Blackwater Mine

Blackwater mine is a location in the Savage Divide region of Appalachia in 2102. It is a uranium mine that was used by the federal government before the Great War.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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.

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

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.

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. Since then, the mine and its immediate surroundings have been heavily occupied by mole miners.

Layout
Blackwater mine is to the east of the Whitespring Resort. There are several buildings in the northern part of the mine, and the mine itself is accessed through a large building to the south.


 * 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.

Notable loot

 * Holotapes and Notes
 * Freddie Lang's holotape - Holotape, on a wooden shelf inside the mine interior front office.
 * Blackwater Mine: Orientation - Holotape, on the desk next to the Blackwater Bandits terminal.
 * Blackwater Bandits Key Fragment - Holotape, found on the body of a glowing one named Freddie Lang inside one of the mine's antechambers during the mission Key to the Past.
 * Potential Vault-Tec bobbleheads (4)
 * 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 (4)
 * Below the metal shelving, by a pipe, right of three radioactive barrels and a safe (Picklock 3), in Dr. Cotton's tiny cave laboratory, off the vertical waterlogged cavern (interior).
 * In the tiny, locked (Picklock 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 with raider power armor pieces
 * Outside, in the mechanic's shed in the western part of the area.
 * Other
 * Random power armor mod - Outside, on a locker shelf, in the same area as the power armor chassis.
 * Random weapon mod - Outside, on the ground, facing the north exterior (or interior) wall of the power armor chassis spawn.
 * Random armor mod plan - On a barrel to the left of an armor workbench outside of the entrance.

Appearances
Blackwater mine appears only in Fallout 76.