Miner

The Automated Miner is the lazy man's answer to mining. Why spend all that time down in dangerous caves when with a little EU, and a few bits and pieces, you can mine ore from the surface!

Requirements
To run, the Automated Miner requires 3 things, with several optional but highly recommended things:

Energy: From a cable or portable sources (NOT including Batpacks or Tier II or Tier III energy devices.)

Pipe: Mining Pipe (IC2)

Which is consumed to dig down. Returned once the miner retracts

Drill bit: Mining Drill

Charged Mining Drill

Uncharged Mining Drill

or Diamond Drill

Optional
Make a Scanner so that it branches off to the sides to mine blocks, instead of just boring a shaft directly down. Scanner: OD Scanner

 or OV Scanner



Pump: Pump (IC2) with Empty Cell

To collect source water blocks that get in the way of mining, and to clear + store lava in a stackable container.

Operation
 To use the miner insert a Drill Bit into the top-left, a Scanner in the top-right and your Mining Pipes into the top-middle.

The miner will consume the pipes to dig down extracting ore it finds in its scan range(See Scanning Range section).

Any ore found will be brought up and ejected onto the surface next to the miner. Placing a chest next to the miner will result in the ore being stored in it instead.

Once the miner has finished you can retract the pipes by removing the Drill bit. Also you may place blocks (Dirt etc.) in the pipe slot to fill in the shaft when it retracts.

An easy method of efficiently mining with the Automated Miner is to dig down to the upper level of the strata containing the ore you are seeking. Dig through a tunnel until you find a scan result you are happy with and set up the Miner. For power, consider using a Geothermal Generator, as you are likely to be relatively deep and hauling buckets of Lava is an energy efficient means to power the Miner.

The miner will usually not work if used inside a protected area, such as a protected spawn or Towny city.

Energy Cost
Note: Must be connected to low voltage. Rough power costs for one operation: 

Mining Drill: ~450-470 EU

Diamond Drill: ~880-900 EU

OD Scanner: ~65-75 EU

OV Scanner: ~165-190 EU<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; font-style: normal;">Therefore, the cost to drill down 1 level with a Mining Drill + OD Scanner is ~460+~70 = 530, and the cost to drill down 1 level with a Diamond Drill + OD Scanner is ~990+~70 = 1060

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; font-style: normal;">Diamond Drills are far more expensive but far faster, ~4 times as fast to be exact.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; font-style: normal;">EU/Tick:

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; font-style: normal;">A miner with a Mining Drill and OD Scanner will use ~2-3 EU/t.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; font-style: normal;">A miner with a Diamond Drill and OV Scanner will use ~20-24 EU/t due to the higher cost per tool and faster mining speed.

Trivia

 * Without a Bat-Pack, the normal Mining Drill can mine 200 ground blocks before needing to be charged. The Diamond Drill can only mine 120, but it is much faster.