Unlocking the Mine and Volcano

The same Island expansion that unlocks the Volcano in Family Farm Seaside unlocks the Mine automatically but if you pay to skip any of the Expansion Requirements because your Dev Point totals are insufficient to complete them, you may find that you will be unable to take full advantage of many of the options that are connected to the Mine.

You see, you need 2960 Dev Points to unlock the Violet Crop.  500 Violet Essential Oils are one of the expansion Requirements.  You can pay RC to skip the Requirement as you can to skip any Expansion requirement.

Basically, however, you will need a total of 2500 Dev Points to make any of the Items that are required either to use the Mine or to use the Products you obtain from the Mine.  These include the Pickaxe and Sawdust made in the Sawmill, the Gunpowder, Dynamite, Bomb and Barrel Bomb made in the Workshop and the various Ores that can be transformed into Ingots in the Hardware Store.

Earning Dev Points can be a slow affair.  You earn them essentially by completing Helicopter Orders and Island Quests.  The problem with Helicopter Orders is that only the first two in any given day give 10 Dev Points each.  After that, the value of completion gradually declines, with 5 Points as the next Reward.  Many Farmers choose to complete two per day, storing the Items needed to complete more until the next day.

Take heart, however.  Your Farmer can obtain Mine Bag Gifts from Neighbours who have chosen him or her to aid on THEIR Farms when they access their Mines.  Save enough of these and you can use your Mine before you reach 2500 Dev Points!

Furthermore, by choosing this Expansion over the other two that are available at the same point in the game, you gain the Volcano that dispenses Power regularly.  This is very helpful to any Farmer.