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 December of 2022, due to overflowing radioactive water detected inside the mine structure, the mine had become a shanty camp and Raider stronghold for the Blackwater Bandits, later becoming the domain of the odd and dangerous mole miners.

Blackwater was originally a coal mine exploiting the rich resources remaining in the Appalachian Territories. With the discovery of uranium, however, the United States Department of Energy took control of the site in April 2076, as it became a matter of national security. Dr. Phillip 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, one for the benefit of national security, as the uranium yields would power nuclear power plants and construct missiles. He believed the automation would benefit them all: Uranium yield increasing drastically due to tweaked extractor machines pulling the ore in at a rate faster than an army of miners ever could and much safer to boot, due to the method of melting uranium underground and siphoning it. . 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 less than 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 time before a sudden illness infected Freddie, leading the gang to trade the Cutthroats mini-nukes stolen from the Brotherhood of Steel for chem cases. The illness continued, until the entire gang became sick, with symptoms such as hair loss and peeling skin. It was then revealed that one of Freddie's crew decided to mess with the automated extractor units, flooding the mine with radiation, turning the gang into walking corpses.

The Raiders lost contact with Blackwater circa 2096, after Freddie and her 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.

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.

The mine's interior 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 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 is 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 lies the pump room for the facility. There is 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

 * 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 Freddie Lang inside one of the mine's antechambers during the mission Key to the Past.
 * Four potential Vault-Tec 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.
 * Four potential magazines:
 * 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.
 * 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.