From the small zones, there are four exits.

Well, I mean one entrance and three exits. And yes, the zones are small, with trees and ore around a large treasure, and according to the map, there are two exits. We haven't reached them yet, but someone played and there were three, was it some kind of creature?

Mines are best cleared by the beginning of the 2nd week, often earlier. In my opinion, it doesn't slow you down much on Veteran, but it was intended to slow you down a bit.

Well, how can it not slow you down? In a week, you would get 14 wood and ore, plus, and there's never enough of them. And if some blue elves stand in the portal, on the 1st week, you won't be able to break through them on Veteran without significant losses, right? And there's a 50% chance that you'll end up in rare mines...