You can avoid mining, but that isn't a realistic choice for most players....
You can scrap cars for gas and find it elsewhere and keep moving further and further from your base to find more. It works. But if a person doesn't want to constantly scrap cars to keep up with their gas needs, it isn't a good choice for them. But it can be done.
You can get iron from scrapping cars or many other items in the game. If you don't want to build your own base and upgrade it to steel, you can get away with not needing as much iron and it wouldn't be necessary to mine. But for the players who want to build their own bases and don't want tiny bases, it isn't a great choice. But it can be done.
The same for iron needed for building weapons and vehicles and other things.
Other ores are often not necessary to mine for most players, though someone who wants to use only coal for workstations might not enjoy trying to find enough without mining, and someone who wants to craft a ton of ammo might not enjoy trying to find enough nitrate without mining. Again, it can be done, but wouldn't be a great choice for those players.
In short, you *can* avoid mining entirely. But unless you want to deal with the other ways necessary to get what you need, which usually take more time, at least in the long run, it won't be a good choice. Mining isn't forced, but it is not something most players are likely to want to ignore unless they are in a group where someone else does it for them.
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