Workers don't mine minerals. Workers build extraction devices on mineral patches, mining them like automated refinerys. These devices could be partially mobile (only when not attached to a patch) and be able to go to alternative patches, once theirs are depleted. Cost 50, can be upgraded once for 50 to sort of get the same saturation. Can only be applied to mineral patches with a nearby main building but function without it (and/or need power connection)
Pros:
no travel time
harder/different to kill compared to the usual eco line (they would have more hp than a worker and probably be armored)
fast to build if you have many workers
no mining time lost when constructing other structures
probably quite unique (don't know, what the current system or previous suggestions stated ;) )
workers could be used for different tasks like scouting ;) maybe provide food? maybe even get abilities?
Cons:
not the same max saturation, the upgrade would equivalent 2 workers per patch
stationary, so they cannot be evacuated when the eco-line gets raided
can only be transferred after the mineral patch was mined out
need to build workers and extraction devices.
Start units would be 1 worker and 6 extraction devices.
Eco booster would be a spell of the main building, which can be casted on the workers, allowing them to enter the devices temporarily to boost the extraction or to harvest from them temporarily.
Or an entirely different road:
Workers don't mine minerals. Workers build extraction devices on mineral patches, mining them like automated refinerys. These devices could be partially mobile (only when not attached to a patch) and be able to go to alternative patches, once theirs are depleted. Cost 50, can be upgraded once for 50 to sort of get the same saturation. Can only be applied to mineral patches with a nearby main building but function without it (and/or need power connection)
Pros:
Cons:
Start units would be 1 worker and 6 extraction devices.
Eco booster would be a spell of the main building, which can be casted on the workers, allowing them to enter the devices temporarily to boost the extraction or to harvest from them temporarily.