of smelting the ore.
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