He rolled his eyes and pulled up some images. "Thankfully there was nothing in GL 54 to get attached to, so this is nothing more than a strategic retreat to me." Pointing to one image. "The carriers go down where presumably they’ve detected metal. They disgorge ants, who dig down to the ore and bring it up. It’s hard to tell from a distance, but based on activity, I think they use the ore to build more ants which they use to get more ore, which they use to build more ants... Eventually they reach a break-even point of some kind where the ants just haul material up. Then they harvest the excess ants and take off."