Metal collecting

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Metals are a collectible in The Sims 3 and are found in ore form, to be smelted into ingots for §40.

Sometimes the foundry will return an ore, saying that it is actually a Mysterious Mr. Gnome in disguise.

Smelted ingots are worth 175% of their original cost, and so the raw metal must be worth §54 to offset the §40 cost of smelting and break even relative to selling the ore alone.

The "breaking even" equation is as follows: §54 (cost of ingot) * 1.75 (smelting worth modifier) - §54 (cost of ingot) - §40 (cost of smelting) = §0.5; thus this is the lowest whole number that does not lose money.

Some consider §23 as "breaking even," but this only covers the cost of smelting the ore. In order to fully "break even", it must factor in all costs, including the value of the ore itself. Plugging into the correct equation, §23 * 1.75 - §23 - §40 = -§22.75, and thus is losing money. Even disregarding the cost of the original ore, to sell the raw ore gives §23 and costs nothing, for a profit of §23, whereas mailing it to the smelter, costs §40 and makes §40.25, for a profit of §0.25. From a strict simolean standpoint, it is far more worthwhile to sell a raw ore up to §54, at which point it becomes worthwhile to smelt it.

However, smelting also provides the chance of getting a Mysterious Mr. Gnome, worth §1000, as well as the chance of duplicating the smelted bars if the sim has completed the Metal Collector challenge. This is a gamble that may make it worth smelting ores that are less than §54.

Raw	Ingot	Metal	Rarity	Weight	Raw Value	Ingot Value	EP	Where?
		Iron	Common	1-52	§7-20	§12-35		Base neighborhood
		Silver	Common	1-52	§25-35	§44-61		Base neighborhood
		Gold	Uncommon	1-52	§40-120	§70-210		Base neighborhood
		Palladium	Rare	80-300	§300-500	§525-875		Base neighborhood
		Plutonium	Extraordinarily Unusual	0.1-5	§1000-1800	§1750-3150		Base neighborhood
		Copper	Common	1-52	§15-31	§26-54		Egypt
		Mummitomium	Rare	150-450	§750-1200	§1312-2100		Egypt, garbage cans in base neighborhood.
		Iridium	Uncommon	1-11	§75-155	§131-271		France
		Titanium	Rare	75-105	§450-700	§787-1225		France
		Platinum	Uncommon	1-52	§250-336	§437-588		China
		Mercury	Uncommon	1-52	§100-400	§175-700		China
		Compendium	Extraordinarily Unusual	1100-5500	25% more than the worth of the 8 metals used	'25% more than the worth of the 8 metals used'		Buydebug Metal Spawner/Transfiguration Transfiguration requirements: Between 2 and 4 different metals.
		Supernovium	Extraordinarily Unusual	35000-55000	§3500-5500	§6125-9625		Garbage cans in base neighborhood. Buydebug Metal Spawner/Transfiguration Transfiguration Requirements: At least 5 different metals.
		Woohooium	Extraordinarily Unusual	1-52	§500-750	§875-1313		Sculptor's Workbench (Ambitions), Consignment store (Ambitions), Relic Shops (World Adventures), garbage cans in France (World Adventures)
		Carbon Steel		100-1095	§120-300	§210-525
		Tungsten Carbide		100-1095	§35-70	§61-123