Here's a proposal for registering mining claims, for a future release 
A new CONTACT in some stations ("Prospecting" or "Mining Guild" or similar) which will offer additional services for miners.
1. Acquire Mining License
2. Revoke Mining License
3. Register Claim
4. De-Register Claim
5. Pay Claim Rent
A player can choose to be a un-licensed miner (and so mining continues as it does today in the game for that player), or a licensed one. If you are licensed, then you can register claims.
The major factions (Fed, Emp, Alliance) offer a "Mining License". A player can acquire as many licenses as he/she wants (from all factions, and local systems as the player requires). If you acquire these, you then are permitted to register claims to areas of asteroid/planetary belts/fields/rings. Certain independents can also offer this facility purely for mining in that star system. Some stations/platforms may become owned by the richer mining groups/guilds.
Each player is allowed up to 3 active registered claims at any one time. Claims, are visible in all modes of play (Solo, Private and Open) in the same way exploration "first explored" tags are.
A claim is created by placing your ship in a specific area, and laying a claim which will tag all rocks in a given range in all directions from your ship. This initial stage is not registered until you return to a station run by the faction you got the license for, and register the claim.
Registering a claim will cost credits, a claim will have a periodic "rent" from the player. If this rent is not kept up to date, the claim is revoked, and the player fined for wasting the factions time/money. You can choose to have a higher "rent" by requesting the faction security forces patrol the area as well (if rogue miners try to mine your claim, they can be marked as Wanted, and so open to attack)
Once you register the claim, those rocks in the claim area are tagged as under your claim (equivalent of being discovered first as per exploration), so if another player scans a rock in your claim area, he will receive a warning that it is part of your claim, and illegal to mine if they do. The player can still mine in your area, but he will be marked as Wanted for illegal mining.
When you return to your "claimed" area, the rocks inside your area will be highlighted a different colour on the scanners. This will enable a player to mine his area without trespassing on other areas owned by other players. Miners in a wing will see the "claimed" area as well, and being in the wing will inherit mining rights from the owner if they are in the same wing.
Any drones deployed will only work within your registered claim, or unclaimed space, and will not stray into other claimed areas.
There could be an option on the scanner to show "registered claim areas", which would show the areas as an overlay on the scanner so you can see if you are approaching the perimeter of another claim area.
The concept of an NPC-owned claim area should also exist, NPCs may either be independent miners, or larger conglomerates such as mining guilds.
To de-register a claim (and so stop the rent payments), or revoke their license (a refund will be applicable), players can do this at the station through the "Prospecting" contact.
The Pay Claim Rent option will allow players to pay in advance for a period of time (to allow players to not play the game for a period of time, but not lose their registered claims because rent is due).
If the station in which you registered claims falls into another factions hands, and you do not have an equivalent mining permit for that new faction, then your claims are lost (as a result of station records being destroyed in the mayhem of the takeover), and you will need to re-register them again elsewhere.
IMPACT OF REGISTERING CLAIMS ON MISSIONS
Registering claims can have additional impacts on missions. A new variation of mission is for miners to register quality claims on behalf of mining guilds (a mission, for example, to find 3 pristene claims that have Palladium, for a mining guild). Once these claims are made, as part of a mission, they remain persistent in the galaxy, owned by the guild/group who requested the mission. The galaxy simulation will drop the claims at a later date if needed.
For the less law-abiding miners, missions can appear to perform illegal mining in an area and try not to get caught for a rival guild, gathering mining specimens from the rival guild's mining field.
Rewards can be purely credits, or discounts on registered claim costs/mining licenses
IMPACT OF REGISTERING CLAIMS ON COMMUNITY GOALS
Mining Guilds can start community goals to start heavy mining operations in particular systems, and returning mined resources. The licensed miners obviously can register claims (up to 3), and so mine areas that other players will not be able to, so this is a slight advantage. For this to work, there will also need to be a way of distinguishing between mined minerals/metals and traded minerals/metals, so the Community Goal is not circumvented by traders.
Rewards can be purely credits, or discounts on registered claim costs/mining licenses
A new CONTACT in some stations ("Prospecting" or "Mining Guild" or similar) which will offer additional services for miners.
1. Acquire Mining License
2. Revoke Mining License
3. Register Claim
4. De-Register Claim
5. Pay Claim Rent
A player can choose to be a un-licensed miner (and so mining continues as it does today in the game for that player), or a licensed one. If you are licensed, then you can register claims.
The major factions (Fed, Emp, Alliance) offer a "Mining License". A player can acquire as many licenses as he/she wants (from all factions, and local systems as the player requires). If you acquire these, you then are permitted to register claims to areas of asteroid/planetary belts/fields/rings. Certain independents can also offer this facility purely for mining in that star system. Some stations/platforms may become owned by the richer mining groups/guilds.
Each player is allowed up to 3 active registered claims at any one time. Claims, are visible in all modes of play (Solo, Private and Open) in the same way exploration "first explored" tags are.
A claim is created by placing your ship in a specific area, and laying a claim which will tag all rocks in a given range in all directions from your ship. This initial stage is not registered until you return to a station run by the faction you got the license for, and register the claim.
Registering a claim will cost credits, a claim will have a periodic "rent" from the player. If this rent is not kept up to date, the claim is revoked, and the player fined for wasting the factions time/money. You can choose to have a higher "rent" by requesting the faction security forces patrol the area as well (if rogue miners try to mine your claim, they can be marked as Wanted, and so open to attack)
Once you register the claim, those rocks in the claim area are tagged as under your claim (equivalent of being discovered first as per exploration), so if another player scans a rock in your claim area, he will receive a warning that it is part of your claim, and illegal to mine if they do. The player can still mine in your area, but he will be marked as Wanted for illegal mining.
When you return to your "claimed" area, the rocks inside your area will be highlighted a different colour on the scanners. This will enable a player to mine his area without trespassing on other areas owned by other players. Miners in a wing will see the "claimed" area as well, and being in the wing will inherit mining rights from the owner if they are in the same wing.
Any drones deployed will only work within your registered claim, or unclaimed space, and will not stray into other claimed areas.
There could be an option on the scanner to show "registered claim areas", which would show the areas as an overlay on the scanner so you can see if you are approaching the perimeter of another claim area.
The concept of an NPC-owned claim area should also exist, NPCs may either be independent miners, or larger conglomerates such as mining guilds.
To de-register a claim (and so stop the rent payments), or revoke their license (a refund will be applicable), players can do this at the station through the "Prospecting" contact.
The Pay Claim Rent option will allow players to pay in advance for a period of time (to allow players to not play the game for a period of time, but not lose their registered claims because rent is due).
If the station in which you registered claims falls into another factions hands, and you do not have an equivalent mining permit for that new faction, then your claims are lost (as a result of station records being destroyed in the mayhem of the takeover), and you will need to re-register them again elsewhere.
IMPACT OF REGISTERING CLAIMS ON MISSIONS
Registering claims can have additional impacts on missions. A new variation of mission is for miners to register quality claims on behalf of mining guilds (a mission, for example, to find 3 pristene claims that have Palladium, for a mining guild). Once these claims are made, as part of a mission, they remain persistent in the galaxy, owned by the guild/group who requested the mission. The galaxy simulation will drop the claims at a later date if needed.
For the less law-abiding miners, missions can appear to perform illegal mining in an area and try not to get caught for a rival guild, gathering mining specimens from the rival guild's mining field.
Rewards can be purely credits, or discounts on registered claim costs/mining licenses
IMPACT OF REGISTERING CLAIMS ON COMMUNITY GOALS
Mining Guilds can start community goals to start heavy mining operations in particular systems, and returning mined resources. The licensed miners obviously can register claims (up to 3), and so mine areas that other players will not be able to, so this is a slight advantage. For this to work, there will also need to be a way of distinguishing between mined minerals/metals and traded minerals/metals, so the Community Goal is not circumvented by traders.
Rewards can be purely credits, or discounts on registered claim costs/mining licenses
