Refinery

Refineries are a type of player-built structure introduced during the Lifeblood expansion. Refineries replaced the moon mining and reactions functionality previously available in starbases and also provide bonuses to reprocessing. Like all Upwell structures, refineries support Tethering.

Size Variants

There are currently two different sizes of refinery; the medium Athanor and the large Tatara.

Difference in Refinery sizes

Athanor

Medium refinery. Allows moon mining (with caveats, see below) and reactions. Provides bonuses to reprocessing yield of ore and ice. Subcapital ships and freighters can dock here. No fighters. 20 vulnerable hours per week.

Tatara

Large refinery. Provides larger bonuses to reprocessing. Allows docking of Rorquals. 4 fighter tubes (3 light / 3 support). Has more defensive capabilities than Athanor. Otherwise functions the same as Athanor.

Anchoring a Refinery

Main article: Anchoring structures

In order to anchor a refinery you'll need a ship with an appropriately sized cargo hold or fleet hangar, the right roles and a suitable spot to anchor your refinery. After that the whole building process, while automatic, takes 24 hours.

Mining Beacons

Around each minable moon is a beacon that can be warped to by right-clicking the moon and selecting "Warp to moon mining location". Refineries must be placed within 250 km of the beacon in order to mine the moon. (As such, only one refinery may mine a moon at a time). Refineries placed elsewhere will still function, but with the moon mining feature disabled.

Moon Mining

Main article: Moon Mining

Moon mining can take place only at refineries anchored within 250 km of a mining beacon and fitted with a Standup Moon Drill I service module, which appears on the outside of the structure as a giant laser turret aimed at the mood. A single cycle takes 1 to 8 weeks depending on setup. The steps are as follows:

1. Set the length of the desired mining cycle. The amount of ore brought up with each cycle is directly proportional to the cycle time, so choose whatever works best for your schedule
2. Fire the laser at the moon. This will break off a chunk of the moon and allow it to be pulled away from the surface.
3. The mining turret's tractor beam will gradually pull the chunk away from the surface. It will continue to move into position until the time you specified in step 1.
4. Fire the laser again, this time at the moon chunk. It will explode into a lot of little chunks, or asteroids.
5. Send forth your minions miners to mine the asteroid belt. Have them bring it back to the refinery to turn it into precious moon goo.
6. While your miners are busy killing rocks, you can get started setting up the next cycle.

Savvy players may note that this results in much more risky gameplay than previous moon mining mechanics. The predictable timing of mining cycles combined with the high value of moon ores makes moon mining belts a prime target for pirates. Refinery operators should prepare a response against any attacks, as well as dealing with ninja miners attempting to steal moon ore.