Argona

Argona is a mining colony established by the PRQ corporation. More than three-quarters of the planet is covered in thick glaciers, so the miners bore down through the ice using hot-drill vehicles or orbital mirrors to reach the mineral deposits. In addition to zuchai crystals and other gemstones, Argona has significant copper, tungsten, uranium and platinum deposits. A whole colony has grown up in the tunnel networks under the glaciers, administered by a board of trustees nominated by both the miners’ union and the corporations. Argona has a strong tradition of industrial action; during the infamous Strike of ‘38, miners using hot-drillers collapsed part of a glacier on top of an executive transport ship, trapping the corporate executives there until they agreed to negotiate.   The approach to Argona’s starport is a harrowing one. The port is located in a huge artificial ice cavern some two hundred metres below the surface. Approaching ships must fight their way through the near-constant hurricanes and blizzards, then navigate down the right chasm in the ice, and finally fly down a narrow borehole barely wider that the ship’s beam.   At the starport, visitors can hire a hot-borer and go prospecting. The glaciers block conventional prospecting methods such as satellite scans, so the only way to find new mineral deposits is to bore through the ice and collect samples. A lucky borer might make his fortune by finding a vein of uranium or platinum-bearing rock beneath the ice. There are stories of strange monsters living under the glaciers, of ruined structures from some primordial civilisation, and of zuchai crystal deposits of incredible size and value, but most of these stories are just fables spun by drunken miners to impress greenhorns at the starport. There are no ice worms, and certainly tales of a giant crystal called the Eye of Argona must be purest fantasy.  

Name	Location	Bases	Statistics	Trade Codes	Travel Codes	Allegiance	Gas Giants
Argona	503		B612586-9	Ic Ni			G