Planet Scout - Polychrome — George G. Pinneo

This hard science fiction novel follows Gray Mannor as he completes his classwork at University of Mars at Candor Cliffs and goes out with 5 fellow student scouts to an unexplored planet named Polychrome. He and the young woman he bonds with meet and make friends with ground-running Raptors as they locate a rich strike of germanium, tungsten, osmium and iridium. They are not prepared to meet a scouting team of Torlen soldiers also scouting Polychrome.