The planet of Aksum was an icy lump of rock located on the outskirts of the Decuu system. Various metals and alloys, from Iron to Cubirian to Lommite, were mined, refined and exported to the other worlds of the Confederacy. A special mineral called Valarite was also mined on Aksum. This mineral was very important to the Kartanin Dominion, and large shipments were sent to the Dominion every year. Aksum housed 200 million people divided in little over 2000 towns and cities. Approximately half of the population worked in the mines and boreholes.