Lava & the Slag Press: Your Second Gold Line
Once sand-gold is stable, the Slag Press opens a second, lava-powered gold line. It's also where most version-confused players get stuck — so this guide leads with the EA heat system, then the press recipe, then the troubleshooting that separates a working line from a clogged one.
The EA Heat System
In Early Access, combustion runs on a Burner Belt feeding a Thermal Buffer COMMUNITY — not the Demo-era "drop lava in a filter" self-ignition. The Thermal Buffer is what actually stores and delivers the heat your burners need; if it isn't connected and charged, nothing ignites.
The Press Recipe
The confirmed mechanic VERIFIED: 1 Burnt Slag dropped from a height of at least 25 blocks onto a Slag Press → 1 Gold + 1 Spore. That drop height is not optional — build the press at the bottom of a deep shaft.
Wrong input or wrong height = a clog. If the item landing on the press isn't Burnt Slag, or it didn't fall far enough, it just sits there and blocks everything behind it VERIFIED. Use filter-throttling to stop the pre-press pile-up.
Combustion Is Probabilistic
Burning slag is a probability conversion, not 100% VERIFIED: you will get less Burnt Slag out than slag in. Plan for that loss up front — size your burn stage to over-produce so the press still gets fed.
Troubleshooting the Burn Line
Symptom → cause table COMMUNITY:
| Symptom | Likely cause & fix |
|---|---|
| Belt feeds slag but it won't ignite | Insufficient heat — pause the feed, reconnect the Thermal Buffer, test in a small batch first. |
| Gold enters the burn zone | Upstream mixing wasn't separated — both filter outputs need a destination. |
| Far less Burnt Slag out than in | Expected: combustion is probabilistic. Plan for loss, don't "fix" it. |
| Old tutorial doesn't match | Version difference — Demo methods are outdated. Label anything by build. |
Treat the burn zone and the press as two independent diagnosis zones COMMUNITY: first prove the slag is actually burned, then prove the burned slag reaches the press with enough drop.
The Cryoblaster Lava Chain
The Cryoblaster freezes lava into scoria, which becomes cinder COMMUNITY. Cinder can then feed a burner to produce water. Lava is both a heat source and a fluid hazard — handle it with respect. The EA build keeps these older reactions but marks their evidence boundaries.
Bonus: LavaAutomated Harvesting
Launcher momentum plus cinder / frozen-lava manipulation can fully automate a factory, including automating plant harvesting with lava single-source (video evidence).