Surface Elements and Reserves Status

[Johnny Cyclops]

I've recently been on a bit of a personal mission to collect elements. I quite like bouncing around on the surface in an SRV following the ground radar and sniffing out deposits.

I've only just seen that in the System Map, once a detailed surface scan is complete, it reveals the level of reserves, in addition to the elements list. I see I've been finding most of the elements I need in just two or three local systems, but they are marked with LOW or DEPLETED reserves. So I hunted around via the Galaxy Map and found a system chock full of PRISTINE reserve landable bodies, and headed there.

Having just spent 30 minutes on the surface of one such Pristine Reserves body, I didn't notice any appreciable difference in the rate of finds, nor an improvement in finding rare elements.

Does the Reserves Status of a landable body have any bearing on the volume or types of elements on the surface?

I am aware that in mining for metals/minerals, that asteroids or ring systems also can have 'reserves' levels marked, and assumed this also indicated better finds (I've very rarely mined, as I find that quite tedious, so can't say for certain this is the case).

TIA
JC

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

I hate the bouncy clown car, so I know nothing of the so-called surface mining.

But I know asteroid mining well. I have also been testing the material content of various planetary rings. It makes no difference to the material spawn what the system reserves are. The amounts of materials depend purely on the ring type metal-rich>rocky>metallic>icy. Depleted rings give as good a yield of materials as pristine.

I doubt materials on planetary surfaces are any different.

 

[Dbrn47]

Doesn't make a difference, as far as I know.

I hate the bouncy clown car, so I know nothing of the so-called surface mining.

I never put that thought together, but it's very amusing considering I don't talk very highly of the SRV either. I even just pictured it as a clown car. [haha]

 

[Johnny Cyclops]

I hate the bouncy clown car, so I know nothing of the so-called surface mining.

But I know asteroid mining well. I have also been testing the material content of various planetary rings. It makes no difference to the material spawn what the system reserves are. The amounts of materials depend purely on the ring type metal-rich>rocky>metallic>icy. Depleted rigs give as good a yield of materials as pristine.

I doubt materials on planetary surfaces are any different.

I did find a thread post from you elsewhere that included the very useful analysis of the ring types. Thank you. I thought mining only resulted in Minerals/Metals (i.e. Commodities) and not Elements as well. Perhaps I'll give it a go.

I'll keep my bouncy clown car in preference to chasing down floating mineral lumps three and four at a time, and only getting a dozen or so chunks per asteroid, and putting up with incomplete fractions in the refiner, and getting sometimes shot at at RES (even the quiet ones, in high security systems!).

Each to their own.

JC

 

[VR micmacmoc]

Oh please devs, let us do the srv up in cheery clown colours with fally offy doors and a big squirty flower.

 

[domaq]

There was a move to try and prove a coorelation between reserve status and drop rates but none was found. Best bet is to stick to highest %'s using something like EDDB.io.

 

[ChiefRedCloud]

I've recently been on a bit of a personal mission to collect elements. I quite like bouncing around on the surface in an SRV following the ground radar and sniffing out deposits.

I've only just seen that in the System Map, once a detailed surface scan is complete, it reveals the level of reserves, in addition to the elements list. I see I've been finding most of the elements I need in just two or three local systems, but they are marked with LOW or DEPLETED reserves. So I hunted around via the Galaxy Map and found a system chock full of PRISTINE reserve landable bodies, and headed there.

Having just spent 30 minutes on the surface of one such Pristine Reserves body, I didn't notice any appreciable difference in the rate of finds, nor an improvement in finding rare elements.

Does the Reserves Status of a landable body have any bearing on the volume or types of elements on the surface?

I am aware that in mining for metals/minerals, that asteroids or ring systems also can have 'reserves' levels marked, and assumed this also indicated better finds (I've very rarely mined, as I find that quite tedious, so can't say for certain this is the case).

TIA
JC

Have a Rep for a great questions ... as someone still fairly new to E D, myself, I've been pouring over the forums quite a bit. I've been on the surface once outside of training. All this is good to know. Quick counter question. Gravity and landings. What is the ideal gravity for most landings? I have watched a video on beaver landings and the caution needed but need to review it again. I have made several base landings on planets but I was coached down on my one and only planet landing.

Also I like your comment in your sig.

Chief

 

[Johnny Cyclops]

Have a Rep for a great questions ... as someone still fairly new to E D, myself, I've been pouring over the forums quite a bit. I've been on the surface once outside of training. All this is good to know. Quick counter question. Gravity and landings. What is the ideal gravity for most landings? I have watched a video on beaver landings and the caution needed but need to review it again. I have made several base landings on planets but I was coached down on my one and only planet landing.

Also I like your comment in your sig.

Chief

Many thanks for the kind comment.

My first tip about gravity, is just to be aware of it. On ship landings, on hovering over/near points of interest or mission targets, anything above 0.50g and the (smaller) ships I fly certainly don't respond quite so well in the sub 1000m stakes. The upside? I've 'crashed' a few times (more like a heavy bounce) and the shields usually do their job to protect the hull.

Out in the SRV, on anything other than flattish desert just be aware of higher gravity when 'bush bashing' through gullies or more rocky landscapes. There will be hull damage, due to heavy landings, but usually no more than down to ~95% on a 30 minutes scavenge, so nothing really to fret about.

In addition to the System Map showing gravity, the ship/SRV HUD also displays it, just under the surface x:y coordinates.

 

[Kzak]

AFAIK the Pristine/Major etc. status of a system's resources has no bearing on the materials you can scan for and pick up with a SRV on the planet's surface.

 

[Sapyx]

I have noticed that all individual planets now have a minerals quality assigned to them, whether they have rings or not; I don't recall noticing this feature before. Since this does not, apparently, affect engineer-mats spawn rates, I can only assume it is there as a precursor to the implementation of proper player-owned surface mining rigs. I can't see any need for the game to suddenly start telling us the mineral richness of an uninhabited planet if we can never get at those riches.

 

[Johnny Cyclops]

I have noticed that all individual planets now have a minerals quality assigned to them, whether they have rings or not; I don't recall noticing this feature before. Since this does not, apparently, affect engineer-mats spawn rates, I can only assume it is there as a precursor to the implementation of proper player-owned surface mining rigs. I can't see any need for the game to suddenly start telling us the mineral richness of an uninhabited planet if we can never get at those riches.

Quite so, and there's a difference between Minerals (i.e. a commodity with saleable value) and Elements (to be used for synthesis, or (not totally sure as I don't routinely visit Engineers) used for creating ship modifications). I was a bit surprised to learn it's possible to use ship-based mining (asteroids and rings) for both Minerals and Elements, although it's been a year or two since I last tried mining (see 'boring' comment above).