How many years has it been since the Sanctuary mining operation came to Pandora?
This is a difficult question to answer.
Helena Pierce established that Sanctuary was already an inhabited city during the events of Borderlands. Due to the fact Patricia Tannis is the only next reliable source of how long Dahl was on Pandora, it is safe to assume Sanctuary had been on Pandora for at least two Earth years (Patricia Tannis stopped recording her ECHO Journals at Day 718, so this could be longer). Afterwards, add the five year gap between Borderlands and Borderlands 2, and add the one year gap between Borderlands 2 and Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary. Since Sanctuary is destroyed in Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary, it would have been approximately eight years old.
However, if you wish to go further, add in the seven year gap between Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary and Borderlands 3, and you have an age of approximately fifteen years.
Now, again, I stress that this is based off the fact that Patricia Tannis is the only reliable source of information regarding Dahl’s time spent on Pandora before Atlas came and drove them away using the Crimson Lance. Even then, she stopped recording her ECHO Journals an indeterminate amount of time after her last one, so this age approximation could be incorrect.
