Firaxite (CivBE)

Resources

Firaxite
Resource in Beyond Earth
Yields	None
Notes	Used by powerful late-game Units and Buildings.

Game Info

Firaxite is a glowing yellow mineral used to build advanced computer components. It is a strategic resource that is best used by Supremacy players. Firaxite is always visible, and is accessed with a Firaxite Mine. While unimproved, it can still add +1 to the Energy yield of a tile. The name itself comes from the developers of the game (Firaxis Games).

Upgrades:

• +1 Science (Observatory building)
• +1 Culture (Holosuite building)

Strategy

Firaxite, apart of being the special resource for Supremacy, is a great source of Science after improvement. With a +3 Science for each Firaxite tile, a city working them may turn into a scientific powerhouse, so you should develop having this in mind.

Firaxite is required for the following units:

• ANGEL
• CARVR
• CNDR
• Deep Space Telescope
• SABR

Firaxite is required for the following buildings:

• Bioglass Furnace
• Holosuite (only requires improved resource nearby, does not cost Firaxite.)
• Hypercore
• Neurolab (only requires improved resource nearby, does not cost Firaxite.)
• Observatory (only requires improved resource nearby, does not cost Firaxite.)
• Optical Surgery

Firaxite is required for the following wonders:

• Bytegeist
• Cynosure
• Deep Memory
• Markov Eclipse
• Memetwork

Civilopedia entry

This orange-hued polycrystalline material is found in surface deposits scattered across the planet; it was formed by volcanic ejection of a unique mixture of heavy minerals and rare earths uncommon on Earth but plentiful on this world. Somewhat similar to covellite on Earth, firaxite is associated with supergene processes around chalcocite deposits. Although difficult to process due to the euhedral structure, “cut” firaxite has been shown to have properties vital for the technological progress and success of the various human colonies. Chief among these is the fact that it exhibits hyperconductivity at a critical thermal point slightly below the planet’s median temperature. This makes it capable of readily avoiding the Meissner Effect, and hence firaxite has a number of critical applications. Superconducting electrodes coupled through Josephson junctions allow quantum computing, and such computers are essential for artificial intelligence, such as produced by colonists pursuing a Supremacist philosophy. There are a host of other applications, including but not limited to high-performance smart grids, power storage devices, magnetic levitation motors, fault current inhibitors, magnetic refrigeration, and the manufacture of nanoscopic materials such as buckyballs, nanotubes and certain composites. No less important, the electromagnets that can be produced at near-normal temperatures with firaxite are used in mass spectrometers, SQUID microscopes, bolometers and particle accelerators vital to scientific research on this planet.

Images

Firaxite Mine

Firaxite Mine

Aquatic Firaxite