My name is Rebecca Jameson and I am a Chief Engineer of the Guild. I was given a copy of the raw data that the orbital survey mission commenced by the Survey Vessel Biscayne Bay produced. Most of the scans do not allow for more than geographical assessment of accessibility or difficulty levels of building infrastructure, however there is one very interesting geological structure that looks highly promising.
What you see is the 3-D scan of a mountain ridge that looks very much like an old, likely inactive mountain ridge, geologically similar to sub-marine middle oceanic ridges, however this one has been elevated sufficiently likely million years ago, judging by the massive body of detritus - meaning: erosion material - covering the central valley according to our scans. SC YSF shows 6 kilometers of sandy material. The fault ridges on the sides of the ridges open up good angles to analyze the stratigraphy, however the angles are too bad and the fault lines too chaotic to get any meaningful insights via orbital surveying.
While most basaltic structures are often too young to be of much interest, the west and east mountain ranges have been elevated and eroded sufficiently to expose much older rock formations. Especially in the Axial Disruption Zone very old rock surfaces. Also the areas of the Crestal Boundary Ridges have sufficiently think basalt cover to make access to potential rich resource layers possible. These formations are - when comparing them with similar geological formations - interesting for what you are looking for. That's also why we called one of the moutains Flank Seamount because in a similar structure we have a similar formation. Just that on your planet the ocean is missing and that the formations are likely 200 to 450 million years older.
That's where the problems start, however. There is no way to be sure about what we find there until we have a team of prospectors on the ground. However, while this scan suggests a moderate terrain, the reality looks different. We are talking about hard to access terrain with exactly zero existing infrastructure.
The profiles of T181 and T183 look promising and somewhat accessible, if SC YSF can be transformed into a landing zone. Starting north of the ADZ faulted ridges to avoid another obstacle between the lower inner valley and the main ridge, T460 and T178 also might be interesting enough and accessible at the same time.
So, if you are interested in exploring what might be in the Argu Tagh Range (the western ridge) and Ugam Range (the eastern ridge), you will have to create some basic infrastructure that allows for the operation of airborne units that can insert heavy mining equipment, as well as accomodation for prolonged stay of up to 50 Guild experts. We are talking months to get a superficial view of what the two Ranges might hold.
The Guild currently does not have the resources to assist in the construction of infrastructure, nor do we have interplanetary transport capacities for this sort of climate and terrain. However, if the Coalition can prepare the basic amenities and the necessary infrastructure, I can send a forward team to start the work on the prospection sites - depending on accessibility.
I know that you would have likely hoped for more specific and better news, but this is everything that a scientific review of the initial data can yield. So, to be honest, you have to make a decision on whether you want to invest into an infrastructural buildup with a fair chance of finding something useful, or whether you decide to not take the chance or risk - depending on the point of view. My gut feeling says that there should be at least something, whether it is worth exploiting is a different question.
Rebecca Jameson
Chief Engineer
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