4 ways to still go from nothing to top 10% mining at Jaques

[YinYin]

While the top 10 are far off the charts well above 2000 tons,
top 10% is still within easily accessible range (between 100 and 150 tons).

5,400,000 Cr reward at the current tier.

And here are 4 ways to get there.

Two priorities to all of them: getting to a good Osmium source and using an A grade prospector on it to generate as many fragments as possible.
(and obviously not forgetting any mining equipment and optimising it for fast mining and collection - guides for that are plenty, but you can easily do with any basics you happen to grab in outfitting)

Listed in order of effectiveness and involvement (low to high).

persistent Osmium sources (solo feasible)
These are best used if you have little time to play. Just mine the marked asteroids.
(there are supposedly even better sources around, but locating them will take considerable time - if anyone has info on that such as nearby systems with metallic belts near the entry point, let me know)

ring mining Viper (solo feasible)
The Viper is the fastest available ship at Jaques to find Osmium inside the inner ring.
Fun flying while you search (chip a fragment per asteroid)
and fun mining as decent lasers and collectors make the process fast.
(preferrably on >20% sources - just 5 or less fragments per refined ton)

wing/fleet mining (group/open)
Wing up and mine together with every other miner you meet. (or gather some on discord!)
The more miners are searching and finding good asteroids in one location the less time will not be spend mining them.
(this is not limited to 4 ships - go beyond if you can)

wing/fleet mining with an Osmium scout (open)
My own ship is not only optimised for scouting asteroids - I am also donating my entire mining yields to the miners I wing with.
This has helped push several commanders into the top 10 range over the course of this community goal.

 

[Adidane]

I've found that planet 5 has a larger quantity of asteroids with Osmium in them than the inner ring of planet 4.
In my trial I went to planet 5 and mined 67 tonnes but at planet 4 I mined only 43 tonnes and I was ignoring the high value metals like palladium, platinum and painite (PPP)

 

[YinYin]

A bit late, but I got to check out planet 5 with Adidane and a small fleet today.

It does not appear to yield any more or less Osmium to me.

It is a metal rich ring and has a considerable distance to the station.
So if you need to make frequent trips or also want to mine high value besides Osmium, this isn't for you.

But the location itself is very nice, a welcome change after a few weeks using the same ring.

The ring is thicker, better lit up, rotates faster (you'll get to witness very rapid sun sets and sun rises) and the gas giant has a nice bloody colour.

The short night is especially thrilling with a fleet - as you will see search lights, lasers and drives illuminating asteroids in the distance.


Today I also learned to appreciate the dynamic combat music without any actual combat pressure as my lance scraped the oversized shield of a cutter from the second wing.