I was perusing the front page of the Auction House and noticed this little item up for sale . One can only speculate as to the reason why Stoot has divested himself of the only method for harvesting chunks and extracting elements.
A few of the reasons I could think of:
1. He is trying to break the No-No habit and is selling off his enabler.
2. Mining will no longer require a pick in the next release - you will just "imagine" elements.
3. He traded Rube a Scrumptious Frittata for it.
4. It was an accident, he actually meant to sell a stack of Oily Dressing.
5. He maxed out all his SDB's with rocks and no longer needs to mine.
6. His Gnome told him to do it.
7. Mining V uses a jackhammer.
8. He needed the 900 currants to help combat the recent Glitch price inflation.
Any other ideas?