Easter Event Quest : The Mine Worker

[Astera]

You are posting a theoretical case and making a big fuss over it. Just pay the tools like anybody else and upgrade a gold mine to level 5.

IMO there is a good chance that no one has all their deposits (8 on the main land + some more on the expansion islands) occupied by industrial mines (neither do you).
Because putting all industrial mines makes no sense - you don't discover ore with geologists but just refill with buffs which cost much more.
To have 1-2-3(but not 8!) top level mines makes sense - to put all deposits found in lootspots there and still if they run 24/7 - with their production rate you wouldn't cope to fill them.

[Sharpielein]

It's always been like that, so it's not a bug, but a "feature".

That said, it could be calling for an "improvement suggestion", because from a player's perspective, it doesn't make sense.

Imagine you went to a Burger Shop and they told you "Sorry, the free Ketchup is only when you order a Hamburger with Fries - not when you order a Hamburger with XXL fries."