Dilithium Mining

[MilitantJaneway]

I have a question-is dilithium mined in all classes of planets or are they usually desert planets? And any ideas if it was mined by people or ? I just remember the last scene in Author, Author where they have the Mark 1 holograms working in a mine- It got me wondering if that was mentioned in any of the other series as being the norm.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

The planet in Pen Pals nearly destroyed itself because the huge abundance of dilithium in the planet was reacting with its own geothermal energy, forming--basically--a naturally-occurring warp field.

Don't really know what that planet looked like before, but it was inhabited and--apparently--a pretty nice place before all those volcanos and crap turned it into Io.

It has to do with some of the properties of dilithium, which--based on Pen Pals--is probably pyro- and peizoelectric, meaning it changes shape and voltage depending on temperature and stress. If you're mining it from planets, chances are those planets are highly geologically active and possibly unstable (meaning in the Trekiverse there is probably a huge amount of dilithium on Io and maybe Venus too). Dilithium may be abundant in asteroids for the same reason, since the formation thereof prevents proto-planetary material from forming into major planets during the system's early stages.

 

[JNG]

It seems to be quite rare overall and, while newtype_alpha has provided some reasonable speculation above, they haven't given any particular direct mention of planetary types which are more or less likely to have deposits of the material. I do believe they found some in asteroids on Voyager also.

In the late 24th century, it appears to be possible, if likely very resource-intensive, for Federation technology to produce small amounts of synthetic dilithium.

 

[TIN_MAN]

On a related note, what's up with the lithium "cracking" station on Delta Vega? Cracking is something related to oil refinement, so whats this got to do with lithium, or di-lithium, for that matter? Maybe cracking the molocules of lithium turns it into di-lithium? But this must be very expensive, which is why natural di-lithium is prefered.

 

[Praetor]

On a related note, what's up with the lithium "cracking" station on Delta Vega? Cracking is something related to oil refinement, so whats this got to do with lithium, or di-lithium, for that matter? Maybe cracking the molocules of lithium turns it into di-lithium? But this must be very expensive, which is why natural di-lithium is prefered.

That's always what I rationalized. Failing that, maybe 'lithium was a sometimes-used slang term for dilithium that faded from use due to inaccuracy and confusion.

 

[Timo]

Well, "cracking" is essentially a "slang term", too, a word referring to the cutting of long hydrocarbons to short ones even though the action doesn't involve any cracks or cracking sounds or anything of the sort. So quite possibly future engineers put the word to a more proper use - perhaps you need a giant industrial plant for creating just the right sort of cracks in lithium-rich crystals?

Alternately, the Delta Vega factory might be dealing in petrochemicals, and simply cracks those in a process that involves lithium...

Clearly, in Kirk's day and age it is either necessary or then at least profitable to obtain dilithium by mining. By Picard's era, various synthetic sources are probably available, but mining might still be an economically competitive source. We also learn in TNG and VOY that there are a number of possible lithium-containing compounds that can be used for warp drive and the like: dilithium, paralithium, trilithium... It's quite possible that these all go by the common abbreviated name "lithium crystal", and that Starfleet also used that name until it ceased to use the other lithium crystal types and specialized solely in the dilithium variant.

If you're mining it from planets, chances are those planets are highly geologically active and possibly unstable (meaning in the Trekiverse there is probably a huge amount of dilithium on Io and maybe Venus too).

To be sure, Venus appears almost completely geologically passive... The old scifi imagery of it as being dotted with volcanoes is as outdated as the preceding one that had it covered in jungles and swamps. Scientists still haven't figured out how the surface can feature mountains that look volcanic in origin when there's no other evidence of recent volcanism. Perhaps dilithium-related upheavals really are to blame?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[GodThingFormerly]

To be sure, Venus appears almost completely geologically passive... The old scifi imagery of it as being dotted with volcanoes is as outdated as the preceding one that had it covered in jungles and swamps.

Nonsense! If Pavel Klushantsev's 1962 sci-fi film Planeta Burg ("Planet of Storms") depicts active volcanoes on Venus then by Tsiolkovsky there are active volcanoes on Venus!

TGT

 

[hellsgate]

I'd like to see more fan fic depicting (in cameos / flashbacks,) the day to day lives of these dilithium miners. The security involved, etc. to keep their colonies from being constantly boarded & its denizens from being enslaved from whomsoever decides to plant their flag.

 

[Myasishchev]

I'd like to see more fan fic depicting (in cameos / flashbacks,) the day to day lives of these dilithium miners.

Federaion dilithium miner: "Make sure machines are mining dilithium correctly. Troubleshoot software issues. Perform standard maintenance for physical wear and tear."

Romulan dilithium miner: "punch your Reman slave in the face until he begins to mine dilithium."

The security involved, etc. to keep their colonies from being constantly boarded & its denizens from being enslaved from whomsoever decides to plant their flag.

A story set on Coridan in the 23rd century would be fun.

In the 24th century, I wonder, is dilithium mining all done by the state, or do participatory cooperatives exist to extract resources? Perhaps, since dilithium is so hugely important to the antimatter leisure economy, dilithium miners are accorded even an higher social status as Starfleet officers.

 

[MilitantJaneway]

Thanks much. Your comments have been very useful. Odd that you mention the lives of dilithium miners, I was looking for information for a story.

 

[templerman]

I may be dead wrong, but Lithium and Dilithium are two different things. Lithium was mined for use in certain ships circuits in the Star Trek universe. At least according to Memory Alpha articles, (see Lithium Cracking Station and Lithium crystal circuits).
Acording to these aricles “Lithium [was] part of the power generation system of Starfleet vessels in the 23rd century.” (This should not be a surprise as it is used in a more primative state today. Every heard of lithium batteries?) “The relation of a lithium crystal to a dilithium crystal has never been explained. It is possible its use was replaced by dilithium, or it could have been a related component.”
Dilithium is a crystalline substance, supposedly found on planets and other celestial bodies other than Earth. Think About It!
However, I have read technical discussions on Dilithium by well informed Star Trek insiders, in which Dilithium Crystals are actually quartz crystals. This argument posits that in the future a sub-space matrix may be discovered in quartz crystals. This sub-space phase may be what allows an anti-matter plasma stream to channel the power through this phase, thus producing the extreme energy levels to power Warp Coils of a starship.

 

[sojourner]

^GAH! What's with the yelling?

well informed Star Trek insiders, in which Dilithium Crystals are actually quartz crystals.

ooo, he has "Star Trek insiders". We have Rick Sternbach, Andy Probert, and The Okudas, among others. Quartz??? do you know how common quartz is? If this were a viable idea there wouldn't be any need to setup expensive mining operations on far flung worlds to get the stuff. Just take a walk pretty much anywhere and pick up a piece.

 

[scotpens]

. . . If Pavel Klushantsev's 1962 sci-fi film Planeta Burg (“Planet of Storms”) depicts active volcanoes on Venus then by Tsiolkovsky there are active volcanoes on Venus!

Not to mention blonde amphibian women in filmy hiphugger pants and seashell bras.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOohpaXaZ28[/yt] (BTW, the correct transliteration is Planeta Bur.)

 

[blssdwlf]

Wasn't the dilithium rich planet from "Mirror, Mirror" a "nice" planet with vegetation?

 

[Rick Sternbach]

^GAH! What's with the yelling?

well informed Star Trek insiders, in which Dilithium Crystals are actually quartz crystals.

ooo, he has "Star Trek insiders". We have Rick Sternbach, Andy Probert, and The Okudas, among others. Quartz??? do you know how common quartz is? If this were a viable idea there wouldn't be any need to setup expensive mining operations on far flung worlds to get the stuff. Just take a walk pretty much anywhere and pick up a piece.

I think there's a bit of confusion at work here. Playing the part of some large dilithium crystals in the engine were some big chunks of real quartz painted a light rosey transparent pink. Yeah, we used quartz in the TV production, but nowhere in fictional Trek technology have I ever heard of quartz being the "actual" crystal adapted for warp engine use.

Rick

 

[Timo]

Some old RPG backstories had it so that dilithium looked almost exactly like quartz, and was mistaken for that common substance until some clever guy or gal figured out it had weird transdimensional properties to set it apart from ordinary quartz. That's probably what templerman is quoting there...

This story was used in the Reeves-Stevens novel Memory Prime at least. This novel also borrowed bits from John M. Ford's hilarious How Much For Just the Planet?, namely the idea that dilithium is four-dimensional and in order to crack a crystal, you can't just hit it hard now - you have to hit it hard "last month, today and a week from Tuesday".

Timo Saloniemi