The Mining Board Game – SOLD

Description

Ages 10 to Adult

2 to 6 Players

Murfett – 1983

Become a Mining Magnate in this vintage board game. Each player starts with $20 Milllion dollars and acquires mining leases. Players compete for the available contracts to mine and sell the metal. The winning player is the one who earns the most money.

Contents – Playing Board, 2 Rule Books, 1 Cash Flow Indicator, 2 Dice, 6 Player Tokens, 20 Lease Ownership Cards, 20 Copper Drilling Cards, 20 Tin Drilling Cards, 20 Nickel Drilling Cards, 6 Copper Contract Cards, 6 Lead-Zinc Contract Cards, 6 Tin Contract Cards, 6 Nickel Contract Cards. Supply of Imitation Metal: 100 Copper Units, 100 Lead-Zinc Units, 100 Tin Units, 100 Nickel Units. Set of Money (100 x $1 Million, 100 x $5 Million, 100 x $25 Million)

The Mining Board Game

How to Play

Shuffle the nickel, copper, tin and lead/zinc drilling cards and place them in their respective positions in the centre of the game board.

Shuffle the nickel, copper, tin and lead/zinc contract cards and also place them in their respective positions on the board.

Appoint a banker who may or may not be a player.  The banker handles the money in the money tray and metal units, as well as the lease cards and cash flow indicator.

To begin play make sure all four windows in the wheels of the Cash Flow indicator are opposite of the Start position on the gameboard.

Each player selects a token and determine order of play.

Each player is given $20 million (5 x $1 million bills, 3 x $5 million bills)

Players start at any square on the outer circuit of the board.

There are 20 leases (5 for each metal).  Each lease has a code number and colour.  The colours on the Buy or Drill squares are the same as those on the Lease ownership cards.

First player throws two dice and proceeds clockwise around the board.

When the player lands on a Buy or Drill square he can: 1.  Buy a lease of that colour if available.  Leases cost $1 million.  2. Explore a lease of that colour if he already has one of them.  3. Pass his turn.

To explore the player must pay $2 million to the bank to pay for exploration drilling and takes the top card from the pile of Drilling cards for the metal shown on the lease card.  A lease can be explored as many times as the owner wishes.  A player may not be able to buy a lease of a particular colour either because none are available or explore a lease of a particular colour because the player doesn’t own one.  In this case, the player must wait until his next turn.

Metal Units

After taking a Drilling card, the player reads the reverse side.  If the card states “Zero Grade”, the player returns the card to the bottom of the pile of Drilling Cards.

If the card says “Medium Grade” or  “High Grade” the player may throw, one dice to determine the number of metal units proven up in the one reserves.  For “Medium Grade” the player takes 1 unit per spot and for “High Grade” the player takes 2 units per spot.  The card is then returned to the bottom of the Drilling cards stack.  The player then places the metal units on the left of the lease card which represents the lease on which the deposit has been discovered.

Example:  If a player lands on a brown square which shows “Buy or Drill D Lease”.  Lets assume the players owns lease D14 which is a Copper lease.  The player decides to explore, pays $2 million and takes the next Copper Drilling card which shows “High Grade”.  The player throws a 3 on the die and takes 6 copper units (2 per spot) and places them on the left of the lease card.

Changing Circuits:

The player may move from one circuit to another anytime during his move. Example:  Player moves to inner circuit when he is seeking a contract and then back to outer circuit to conduct explorations.  To move circuits the player must move his token to the square of the same number on the new circuit before he throws the dice for his turn.  If the player has already thrown the dice he is committed to having that turn on the circuit on which his token is located.

Inner Circuit – Obtaining a Contract

The only way a player can earn money from their ore reserves is to obtain a contract for sale of metal.  A player obtains contracts by moving into the inner circuit.  When a player lands on one of the contract squares, the player make take the top card from any of the 4 piles of contract cards.  He checks the card to see if he has enough metal units in reserves to meet the contract.

A contract may be committed to only 1 lease.  The metal units associated with more than 1 lease may not be combined to enable a contract to be taken.

The same lease however may be used for more than 1 contract provided that further exploration has proven enough metal units.

The player may turn up a contract card and refuse to take the card even if he has the available metal units.  Players that accept a contract must fulfill the contract even if he loses money doing so.

There are 6 contracts for each metal, two of them for 4 units, two for 5 units and two for 6 units.  Each contract allows the sale of 1 metal unit per complete circuit of the board.

The first unit is sold when the player passes through the End of Period line even if the player has not completed a full circuit since taking the contract.

If the player has the required amount of metal units, he may accept the contract.  The player places the contract card to the right of the lease card which represents the lease from the metal that will be mined.

The player must then set out to the right of the contract card the number of metal units required for the contract.  So, the number of units to the right of the contract card gives the player a permanent check on how many periods the contract still has to run.

Metal Sale – Income

Incomes for the metals are shown on the Cash Flow Indicator.  The End of the Period is represented by the thick line on the board after square number 26.  Players that pass the End of Period at the same point whether they are on the outer or inner circuit.

When a player who has a contract passes through the End of the Period, he completes the dice count for his token.  He then sells one unit of metal for each of the contracts he has.  He gives back to the bank 1 metal unit for each contract and is paid by the bank or has to pay the bank depending on the current price shown on the Cash Flow Indicator.  The players then finishes his turn normally.

When a contract has been completed, the card must go to the bank and placed face up so that other players can see the contracts that have expired.  Contract cards are not returned to the bottom of the Contract card deck.

Metal Income Variances

Income from metal sales will vary through the game.  The banker will change the position of the appropriate wheels on the Cash Flow Indicator each time a player lands on a metal price change square on the board.  (Nickel Down/Copper Up; Tin Down/Lead-Zinc Up)  When any players lands on one of these squares the Banker will move the wheels for the affected metals to the appropriate space.

If the income for a metal reaches the maximum it may not go higher and the next change up or down for that metal will bring the income down by one space.  Example:  Copper is at the max and a players lands on a Copper down or Copper Up or a Copper Income Change then the income from copper will fall 1 space on the board.  The same rule applies for any metal which falls to the bottom of the scale when landing on either Metal Down or Metal Up square will make the income for that metal rise one space.

Forfeit Lease

There are 2 squares on the outer board circuit which say Forfeit Lease if the player holds 5 or 6 leases or more.  The player must hand over to the banker one of his lease cards (least valuable) and his lease is then back up available for purchase.

Industrial Disputes

An Industrial dispute are represented by 2 squares on the inner circuit of the board.   These squares apply only to those players who have contracts running.  If a player lands on one of these squares it is assumed that his whole company business is in dispute and he must pay the stipulated sum to the bank for every contract he has.

Plant Breakdowns

There are 2 squares on the inner circuit for Plant Breakdown.  These apply to players who have contracts running.  When you land on this square, the repair bill is a single payment for one breakdown and does not refer to each contract.

Loans

The bank should not give loans nor should a player loan another player unless under favorable terms.  Players in financial distress can raise money by selling leases, but where the lease contains metal, that metal must go with the lease when it is sold.

Players may not sell individual metal units to each other or transfer metal units from one lease to another.

When a lease is to be sole for cash, it is auctioned by the banker to the highest bidder.

Bankruptcy

A company is declared bankrupt when it has insufficient funds to meets its debts even after selling all its assets.  That player token is removed from the board and the player is out of the game.

Game Length

It is determined by the number of contracts used.  To shorten the game some the of contract cards can be removed.