Spice mines of Kessel

The spice mines of Kessel, known as the Dark to veteran miners, were a series of labor camps on the planet Kessel, where slaves from various species, Wookiees among them, were forced to mine a medicinal spice mineral into a dangerous drug. Spice mining was extremely dangerous, and slaves were thus used as expendable labor. Life expectancy for humanoid species was two to three years, while Wookiees had an expected survival time of three months. The Yaruba Family of Kessel turned a blind eye to the harvesting of spice on their world, living in luxurious sanctuaries in the southern hemisphere of the planet, while the spice mining took place in the northern hemisphere.

Spice mining was accomplished via the use of deep pits, mine shafts, and massive refineries.

Slaves in the mines used Bore-Drillers and vibropicks.

Text and facts from the “Spice mines of Kessel” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.