What's the most efficient way to mine Tritium?

[Northpin]

Interesting. That matches my "5 limpets per laser" ratio. I just can't see a reason to ever want 4 lasers.

Hmm, you dont really need that many limpets per laser

The Conda build i linked earlier in this thread had 13 collectors and 3 medium mining lasers and 2 small/engineered ones - lets say the equivalent of 4 medium mining lasers
With good positioning, i had at least 2 collectors idling and the message "no valid collection target" blinking on screen while i was lasering the hell out of that asteroid.
I think i mentioned i could have used another medium mining laser on that ship

G5 Weapon Focused distributor

yeap, you do need one of those for size 7 PD and 4 medium mining lasers
for 5+ mining lasers, i think a size 8 PD is needed

 

[Northpin]

to build an Anaconda mining ship... so thanks to @Northpin for the great ideas.

make sure you start with that exact build (for optional internals at least, core modules dont affect the usage of the front cargo hatch)

iirc, my initial build had a fuel scoop instead of the 3C mining multi limpet, so that change didnt affect the front cargo hatch usage, but using a bigger* refinery ruined it


* and that means the build requires some refinery micromanagement to clear bins of unwanted minerals if you dont use filters and let the collectors to get anything that floats

 

[K Olley]

• Increased cargo space to 512t... 1 hour is my mining sanity limit and I didn't fill half the cargo space. I might reconsider this.

Don't forget that if you are far enough out in the black you can just log out while in the ring and when you log back in you will be moved to just a few Km from your log out position outside the ring.

 

[aRJay]

This thread inspired me to revisit mining, so thanks to everybody. This is an example of how forum and player input can really add to the game. When I'm back in civilization I'm excited to build an Anaconda mining ship... so thanks to @Northpin for the great ideas. Definitely going to apply them.

It is also a good example of why it is a great idea to bring a mix of extra modules with you into deep space. I was able to refit my old cutter with improvements and try new things while in deep space. Luckily I had the engineering blueprints i desired too.

Edit:

• Changed Power Distributor to G5 Weapon Focused.
• Discarded landing assist module for 3A prospector Controller (manually landing the cutter on the fleet carrier is very easy)
• Added additional 5A collector limpet controller (increased to 12 limpets)
• Swapped 8A shield for 6A prismatic. (A normal 6A would be fine... I happened to have a prismatic in storage)
• Increased cargo space to 512t... 1 hour is my mining sanity limit and I didn't fill half the cargo space. I might reconsider this.

My laser mining Anaconda build is roughly this, engineering might not be current/correct

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

 

[Greasetrap42]

Don't forget that if you are far enough out in the black you can just log out while in the ring and when you log back in you will be moved to just a few Km from your log out position outside the ring.

Very true. But I generally like to switch over to other activities.

I park my carrier at the site, so its just a quick switchover to a different ship. Then do activities in the area. I like mining a little bit, but I need to keep it below 25% of my gaming time.

 

[Northpin]

But I generally like to switch over to other activities.

Yeap, this one

That's the reason i also prefer to do mining in a single session.
Because the next one i may want to do something else

 

[Greasetrap42]

@mtwill333 here is my updated and improved dedicated deep space tritium mining ship. Tritium Cutter Ver2

• 4 mining lasers.
• Power Distributor that will fully deplete any asteroid.
• 17 collector limpets. You don't need this many. You can replace a 5A collector limpet for another rack.
• 320t cargo capacity. More than enough for 1-hour sessions.

Other Aspects

• The design is for a fleet carrier launched mining ship. The tritium hotspot is already discovered and the carrier has been moved into the system.
• No fuel scoop or FSD booster. This ship is not intended for traveling. This is a dedicated utility ship.
• No flight assists. You are traveling between the fleet carrier and tritium hotspot. That's it. Nothing else. Ever.
• If you don't have access to prismatic shields, a 6A shield is fine.
• No need for the shield boosters, hull reinforcements, or reactive surface hull. Its part of the design because its all good stuff.
• I highly recommend the A-rated G5 engineered dirty + drag thrusters.
• I highly recommend the A-rated G5 engineered weapon focused power distributor.
• I highly recommend the A-rated G5 engineered armored power plant.
• You can skimp on any of the other engineering.
• If you don't feel like subsurface or abrasion mining, just don't add those hardpoints to fire groups and ignore them.

 

[gooddoc]

I appreciate the comment and I guess it is my fault for not being specific enough...
I am looking to build an Imperial Cutter Laser Miner.

Thanks though!

Im returning back from Beagle Point, with my Carrier in tow. I'm tending to move back to the bubble by jumping my Carrier approx 500LYs then Exploring towards it, docking then jumping 500LYs at the session end (moving 1000LYs per day).
I tend to start my week on a Thursday & heading back to the bubble at a nice slow pace, I Explore in my Krait MkII for 3 or 4 days (until I reach my 400 free ARX - selling data & bioscans at my Carrier).
Then switch to my Mining Cutter, load it up with 200 Limpets, then go off Exploring, but locating an Icy Ring with a Tritium Hotspot. I then jump my Carrier to the Rings location & Mine, returning to the Carrier with my load of Tritium from those limpets, at the session end.
Then for the rest of the 'week' I load up with 300-400 limpets, return to the hotspot & mine for the session.

My Cutter's layout uses just two Mining lasers - I only surface mine, no sub-surface stuff.
two - 256T cargo holds
one - prospector module
three - collector modules - giving me 8 collector limpets
one - fuel scoop - important for Exploring to the Hotspot

I fire mostly at the lozenge shaped 'Roids, as I noticed that these tended to have a better chance of containing Tritium.
I have a policy where I will only Mine an 'Roid if it contains more than 10% Tritium at low yield value, 9% at medium & 7% at high yield.
It works out that I go through around 100 limpets/hour & from each 100 limpets used I'm getting a little over 100tonnes of Tritium.

Not the most efficient way to mine, I know, but I can't really be ARXed about maximising efficiency in ED & play at my own pace.....and enjoy it!

 

[Brrokk]

Im returning back from Beagle Point, with my Carrier in tow. I'm tending to move back to the bubble by jumping my Carrier approx 500LYs then Exploring towards it, docking then jumping 500LYs at the session end (moving 1000LYs per day).
I tend to start my week on a Thursday & heading back to the bubble at a nice slow pace, I Explore in my Krait MkII for 3 or 4 days (until I reach my 400 free ARX - selling data & bioscans at my Carrier).
Then switch to my Mining Cutter, load it up with 200 Limpets, then go off Exploring, but locating an Icy Ring with a Tritium Hotspot. I then jump my Carrier to the Rings location & Mine, returning to the Carrier with my load of Tritium from those limpets, at the session end.
Then for the rest of the 'week' I load up with 300-400 limpets, return to the hotspot & mine for the session.

My Cutter's layout uses just two Mining lasers - I only surface mine, no sub-surface stuff.
two - 256T cargo holds
one - prospector module
three - collector modules - giving me 8 collector limpets
one - fuel scoop - important for Exploring to the Hotspot

I fire mostly at the lozenge shaped 'Roids, as I noticed that these tended to have a better chance of containing Tritium.
I have a policy where I will only Mine an 'Roid if it contains more than 10% Tritium at low yield value, 9% at medium & 7% at high yield.
It works out that I go through around 100 limpets/hour & from each 100 limpets used I'm getting a little over 100tonnes of Tritium.

Not the most efficient way to mine, I know, but I can't really be ARXed about maximising efficiency in ED & play at my own pace.....and enjoy it!

AFAIK the low, medium and high labels only affect material yield, not the tritium, but I may have misunderstood.

 

[gooddoc]

AFAIK the low, medium and high labels only affect material yield, not the tritium, but I may have misunderstood.

It could well do, but it keeps my collector's busy & the Tritium flowing slowly into my refineries while I'm dum de dumming my way through an afternoon's gameplay......& trying to get my Carrier home then I can restock it Tritium again using my cargo transport Carrier .

Added: Ive often wondered what ACTUAL difference those yields make to the value of each piece of Tritium collected & put into the Refinery.......then I realise I can't be ARX'd spending hours totting up the Tritium difference after each 'Roid is mined and move on.

 

[aRJay]

AFAIK the low, medium and high labels only affect material yield, not the tritium, but I may have misunderstood.

I am pretty sure that is right, doesn’t it actually say material in the info panel.

 

[Brrokk]

I am pretty sure that is right, doesn’t it actually say material in the info panel.

It does. There's a careful distinction between "mineral" and "material" there.

 

[Brrokk]

I was also inspired by this thread to go mining last night. The main change I noticed was that subsurface missiles now produce a huge cloud of smoke, so you can't see what you're doing for a bit. Either I'm rusty or cores are slightly harder to spot, but I found 3.

 

[Ned Flandalorian]

I was also inspired by this thread to go mining last night. The main change I noticed was that subsurface missiles now produce a huge cloud of smoke, so you can't see what you're doing for a bit. Either I'm rusty or cores are slightly harder to spot, but I found 3.

I've had this on and off, some sessions it happens and other times it doesn't (when mining in the same place). Makes you wish the ship had wipers.

 

[gooddoc]

Must be some graphics thing. The game throws up graphical anomalies every now & then.....yesterday my Carrier's internal was off by about 1 1/2 foot, making me have to jump once the sliding door from the hanger bay opened & then the poor lass in Vista Gernomics was suspended in the air

 

[mtwill333]

Im returning back from Beagle Point, with my Carrier in tow. I'm tending to move back to the bubble by jumping my Carrier approx 500LYs then Exploring towards it, docking then jumping 500LYs at the session end (moving 1000LYs per day).
I tend to start my week on a Thursday & heading back to the bubble at a nice slow pace, I Explore in my Krait MkII for 3 or 4 days (until I reach my 400 free ARX - selling data & bioscans at my Carrier).
Then switch to my Mining Cutter, load it up with 200 Limpets, then go off Exploring, but locating an Icy Ring with a Tritium Hotspot. I then jump my Carrier to the Rings location & Mine, returning to the Carrier with my load of Tritium from those limpets, at the session end.
Then for the rest of the 'week' I load up with 300-400 limpets, return to the hotspot & mine for the session.

My Cutter's layout uses just two Mining lasers - I only surface mine, no sub-surface stuff.
two - 256T cargo holds
one - prospector module
three - collector modules - giving me 8 collector limpets
one - fuel scoop - important for Exploring to the Hotspot

I fire mostly at the lozenge shaped 'Roids, as I noticed that these tended to have a better chance of containing Tritium.
I have a policy where I will only Mine an 'Roid if it contains more than 10% Tritium at low yield value, 9% at medium & 7% at high yield.
It works out that I go through around 100 limpets/hour & from each 100 limpets used I'm getting a little over 100tonnes of Tritium.

Not the most efficient way to mine, I know, but I can't really be ARXed about maximising efficiency in ED & play at my own pace.....and enjoy it!

Thanks for the reply!
I am headed away from the bubble but much of your method is what I am doing. I picked a spot that was about 4000 LY away from the bubble and not in the route to the Core or Colonia (more likely traveled routes) and used the FC Router website to map the 500LY jumps, it also points out Pristine Icy systems that are in the path. Occasionally, if I see a system in my mapping for Bios that has a lot of ringed planets that are fairly close to jump-in, I will go map them just to see what they have. I haven't discovered any overlapping Tritium hot spots although I did just find an overlapping Tritium + Benitoite (I think it was). I don't know if both overlapping hotspots HAVE to be Tritium or not, I will get to a point where I eventually need to do some mining and I will figure things out better then. But I do intend to map some Icy rings out, close to jump-in and the re-direct my FC to there so unloading is quicker.

I am a bit confused on how to tell which Icy rings are Pristine, perhaps they need to be mapped first? It is fun figuring things out though, and discovering places and life no human has ever seen before is... best part of the game for me, Codex is filling up nicely, Elite I already and loaded with cash... wish I could have two FCs, I would have one set up somewhere to do trading and stuff. I don't know if I could manage two accounts though, would be a lot simpler to use the cash I have already built up on my solo account.

Likewise, I am not concerned about efficiency, it is something to do when boredom sets in. I started my trip with 720t of Tritium on a Cutter Freighter (keeps weight down) docked and 1000t in FC storage and only moved the initial 5 to 6 jumps so far. I just Donate from freighter to FC fuel tank after a jump, and from storage to freighter to lessen the usage, 74 to 75t at a time as needed. I will roll my Cutter Miner out (diff ship) when the time comes.

Thanks again for the reply!

o7!

 

[Northpin]

I haven't discovered any overlapping Tritium hot spots although I did just find an overlapping Tritium + Benitoite (I think it was). I don't know if both overlapping hotspots HAVE to be Tritium or not, I will get to a point where I eventually need to do some mining and I will figure things out better then

Dont bother with overlaps. They were nerfed really bad in the summer of 2020, to the point that an overlap will be better than a single hotspot ONLY if they're almost perfect overlaps - as in both centers are with the inner 10% of the diameter of each hotspot

Mining in normal hotspots near the center will do. The materials density in asteroids will drop as you get far from the hotspot center, but the inner 10% should be good.
If you get the feeling a ring is not producing much, just move along. Not all rings will yield the same amount of commodities. Some will do more, some will do less.

Disclaimer: this above is valid for laser mining.
Core mining behave differently - cores being fixed and persistent in the rings and the hotspot will increase the chance of getting more cores from the said material instead of other cores that are usually present in that type of ring. An overlap will increase the chance even more, a triple overlap will almost guarantee you get only the cores from the said material.

I am a bit confused on how to tell which Icy rings are Pristine, perhaps they need to be mapped first?

Pretty much everything outside the bubble (or generally outside populated areas) is Pristine.
Also make sure you only use A-rated prospectors. Using a lower rate prospector means an asteroid will yield a lower number of fragments.
(yes, this rules out using MLC prospectors or 7C ULC prospectors)

 

[mtwill333]

Dont bother with overlaps. They were nerfed really bad in the summer of 2020, to the point that an overlap will be better than a single hotspot ONLY if they're almost perfect overlaps - as in both centers are with the inner 10% of the diameter of each hotspot

Mining in normal hotspots near the center will do. The materials density in asteroids will drop as you get far from the hotspot center, but the inner 10% should be good.
If you get the feeling a ring is not producing much, just move along. Not all rings will yield the same amount of commodities. Some will do more, some will do less.

Disclaimer: this above is valid for laser mining.
Core mining behave differently - cores being fixed and persistent in the rings and the hotspot will increase the chance of getting more cores from the said material instead of other cores that are usually present in that type of ring. An overlap will increase the chance even more, a triple overlap will almost guarantee you get only the cores from the said material.



Pretty much everything outside the bubble (or generally outside populated areas) is Pristine.
Also make sure you only use A-rated prospectors. Using a lower rate prospector means an asteroid will yield a lower number of fragments.
(yes, this rules out using MLC prospectors or 7C ULC prospectors)

Great info, thank you!

 

[BradHann]

I'm going to necro my own thread here because I had an epiphany about why it is I actually hate mining. It's not the mechanics of it, which are fine. It's the numbers. I can get about 100 tons an hour of Tritium, which might sound like a lot but when you compare it to that 22,000+ hole in your carrier's cargo, it's sod all. That's a big psychology right there - I feel like I'm just wasting my time with this Sisyphean torture. If I could get 500 tons an hour I could at least see my carrier filling up and it would give me incentive to continue.

 

[gooddoc]

I'm going to necro my own thread here because I had an epiphany about why it is I actually hate mining. It's not the mechanics of it, which are fine. It's the numbers. I can get about 100 tons an hour of Tritium, which might sound like a lot but when you compare it to that 22,000+ hole in your carrier's cargo, it's sod all. That's a big psychology right there - I feel like I'm just wasting my time with this Sisyphean torture. If I could get 500 tons an hour I could at least see my carrier filling up and it would give me incentive to continue.

It's each to their own here CMDR, I didn't find it too bad, doing my 4 days Exploring then 2-3 days mining Trit.....but Id no choice as I was 35k LYs from the bubble & only had 2k Trit in the Carriers hold + 1 ton in the fuel tank.

It depends how much time you spend Exploring in the black & how many Carrier jumps you make per day. I was jumping twice per day, moving about 1000LYs each day, so I was taking just over 200ton out per day. I tended to mine between 200-300 tonnes of Trit at a time, sometimes less (depended how I felt at the start of a mining session ) & kept the Trit in the hold between 2-3k tonnes. As soon as my Trit calculations got me home I stopped mining.

I was always gonna get home with little Trit left, finally made it back last Wednesday with only 500tons left in the fuel tank.....though it's now full again (despite that bug that's ingame now were the Trit won't transfer to the Carrier hold unless you set up a 'buy commodity' on your Carrier) .

General thing is though I do mining as a necessity only, but also in years past I'd play 9+hours per day, doing this & that......now I honestly say I can only stomach ED for 2 to 3 hours per day tops, then load up something else.