So I decided that I am gonna give Deep Core mining a try and I have a few questions....

[Stealthie]

Okay so I went out and found an Alexandrite hotspot and I am still having trouble finding the right rocks, but I have 29 Alexandrite, 14, Void Opals, and 16 Grandidierite after about 45mins of searching random rocks trying to get the hang of recognizing the right ones.


Is that good, bad, or about right for a first timer?

If you're finding 'roids to blow up roughly once every 5-10 minutes, you're doing fine.

My SOP is to blow up every deep-core roid I find and collect everything.
Sooner or later I'll have to start dumping limpets.
At this point, I start to consider if the next roid I find is more valuable than what's already in my hold.
If, for example, my cargo hold is full and I've got 40 limpets and 40t of Alexandrite and I find a VO roid, I'll dump 15t of Alexandrite (or whatever's the lowest value ore in my hold) so I can collect the VO's.
Effectively, I hang on to limpets and dump low-value ore so I can replace it with ore of a higher value.
That way I can keep on mining for as long as possible, constantly replacing low-value ore with more profitable stuff.

 

[Stealthie]

Actually, a Python is a pretty poor ship to mine in, especially when you put an abrasive blaster in the nose cone of the ship. If you need to scoop up stuff manually and keep the weapon deployed, then the weapon will knock your stuff away from the scoop, making scooping a long mini game.

Collectors exist.

 

[Vandaahl]

Collectors exist.

Keep reading, you're almost there...

 

[Stealthie]

Keep reading, you're almost there...

I'd certainly be interested to see a mining Python build that has no internal slots available for Collectors.

"I am going to build a mining ship and will fit a PWA in one of the utility slots, I shall fit mining tools in at least two of the hardpoints, I shall fit a DSS, a Refinery and Cargo Racks to the internal slots but fitting Collector Controllers into this ship will just compromise the design too much!!!"

 

[Aashenfox]

To be fair I have a different trick for the chunks that get stuck to the side of rocks. I use the pythons wedge like nose to flip them into space. Almost like playing croquet, then I send another collector after it.

 

[Vandaahl]

I'd certainly be interested to see a mining Python build that has no internal slots available for Collectors.

ok, let me help you:

I know you are using limpets, but quite often shards end up close to roids, causing your limpets to crash and burn. Normally I scoop those pieces up manually. Also , turn rate is bad as well as the visibility. A Krait is my preferred miner.

 

[Requiem Mortis]

N.B when your cargo is full you can still squeeze in more fragments and fill up the refinery before going to market, so that when you sell some cargo you get another few tonnes refined whilest in the station.

 

[Stealthie]

To be fair I have a different trick for the chunks that get stuck to the side of rocks. I use the pythons wedge like nose to flip them into space. Almost like playing croquet, then I send another collector after it.

TBH, I always find that if the chunks are retrievable, limpets will get it done.
The only time limpets screw up is when the ore is inside the roid, in which case you're boned whatever you do.
At that point, all you can do is wait around and hope the roid drifts in a direction that makes the ore visible again.

 

[Northpin]

It seems you are doing fine.
Size doesn't really matters in this particular case. I did core mining in my 576t Cutter (pre extra slot patch) but also in my 152t krait mk2

Ideally you'd want to mine in a ship that you can fill in a single session, before boredom struck you, and always finish the mining session at the station that'll get you the paycheck
This way you avoid the potential pirate that will spawn on you if you login in the asteroid field.

 

[Aashenfox]

TBH, I always find that if the chunks are retrievable, limpets will get it done.
The only time limpets screw up is when the ore is inside the roid, in which case you're boned whatever you do.
At that point, all you can do is wait around and hope the roid drifts in a direction that makes the ore visible again.

I almost always have to play croquet with at least one of them, myself. Out of about 9 roids the other day, only once did a chunk get stuck inside and was obviously left behind. 7 times one got stuck next to a rock and the limpets killed themselves, this is the croquet game. Sometimes I can reposition the ship so the limpets track better, but I take only as many limpets as I need usually, so prefer not to take the risk, and move the troublesome ones myself.

 

[Stealthie]

Ideally you'd want to mine in a ship that you can fill in a single session, before boredom struck you...

That's the key issue, right there.

Go mining in a T10 and you can be at it for 6 hours, by which point you might have lost the will to live and it'll be months before you build up the incentive to go mining again.
Go mining in a Krait or Python (or even an AspX) and you can be done in 1-2 hours, you've earned up to Cr200m and you'll still be ready for another bite at it.

Course, if you really enjoy it (and there are worse things you could be doing in ED) then sure. Use a big ship.

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

Okay so I purposely cut myself at the hour mark and went to sell my gains at the best nearby stations according to EDDB.


All in all I made 39 million. I don't think that is too shabby?

 

[Requiem Mortis]

Okay so I purposely cut myself at the hour mark and went to sell my gains at the best nearby stations according to EDDB.


All in all I made 39 million. I don't think that is too shabby?

Never mind he Cr/Hour how was the Fun/Hour ?

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

Never mind he Cr/Hour how was the Fun/Hour ?

Well the mining itself is a blast. (lol)

Its definitely more engaging than what I was expecting and its not as difficult as I was expecting. By the time I got done I was able to free the minerals from the rocks quick enough to just sit back and let my collectors collect everything.


The hard part is getting the hang of recognizing the good rocks from the bad. I spent 80% of my looking at the wrong rocks and 2 of the ones that I found was out of sheer dumb luck.

 

[Stealthie]

Okay so I purposely cut myself at the hour mark and went to sell my gains at the best nearby stations according to EDDB.


All in all I made 39 million. I don't think that is too shabby?

It's alright.

Main thing is to grasp the mechanics of core mining - and learn to accept that you won't always get a perfect haul.

Bear in mind, though, that if you were hunting for VO's in an out-of-the-way location, an hour would have got you Cr100m in VO's.
As you get more confident of the mechanics, you'll probably become more ambitious/selective about what you spend your time mining.

 

[13A]

I use FDS as my core miner; it gives me 80T cargo and enough hardpoints for defense as well as mining gear.
https://s.orbis.zone/39rm
As for limpets, I tend to take 40. I sometimes end up having to discard them, but it's better than not having enough (especially when they go into kamikaze mode).

 

[Shiro Akai]

In February I made my way to Colonia. While there I decided to try that fabled mining so I did read some guides and outfitted toward the job. Below is my experience.

1) What ship should I use?

I picked Python and it worked well. Lots of internals for all my needs (limpet controllers, refineries, mining lasers, charges, etc.), good visibility and maneuverability. Don't get caught into X ship is better than Y (when picking between ASP, Krait or Python). All of them will do, it's just a matter of how much time you want to spend on site mining. I choose Python to max out cargo space.

2) How do I know how many limpets to grab?

Easy. Up to 75% of your total cargo space.

3) Do I grab ONLY Void Opals? Or is it okay to grab other valuable materials along the way?

Ofc it's OK to grab other valuables. YOu have so much cargo space it'd be pure waste NOT to pick other minerals and metals.

4) If the Python is a good choice for a ship will this build work?

Sure it would. From memory I think I had 2x 5A collector controller but OTOH when blasting chips away you don't have them that much to be in need of millions of limpets out there. Just don't target chunks and single limpet can make multiple runs. By the time you circle a 'roid and blast everything that single limpet can scoop all what is there to scoop.

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

It's alright.

Main thing is to grasp the mechanics of core mining - and learn to accept that you won't always get a perfect haul.

Bear in mind, though, that if you were hunting for VO's in an out-of-the-way location, an hour would have got you Cr100m in VO's.
As you get more confident of the mechanics, you'll probably become more ambitious/selective about what you spend your time mining.

Is there a better way to search for them? I just went to the nearest pristine icy rings.


Also where do I find Low Temp diamonds. Is that rocky?

 

[Vandaahl]

Also where do I find Low Temp diamonds. Is that rocky?

No, or at least I always found them in ice rings.

 

[Stealthie]

Is there a better way to search for them? I just went to the nearest pristine icy rings.


Also where do I find Low Temp diamonds. Is that rocky?

LTDs are also found in Icy Rings.
Bear in mind that LTDs can also be laser-mined so, if you're greedy, you might want to bung at least one mining-laser on your ship - Although core-mining will probably be your main source of LTDs.


As for how to pick where to go mining...

Some people deliberately travel 100Ly out of the bubble and then look for a pristine ring.
Personally, I think that's overkill.
Pick a mining site within the bubble, in an inhabited system.
Land at the station, take a look at the station news-feed and check out the local traffic report.
If it says that a hundred Pythons/Kraits/AspXs have been through the system in the last 24h, chances are they've been there to mine in that system, in which case the number of core roids will be reduced.

Find a system where the traffic report says that only a minimal amount of ships have been there and it's likely to be a good place to go mining.


TBH, I'm not sure that you need to go to a pristine ring to get the optimal number of core-roids as long as you are in a hotspot.
I've mined at hotspots that aren't in pristine rings and I've still snagged 138t of VOs after a couple of hours.
I do prefer mining in pristine rings, though, 'cos I like laser-mining (as well as core-mining) and that's more fruitful in pristine rings.