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Message: <blockquote data-quote="adwyn" data-source="post: 1105436" data-attributes="member: 14083">True Most gold mining towns see a burst of initial wealth in the first few years (1-5) as the easily obtainable gold in dust and nugget form is panned or collected from the surrounding country side. Some shafts will be dug in search of veins, but further development requires a large amount of investment from outside sources that rarely pays off for the town itself. After all gold mining is hard and dangerous and those who do well send others to do the mining for them. It is conceivable that a city would grow wealthy, but it is not likely to be the city where the gold is mined but a nearby one that controls the resources needed to operate the mine.As to theft, veins can be profitable and would indeed yield nuggets that could be stolen. Theft in mines of this type is a major issue. Either draconian security measures are taken or the miners are interrelated and invested in the production, such as would be expected from dwarves. Most gold would come from gold ore with a yield of only a few ounces per ton if lucky. This requires a smelter which in turn will consume a considerable amount of wood or coal for its furnaces and require a river as well - its usually easier to hall ore down hill to a smelter than wood and water uphill to a mine.</blockquote>