Mining is deeply underwhelming. Am I doing something wrong?

Piratescribe · Feb 28, 2021

So I've been playing ED for 3 days, doing courier missions, earning Cr30k per mission. I read somewhere that mining is pretty lucrative, so instead of a Cobra MkIII, I spent my money on mining lasers, refinery, and collection limpet controller (and some core upgrades for my Sidewinder), and head out to an asteroid belt. I spent almost 3 hours trying to find un depleted asteroids and figuring out that I can only refine 2 elements at a time.... and by the end of it, I had enough material for a whopping Cr1500.

OK, so, what am I doing wrong? How in the world can I get mining to be at least as lucrative as courier jobs?
TIA!!

Vingtetun · Feb 28, 2021

Mine for goods that sell at high prices. Use a prospector limpet which will help you work out what's in the Rock first. And a pulse wave analyser to highlight the juicy ones.

Not sure a sidey is going to net you very much as it has limited cargo space and not many internal slots for the mining gear...

skananote · Feb 28, 2021

You'll get better with time. However bear in mind that currently mining is broken. You can mine just fine but when you get to the point of selling your mined ore that is where problems start... With current demand thing finding good place to sell is a chore - and "chore" is very mild word to describe the ordeal you going to go through... Mining is dead to me...

Piratescribe · Feb 28, 2021

skananote said:
You'll get better with time. However bear in mind that currently mining is broken. You can mine just fine but when you get to the point of selling your mined ore that is where problems start... With current demand thing finding good place to sell is a chore - and "chore" is very mild word to describe the ordeal you going to go through... Mining is dead to me...

oh! Wow, OK, that's discouraging

Hope that changes...
alright, well, looks like I'mma gonna store my mining equipment and get back to courier jobs

Thanks for the tip!
(There a forum or "channel" or something that I can keep an eye on and watch for chatter where people are discussing mining being less of a chore again? I really would like to eventually get good at mining.)

thistle · Feb 28, 2021

Piratescribe said:
oh! Wow, OK, that's discouraging Hope that changes...
alright, well, looks like I'mma gonna store my mining equipment and get back to courier jobs Thanks for the tip!
(There a forum or "channel" or something that I can keep an eye on and watch for chatter where people are discussing mining being less of a chore again? I really would like to eventually get good at mining.)

Mining is always dead to someone, even when it's lucrative. Dont buy into the latest get rich quick scheme (it might work but you will avoid actually playing the game) and dont buy into the latest "oh woe is me, mining is dead!" posts.

I wouldn't really start doing mining until you're in a ship with larger cargo space, a Cobra is a good all round ship and can do everything other than end game 'big-ship' stuff.

Good very recent mining thread:

Newcomer / Intro - Another mining thread

I literally started playing this game 2 days ago and pretty sure this has been asked a gazilion of times so apologies but I can't seem to find the answer. Each time I mine (mostly Dromi) I get a couple of minerals, as a result I have to vent the one I don't want. That turns mining into a real...

forums.frontier.co.uk

VR jefranklin18 · Feb 28, 2021

Piratescribe said:
oh! Wow, OK, that's discouraging Hope that changes...
alright, well, looks like I'mma gonna store my mining equipment and get back to courier jobs Thanks for the tip!
(There a forum or "channel" or something that I can keep an eye on and watch for chatter where people are discussing mining being less of a chore again? I really would like to eventually get good at mining.)

There is a Reddit dedicated to miners (EDMiners) if you are on that.

For mining tips, you can mine with a Sidewinder - you will best off manually scooping so you don't lose a slot to collector controller. The prospector controller is a really strong nice to have though, although you lose more space.

Re the comment about it being "broken" - it does still work, however the demand model is a little borked but my understanding is that it only becomes an issue with the high value materials and in large amounts. Not an issue when you're just starting out in a Sidey though

Another website to use is: http://edtools.ddns.net/miner - the minerals listed give the highest returns so just enter your reference system and go from there. If you don't have a surface scanner installed, you won't be able to find the hotspots easily but there rings will still contain them.

Edit: that website also has a pristine metallic ring search tool. This is where you can get a lot of all metal types in high yields.

insanephoton · Feb 28, 2021

It's going to be a struggle to earn much with a Sidey, even an Adder would be a useful upgrade. That being said, you should be earning more than Cr1500. Your best bet is to try mining in a pristine metallic ring, with your current setup you have a reasonable chance of finding something at least moderately valuable.

Rock Hunter · Feb 28, 2021

I can‘t help seeing two paths with mining. 1. Mining for pleasure, enjoying the location and relaxing before making some decent cash or 2. Getting utterly involved in the credits per hour thing and needing huge profits for as little time spent as possible.

I‘m sure there are plenty who manage a good mix or enjoy the hunt for best prices and the most efficient method but unless that’s your thing I’d suggest trying to take the first path, initially at least.

At your stage many of the minerals found will offer a very good profit, but the Sidewinder simply can’t store much to see that profit at its best. As advised above, scooping is best saving a space for the all important prospector limpet - it will have a huge boost of the percentage you can receive. In my personal opinion it’s not until you get a Cobra that you really start to see ‘big’ profits from mining, from there an Asp Explorer or similar (but there are many options, I love the Keelback for low volume mining.)

If you aren’t bored with Courier missions yet then I’d suggest you have the staying power for ED. You just need to find your way through the learning curve and you’ll quickly see the benefits in terms of both making money and enjoying the games options.

Mr T · Feb 28, 2021

Are you legitimately wanting to know about mining or are you actually just looking at ways to make credits? If it's the former there is some great advice above but if it's the latter and you want to get into combat, you could go to a RES and shoot wanted criminals and / or try pirate massacre missions. Bounties and these mission rewards were buffed recently in the great rebalance.

don carnage1 · Feb 28, 2021

thistle said:
Mining is always dead to someone, even when it's lucrative. Dont buy into the latest get rich quick scheme (it might work but you will avoid actually playing the game) and dont buy into the latest "oh woe is me, mining is dead!" posts.

^ This ^

OP: Welcome to Elite!

You’re going to need to learn two things to have fun as a newbie.

1) Google has every tutorial you will ever need. I especially recommend the ones done by @Exigeous - he’s a gent.

2) There is a LOT of whining on this forum. “Oh this thing is broken” “Oh this other thing is broken” “Whaa this is under/overpowered.” — Learn to take all of it with a grain of salt.

Some of the whining is legitimate. Some isn’t. What’s important is that, as a newbie, almost none of it actually effects you.

I have a newbie friend. He’s been playing since November and having a blast. Do the tutorials, ignore the whiners, and you might have a blast too.

Screemonster · Feb 28, 2021

The important thing about mining isn't just dropping into any ring anywhere, half the skill is in finding the right place to mine and the right place to sell.

Of course, that particular skill has been completely obsoleted by people who have the skills in question just telling everyone else where to go once they find it, which results in everyone and their dog all mining in the exact same place.

Which... as it happens, can work out pretty well, as people will park carriers in the popular systems with buy orders and you can sell your ore for an okay price then and there and go straight back to mining, instead of having to do the runaround of finding an NPC station that's buying for a decent price.

Starshot_Jigawatts · Feb 28, 2021

I think it's pretty awesome the OP fit out a Sidewinder and tried to laser mine. Regardless of the results.

OP it sounds like you were in the wrong ring-type or a "depleted reserves" system if every rock you hit came up empty. This will help you find close systems with what you want:

E:D Tools

edtools.cc

For laser mining you want to only mine in pristine reserve systems in "metallic" rings. Platinum is the way to go currently. Don't forget the detailed surface scanner so you can find the hot spots.

Bottom Hat · Feb 28, 2021

You said you went to an "asteroid belt" right?

That's not the best place for mining. You want to find a planetary ring. Normally a gas giant. I think this may have been the first and main problem I'm afraid mate.

However, there have been some great info posts above, and mining is not broken at all. That's a comment from comparing it to when you could gimp the game to get a carrier in a week.

As you're new, I don't want to bomb you with too much to begin with. That said however, the best place you want is a pristine metallic ring and look for platinum, palladium, osmium, gold, silver, and painite.

Have a read of some of the mining guides, but right now I'd stick to the very basic stuff, and laser mining. Ignore cores and hotspots etc, that will complicate and frustrate you right now. Get used to using prospector and collector limpets and how the refinery works. And don't chase the highest prices else you'll waste time really with a sidey. If not, use the cobra for more space.

Good luck, but stick to the basic stuff right now, and save yourself the trauma of the mining tears!

Brrokk · Feb 28, 2021

I haven't tried mining in a Sidewinder, but I doubt that its internal slots can carry the equipment needed to make mining efficient or enjoyable. Sell that gear and buy the Cobra! Provided you have the credits needed to cover a few of its rebuys, that is*. Maybe try mining later in the Cobra, or hold off until you can afford an Asp.

* Rule 1: never fly without rebuy. Rule 2: never sell the Cobra.

Schmack · Feb 28, 2021

Mining is still ok. It's quite different to mine in a sidewinder when you're a seasoned player just doing it to prove you can, than it would be for a new player who doesn't know the mining ropes. You can waste a lot of time just learning by mistake.

In the Sidewinder, find courier missions and run those. If you get some reputation with the local factions you will get more money per run and you can stack up to 20 courier missions per run. Use your Galmap to find systems in the states you will need to get these missions. When you happen upon something lucrative, take note of what state the system is in and what state each faction is in. Once you get enough Cr to get a bigger ship, you'll be able to increase your mining profits.

The best laser mining that I've seen is Painite but I haven't done it in awhile so not sure it even exists, seeing how FDev changes the natural galaxy on a whim.

VR jefranklin18 · Feb 28, 2021

Brrokk said:
I haven't tried mining in a Sidewinder, but I doubt that its internal slots can carry the equipment needed to make mining efficient or enjoyable. Sell that gear and buy the Cobra! Provided you have the credits needed to cover a few of its rebuys, that is*. Maybe try mining later in the Cobra, or hold off until you can afford an Asp.

* Rule 1: never fly without rebuy. Rule 2: never sell the Cobra.

Just put together a quick build on Coriolis, including prospector and refinery you can get an 8 ton capacity one. Enough for a starter run

Brrokk · Feb 28, 2021

jefranklin18 said:
Just put together a quick build on Coriolis, including prospector and refinery you can get an 8 ton capacity one. Enough for a starter run

But no collectors? That won't be much fun.

VR jefranklin18 · Feb 28, 2021

Brrokk said:
But no collectors? That won't be much fun.

Call me a masochist/sadist but one's first mining forays should be without collectors in order to a appreciate them more

Northpin · Feb 28, 2021

Guess you'd need to play a bit more than 3 days

This Cobra Mk3 will cost you a bit more than 4 millions
With it you should go to Delkar, planet 7, A ring and mine Platinum
20 tons should net you like 5 millions if you find a decent station that will pay 250k per ton - so you'd pay your Cobra in one single run

Donaldi · Mar 1, 2021

Piratescribe said:
So I've been playing ED for 3 days, doing courier missions, earning Cr30k per mission.<...>
OK, so, what am I doing wrong? How in the world can I get mining to be at least as lucrative as courier jobs?

These 30.000cr earnings sound familiar.
Are you maybe still in the beginners zone? (Pilot federation planets you can never get back into once you leave it. Matet, Orneo, Wolfsegen).

In the beginners area you do not get decent equipment (and only 30.000 jobs, even the bounties are meager).
All hardware stops at level 2D and the only mining equipment is a fixed laser, no displacement missiles, no blaster, no pulse scanner and only a tiny refinery.
Good equipment for mining you can get once you leave the secure starter zone, in the fleetcarrier infested waters.

The rest is already said in this thread.

And learn to evade interdictions. And if interdicted, learn to flee.
Do not fly into a mining spot twice(!).