All starting locations have the exact same resources and approximately same amount of land area.
Central island is full of gems.
To setup a harvesting station, transport Ore Trucks back and forth to clear room for a MCV and Ore Refinery, while protecting your transports with Naval superiority. Or wastefully blast out a clearing to speed up the process. In either case, the effort is worth the reward.
There are reports of rouge submarines in the area. Explore with caution.
Note: Game seems to crash before starting, when 7 or 8 players are active. 6 or less players seems to be fine.