Sol One Resources Guide: Iron, Copper, Silica, Ice and Uranium
What each Sol One resource is for, where to find it, and how to build a supply route that does not eat your whole day.
Sol One's resource list is short and deliberately Martian. The store page names iron, copper, silica, ice and uranium, and the early game adds regolith as the material under your feet. Six substances, one fabricator, and a rocket to build. The complexity is not in the number of resources; it is in the logistics of moving them across a full-scale planet.
This guide is the reference page for what each resource does, where it comes from, and how to organise supply so that you spend your time building rather than walking.
The resource table
| Resource | Where it comes from | What it is for | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regolith | Surface, everywhere | Early construction, low-grade processing | Immediate |
| Iron | Rocky outcrops, ore deposits | Structural material, tools, machine frames | High |
| Copper | Ore deposits, usually darker veins | Wiring, electronics, power components | High |
| Silica | Sandy deposits, dunes | Glass, electronics, solar components | Medium |
| Ice | Surface or subsurface deposits | Water, oxygen feedstock, crops | Critical |
| Uranium | Rare deposits | High-density power, advanced components | Late |
The exact recipes are part of the launch build and will be tuned during Early Access. The roles above follow from the materials themselves and from what the game has shown: a base-building game with power, electronics and a rocket needs structural metal, conductive metal, glass/electronics and fuel.
It is everywhere, it is free, and it is the reason your first shelter can exist before you have mined anything. Do not ignore it once you have iron — early walls and foundations are cheaper in regolith, and the savings compound.
Ice is not a normal resource
Five of the six resources feed construction and industry. Ice feeds life. It is the input to water, the likely feedstock for oxygen, and therefore the resource that decides whether your base can grow at all.
Treat ice differently:
- Survey it before you build. A base with a long ice commute is a base with a permanent logistics tax.
- Build a forward camp at the deposit once the main base is stable.
- Never let the reserve run to zero just because a build was more interesting than a supply run.
The water guide→ covers the chain in full.
Prospecting
Sol One's map is procedurally generated at full Mars scale, which means resources are distributed by terrain logic rather than hand-placed. Practical prospecting:
- Follow colour and shape. Ore bodies read as colour breaks in the regolith; ice reads as bright or shadowed patches depending on exposure.
- Look at slopes and crater walls. Uplifted terrain exposes layers that flat plains hide.
- Use the rover for distance, the suit for detail. Drive to a region, then walk the outcrops.
- Mark everything. A beacon on a deposit is cheaper than remembering a coordinate.
Later, the autonomous rover is the intended tool for scouting and hauling. It extends your survey range without spending your suit oxygen.
Supply routes
The distance between a deposit and the base is the real cost of a resource. Three patterns work:
Base-adjacent mining. Best for regolith, silica and any deposit within a short walk. You mine, you carry, you build. No vehicles needed.
Forward camp. A small sealed shelter, a charging point and a storage container at the deposit. You commute to the camp, not to the base. This is the right pattern for ice once the main base is running.
Rover haul. The Crawler carries cargo, so a single trip can move what would take five walks. The rover guide→ covers loading and route planning.
If raw ore is heavy and refined material is light, a furnace at the mine site cuts transport. The trade-off is power and supervision at a second location, which is why this works better after you have a rover and a spare generator.
Storage and organisation
A base with one giant pile of mixed materials is a base where you cannot find anything. Separate storage by function:
- Structural — regolith panels, iron beams, foundation pieces.
- Electrical — copper wire, components, batteries.
- Life support — ice, water containers, oxygen canisters.
- Rocket — the special components and refined materials that only the rocket needs.
The rocket store should be started early, even if it is one crate. Materials you set aside for the rocket do not get eaten by a base expansion, and the pile is a visible measure of progress.
Scarcity and the mid-game
The early game is constrained by ice and power. The mid-game is constrained by copper and uranium:
- Copper is the electronics bottleneck. Wiring, control systems and power components all want it, and the deposits are less common than iron.
- Uranium gates the high-density power path and likely the advanced rocket components. It is rare, and finding it is a deliberate expedition rather than an accident.
When you find either, mark it and build a route. A copper deposit you cannot reach is a rumour.
POIs as a resource
Crashed ships and abandoned mission bases are not just story locations. The game's Early Access content list includes scavenging at a crashed ship, which means POIs are a source of parts and materials you cannot refine yet.
Rules for POI scavenging:
- Bring cargo space. The rover, not your pockets.
- Bring a spare tank. POIs are usually far from base.
- Take the rare thing first. If you can only carry one load, carry the thing you cannot make.
- Note what you left behind. A second trip is cheaper than a wasted one.
FAQ
Is there a resource scanner? The autonomous rover is the confirmed scouting tool. Whether the player has a handheld scanner is a build detail; the reliable method is visual prospecting and beacons.
Do deposits run out? Individual deposits are finite. The map's scale makes this a logistics problem rather than a scarcity one, but a base tied to one small deposit will eventually need a new source.
What is uranium for? The safe answer is high-density power and advanced components. The specific recipes are part of the launch build, and the reactor path is one of the systems most likely to be tuned during Early Access.
Should I refine everything before storing it? No. Refined material is lighter and more useful, but refining costs power. Refine what you are about to use and store the rest as ore if space allows.
Where do I find ice? Surface patches in cold regions and subsurface deposits that require digging. The water guide→ covers detection and extraction in practice.