Made a big mistake.
Looking to unlock a few more engineers, I balked at the trip to Colonia to get what I need. I've done Sagitarrius A and visited Jaques on the way back to the bubble and that was not an enjoyable trip. Then I noticed that Selene Jean could G5 what I needed so ignoring all the invites to Colonia to get modded, I figured I'd unlock her to get my Challenger up to combat spec. All I needed was to do a bit of mining, which is uncharted territory for me. 500 tonnes. How hard could it be?
Turns out mining is pretty easy, but boy is it a drag. 2 weeks I've been plugging away and I'm only up to 305 tonnes refined. Just managed to get 30 tonnes done in one sitting ( limited to short stints due to lifestyle) and I just don't want to do it any more. The grind has ground me down.
My mistake was not going to Colonia as the thought of mining another 195 tonnes of ore is making me look at the PS4 with eyes filled with hatred and loathing.
Gah!
You should easily be able to cash in 100 million credits per hour doing core mining. Don't know if EDDB has been nerfed with the latest update, but it sounds as if you're doing something wrong, or maybe being too impatient. Getting to the hotspot and selling the minerals take time, so if you get impatient too quickly while mining you reduce efficiency.
Try this one:
edtools.ddns.net
Choose LTD or Opals depending on whether you want to blow up rocks or just burn them with lasers.
Feel free to ask about core mining. I've done a little of that.
Edit: A few tricks to make core mining more entertaining and prosperous:
Bring as many collector limpet controllers as you can. Get rid of SCA and ADC if you use them, and use the slots for collector limpet controllers. This will reduce boring waiting time while limpets collect.
Learn which minerals are expensive and which are not. Make a rhyme like Grand-Void-Alex-Diamonds to memorize it. Skip bromelite, but pick up anything valuable.
Use a smaller ship, preferably a Python, and fit it with good thrusters (dirty drag) to orbit the rocks with more agility while firing seismic charges.
A small shield is enough to stay very close to the rock while it blows up. That makes the travel time for your collectors shorter (faster).
Using a centered hardpoint for the seismic charge launcher makes it much easier to hit the fissures.
Learn how the core containing rocks spawn. When a new one pops up, look behind you. Most rocks spawn after you have passed them.
2nd Edit: I'm missed the point that you weren't in it for the money. In that case Codger's advice is spot on.
