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Blackwater Mine
F76 Blackwater Mine 2
Site
F76 358
Part ofSavage Divide
Overview
Crafting
Enemies
  • Mole miners
  • Other
    QuestsKey to the Past
    Event: Uranium Fever
    Technical
    Keywords
  • Subterranean location
  • Dungeon
  • Clearable
  • Dungeon
  • Savage Divide location
  • Fast travel destination
  • Mining theme
  • Large loot scale
  • Responder Eyebot spawn
  • Interior cell
  • TerminalsBlackwater Mine terminals
     
    Gametitle-F76
    Gametitle-F76

    Blackwater Mine is a location in Fallout 76.

    Background[]

    After being closed in 2022 due to leaking uranium detected inside the mine structure, this former mine was a shanty camp and Raider stronghold, having since become the domain of the odd and dangerous Mole miners. Check the exterior for signs of a trading location, now reduced to rotting counters and battlements, along with rusting warehouses and the mine entrance. Inside, the mine is partly waterlogged and has more Mole Miners than you might expect.

    Blackwater was originally a coal mine exploiting the rich resources remaining in the Appalachians. With the discovery of uranium, however, the United States Department of Energy has taken control of the site in April 2076, as it became a matter of national security. Dr Philip Cotton, head of the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, headed the site.[1] The mine was chosen for perfecting an experimental leaching process for exploiting the uranium deposits and by September 2076, limited success was achieved, clearing the way for long-term extraction. Cotton was assigned to the mine permanently.[2]

    Construction proceeded apace and the facility was finished by the end of June 2077, reaching operational status. Further developments planned included reinforcing the water pumping systems, strengthening the core of the mine, and shutting off other portions. Over the course of development, the on-site staff increased to 50, but the ultimate goal was to make the facility run itself. To that end, Cotton hired a new foreman to oversee operations during optimization processes and staff reductions.[3] Mitchell Hibbs was not initially aware of his role, believing that this was to be a long-term job. He believed the automation would benefit them all: Uranium yields have been way up thanks to tweaked extractor machines pulling the ore in at a rate faster than an army of miners ever could and much safer to boot. He did, in fact, believe that the wealth generated in the mine would eventually trickle back to the common man.[4]

    The first cracks started to appear in mid-July when the mining crew started to take it easy, able to complete their work in a fraction of the time allotted. The foreman wrote them up for laziness and when the first mass layoff hit at the end of July, he believed it was for the best: Cutting the crew down to just the best, working with state of the art technology and maximizing profits for the company. He believed he could demonstrate to the executives the potential in combining the best of both worlds.[5]

    He did not expect to be fired two weeks into August, replaced by an automated foreman.[6]

    The mine was abandoned after the Great War, but was eventually seized by a raider gang from the Pleasant Valley. Led by Freddie Lang, the gang styled themselves the Blackwater Bandits and followed Freddie's lead. Burglary came naturally to all of them and they focused on stealing, rather than robbing others. At least, at first. Then they started robbing settlers and murdering them just like everybody else. It was smooth sailing for a while... At least until one of Freddie's crew decided to mess with the automated extractor units, flooding the mine with radiation.[7]

    The Raiders lost contact with Blackwater circa 2096, after Freddie and his bandits succumbed to radiation poisoning. Lang was turned into a glowing one by the intense radiation, becoming a ghost haunting the mine.[8]

    Points of interest[]

    Exterior
    • The outside of Blackwater Mine is surrounded by a tall fence, with the entrance through the perimeter in the north. Through the concrete building with the adjacent ruined raider trade post is the main courtyard, which includes a pair of office pods with a cooking station in front of them, a warehouse with workbenches (armor, tinker, chems, and cooking) to the east, and a mechanic's shed on the opposite side, containing a power armor station with a random power armor and a workbench.
    • The entrance to the mine proper is in the south, with the useless automated foreman in front.
    Interior
    • The mine consists of a single main corridor running west to east, with branches in each cardinal direction (except the entrance in the west). The entrance area contains an old locker room with a functioning decontamination arch (free radiation removal!) and the foreman's office with his terminal and a locked safe.
    • Down the corridor, the first branch is to the north, beyond the first chamber and marked by a pair of red steel pillars. It leads to the raiders' quarters, up winding, confusing corridors. There's a small, locked storage room in the first area with a magazine spawn, with the chamber beyond leading to the main raider camp up the catwalks. The catwalks contain passageways radiating from the central area, with the location's steamer trunk and armor workbench to the northeast, a dead-end with a magazine spawn point and a safe to the northwest, and a passageway leading to the balcony overlooking the central chamber to the south (the security room also contains a bobblehead).
    • The southern branch is beyond the bridge chamber and through the double doors. In the entrance room is a weapons workbench with a magazine spawn point. Beyond is the extractor room, which features in Event: Uranium Fever, where players have to defend the extractors from waves of mole miners.
    • The eastern branch is the end. Through the submerged mine tunnel (Aqua Boy or power armor recommended) lies the pump room for the facility. There's a chemistry station in the control chamber together with a chemistry station. Down the northern tunnel lies the exit to the surface and another bobblehead spawn point.

    Notable loot[]

    Holotapes and Notes
    Potential bobbleheads
    • On the middle chimney, on the roof of the curve-roofed warehouse with the mine entrance inside. This is on the exterior roof, and may require projectiles or enhancing jumping to access.
    • Underwater, at the bottom of the vertical cavern with the metal gantry and generator at the top.
    • On the metal desk with the ammo, in the tiny computer room with a view of the mine shaft, a short tunnel away from the vertical cavern.
    • On the horizontal metal bar, in the dead-end alcove to the right of the exit ladder, behind the two chevron blockades.
    Potential magazines
    • Below the metal shelving, by a pipe, right of three radioactive barrels and a safe (3), in Dr. Cotton's tiny cave laboratory, off the vertical waterlogged cavern (interior).
    • In the tiny, locked (1) security closet, off the narrow tunnels connecting the main mine tunnel to the vertical waterlogged cavern, close to some red steel tunnel buttressing (into the main tunnel) (interior).
    • Behind the low, short metal counter to the right of the Weapons Workbench, on the east wall of the concrete store room off the drilling chambers (interior).
    • On the sleeping bag, which is under a mattress bed, in the fan extraction and machine room with the large circular pipe hole in the floor (grate is to the side of it), opposite the Chemistry Station, after the swim.
    Potential power armor
    • Outside, in the mechanic's shed in the western part of the area.
    Dynamic spawns

    Appearances[]

    Blackwater Mine appears in Fallout 76.

    References

    1. Blackwater Mine terminals
    2. Blackwater Mine terminals
    3. Blackwater Mine terminals
    4. Blackwater Mine terminals
    5. Blackwater Mine terminals
    6. Blackwater Mine terminals
    7. Blackwater Mine terminals
    8. Rose: "Ah whatever, it's not like you can radio back. Anyhoo! If I recall, we completely lost track of the Blackwater Bandits back in '96."
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