Am I too dumb for mining?

[RadimentriX]

Hi there,
I'm not sure if it's my fault or if I'm just really stupid but is there a way to make mining more... enjoyable? Right now the only way I have to check the contents of an asteroid is to shoot a piece off of it. But that piece vanishes after short time so if I found an asteroid with nice stuff and mine it, i mostly don't know what asteroids i checked before. I have no idea if i can tag them somehow as "scanned" or mark them as targets. Does the surface scanner help here? Or do I need the discovery scanner? Or both? I'm just in an Adder with 16t cargo and a size 1 2-bin refinery and while i enjoyed mobile mining in most space games I've played, i think here it's just annoying :< And i don't even talk about the ore-collecting-minigame with chunks of ore that bump away while they are absolutely in the center of my cargo bay... :-/

 

[Darkwolf]

Mine planetary belts, and don't even try and scan every asteroid. Just fly towards (or away from) the planet the whole time and intercept whatever comes near you.

 

[RadimentriX]

Are the contents of the planetary belts more consistent than than the asteroid belts? because there seem to be too many different materials in a single asteroid belt to mine effectively with only 2 bins and without being albe to scan the asteroids i don't know what i should mine to get the most out of the belt.

 

[Protoplasmic traveler]

Mining is one of those activities right now that will have you bleeding from the ears quicker than anything else you will do in Elite dangerous. Even getting your Asp Explorer blown to pieces by a rogue Anaconda and having to insurance to cover the loss is more fun than mining these days.

There will be more tools coming down the line in updates as the game is still a work in progress but for now, mining is hell and nowhere near as lucrative as a decent trade rout.

Here is a site to show you mining commodity prices.

http://elite-dangerous.frontierspace.co.uk/mining/

Here is my video on how to mine and even in a big ship it is not about the speed (good way to end up splatted like a fly on a windshield) it is all about technique

[video=youtube;PbDzxRWD1e8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbDzxRWD1e8[/video]

 

[RadimentriX]

I really hope that we'll get something like an "Ore-Scanner". makes ships like the Hauler or Adder less interesting for mining but it'll probably will be way more enjoyable than it is now. But I'll look for a planetary belt now. In Beta/Gamma I used these belts only to find wanted ships and make money with bounties. Was way more effective but fighting all the time gets boring :-/
Guess I'm spoiled by games like X (pre-Rebirth) and EVE :<

 

[Darkwolf]

Are the contents of the planetary belts more consistent than than the asteroid belts? because there seem to be too many different materials in a single asteroid belt to mine effectively with only 2 bins and without being albe to scan the asteroids i don't know what i should mine to get the most out of the belt.

It's not more consistent, but you have an essentially unlimited number of asteroids to sample. So you don't have to try and pick at every asteroid to see what it has.

 

[RadimentriX]

Guess my main-problem now is to find a system with a minable ring ^^ I only found ice-rings yet but i know that i've already seen mining sites several days ago when i was exploring in the Sidewinder :-S

 

[Pevs86]

I love mining, but I know I'm in the minority

Metallic belts are what you want, in any capacity. Don't bother with anything else. The optimal number of bins is 5 - That lets you collect Gold, Palladium, Platinum and Silver and a spare bin for whatever trash comes out with them, it's just a time saver.

In my hauler, in a "common resources" metallic belt (Themaxia or something similar) I was making nice monies and having a blast zipping around. I've made millions in trading since, but nothing beats hitting a high yield Platinum roid

Stick with it and it'll bring in huge payouts until something else takes your fancy

 

[simon terlecki]

Look in the galaxy map for extraction and refinery based systems, they seem to have good spots. Of course the bigger the system (population wise) the bigger the chance that the minerals are not pristine and thus give out smaller chunks.

To me mining is like tetris. You just want to relax, put on a podcast and dance with the ore.

 

[RadimentriX]

Seems like I found something, at least it tells me that some rings are "metal rich". And it's not too far away from my starting point. If i could pay some NPC to fly my other ships to a specific station I'd fly further but i want everything collected on a place so i can switch whenever i want :-/

Look in the galaxy map for extraction and refinery based systems, they seem to have good spots. Of course the bigger the system (population wise) the bigger the chance that the minerals are not pristine and thus give out smaller chunks.

To me mining is like tetris. You just want to relax, put on a podcast and dance with the ore.

The problem is that many (most) systems only tell me what size the star is and nothing more. So i'd have to switch to my Sidewinder and scan them (which is fun but becomes a chore when the system is too large since i only have the standard scanner) or have to check stations for data

 

[Malex]

Don't bother going to systems that have no info. You can just use the galaxy map and hunt for extraction sites that have the system map available. It took me about 15 mins to find a nice system with pristine metallic rings and a hungry port.

 

[ozlizard]

at least it tells me that some rings are "metal rich"

Don't waste your time, look for metallic, preferably pristine (hard to find) or at least major or common reserves.

 

[BillD]

I have been doing some experimenting with mining as I too am one of the rarer peeps that likes to chill and mine. Its a bit hard to be conclusive as the results are random, but being choosey seems to bring in more cash. I sample a rock and if its not a High yield 15% or more of silver, gold, palladium or platinum, I just move to the next rock. Most of you time is spent picking up the stuff, so you should only spend it picking up the good stuff. I tried another experiment of picking everything, even the low value high yield, but made nowhere near as much in the same time.

So my technique at the moment is to chip off one bit and scan it, if its below my min spec, just move to another rock. Once I find something decent, I start blasting it and lower my cargo scoop, I can usually catch the first few bits while still blasting the roid. I pick up all the bits, raise the scoop to move faster and move to the next roid, sample and move on if necessary.
It may not be the best technique but the chase is half the fun.

Oh I forgot to mention as other have. As soon as I enter a field, I always jump to my scanner and select a planet or system. That now gives me a nav point in my compass and I always travel towards or away from that point depending on the light conditions. This way I can always reorientate myself after the tumbled of picking up the rocks and not double back on myself.

 

[RadimentriX]

Don't waste your time, look for metallic, preferably pristine (hard to find) or at least major or common reserves.

As I said, I don't wanna fly too far away from my 2 other ships without being able to "call" them to me (for a small fee or something). And where do I see if it's a pristine deposit? In the same place where I have "metal rich"?

 

[ozlizard]

And where do I see if it's a pristine deposit? In the same place where I have "metal rich"?

That is correct, but as I said they are hard to find.

I sample a rock and if its not a High yield 15% or more of silver, gold, palladium or platinum, I just move to the next rock

One thin I have noticed (since release I believe) that the first fragment may only show around 15-19%, which I normally don't bother with.
But a couple of times I needed what was in the rock so I kept on going anyway and the % went up to 40-50%. So now I always test another fragment just to make sure.

 

[Phier]

I really wanted to like mining but the pick up sticks mini game just didn't do it for me. Personally I think mining (and piracy) needs to be more lucrative.

 

[Frank]

Oh I forgot to mention as other have. As soon as I enter a field, I always jump to my scanner and select a planet or system. That now gives me a nav point in my compass and I always travel towards or away from that point depending on the light conditions. This way I can always reorientate myself after the tumbled of picking up the rocks and not double back on myself.

Thanks for the tip

 

[RadimentriX]

I really wanted to like mining but the pick up sticks mini game just didn't do it for me. Personally I think mining (and piracy) needs to be more lucrative.

Well, I can't agree with piracy, I just hate these lifeless creatures, but mining needs a buff. I hope we'll get it with these drones that pick up the stuff. I'd sacrifice a class 2 slot on my Adder for not having to pick up every piece of rock and simply have an EVE-like mining experience. It just takes way too long to fill the cargo hold and compared to hauling even cheap stuff it's way less lucrative :<

 

[stooger]

Can someone tell me if there are some... conditions to fulfill to get to more valuable resources? I know I need to find pristine metal rich planetary ring... found it in some anarchy system, gone there with friend and after about 3h of mining the best we found was silver... and most of the time less valuable things. Is it completly random? Will it make any difference if I go and find another metal rich pristine ring somewhere else?

 

[BillD]

You want Metallic rings, not metal Rich for the higher end stuff.

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Well, I can't agree with piracy, I just hate these lifeless creatures, but mining needs a buff. I hope we'll get it with these drones that pick up the stuff. I'd sacrifice a class 2 slot on my Adder for not having to pick up every piece of rock and simply have an EVE-like mining experience. It just takes way too long to fill the cargo hold and compared to hauling even cheap stuff it's way less lucrative :<

Sorry I have to disagree. I mined in Eve as well and I hope ED does not implement something as simple as that. I like the fact you have to work for it. I don't want to just park my ship and just have the stuff get sucked into my ship while I what another episode of Stargate SG1

Make sure you have a button on you joystick or keyboard mapped to reverse thrust. Move in and just before picking up the rick hit reverse already to back up and align for the next fragment. Its much faster.
I love it when all the rock align like a string of perls. I just line them all up so they go straight down the screen. I start with the top one (even if its further) as I am about to pick it up I am hitting reverse thrust, I grab it back away just far enough aligning up with the next one as I reverse. as soon as its in front of me I let go of reverse and move in towards the next one, hit reverse as I pick it up..etc.