Hey Jimmy, I'm Sam Shel, I run logistics at fifty-three. And by "running logistics" I mostly mean I try to make sure the crates in the warehouse don't fall on someone's head.

We've got a good deal of storage at the port, more than we really need, so setting up a smelter should be doable in terms of space. What we don't really have though is people who know anything about, well, that. If you've got any metalworkers looking for a job, we might be able to set something up.

Now, I'll try to run some numbers, but it's pretty hard to estimate if this'll work out, input-output wise. Ore foundries are usually big, specialized installations with heavy corporate manpower and cash backing them. Whatever we'll be doing here is going to be modest in comparison, so I have some doubts that the numbers will add up.

But business has been going well enough, so maybe it's not a bad idea to try out an investment. Color us interested.

Okay, I've got some guys to draw up more concrete plans.
I'll be honest with you man, I don't think this is realistic. A plant like this needs a lot more space and electricity than I expected, even if we do find the workers. We'd need mining ships or conveniently discovered cargo coming in pretty much daily to make this worthwhile, and I don't really see that happening. I mean, how often do you Free Republic people get into those incidents, with the ore and the non-cooperating haulers, realistically? Like, averaged out over a month?
And your miners, where do they work? The Copperton field's pretty dry, last I heard. I know there's some folks working over in Coronado, but that's definitely too far out from 53. I guess we would have been better off starting this project a few hundred years ago.

Basically, I don't think our operation is on a scale that can really support that kind of industry. Unless you have gigantic manpower and hauling reserves I don't know about.