Mole Miner

A mole miner is a utility craft specially designed to operate in space, on asteroids, and on worlds with hostile or no atmospheres. As the name implies, a mole miner digs ore out of locations that are normally out of the reach of most humans and humanoid species. It does not have the range or storage capacity to function as an independent craft. Instead, it operates from a base or headquarters ship, leaving its dock to perform its function and then returning at the end of a work shift. The two-man mole miner looks like a cone that has had its point chopped off. It can be operated by a crew or controlled by a remote comm unit using the craft's integrated slave circuits. Using its bottom mounted plasma jets to slice through solid rock, the mole miner gathers the precious ores and minerals into storage bings through a series of vacuum shafts and grinders. Though once in widespread use, mole miners have largely been replace by mining droids.