Mining in the Verse

Schmunkel

Space Marshal
Jul 2, 2014
287
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schmunkel
Prospectors can land on planets and mine special veins that the Orion can't get to. That is what I got mine for....
This. The idea is that the prospectors will be able to get to smaller ore pockets that the larger Orion will not. I could actually see both an Orion with other Prospectors in a mining team with the Orion grabbing the bulk ore(say iron) that is easier to get to with the Prospectors snagging the rare ore(say platinum) that is more difficult to obtain.

I also think the idea of going out solo in a Prospector can make more sense if you want to do something quick without having to grab a human or NPC crew. I am having this same debate with my Freelancer as a Hull series may make more sense depending on the situation. Of course, I am also interested to see how mining turns out.
 

Cool-Hand-Luke

Space Marshal
Jan 3, 2016
366
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Cool-Hand-Luke
You may be able to get two Prospectors in a Polaris.... That will be my mining setup. I have an idea on were to find diamonds... Not sure if they will be worth anything in the future... But if diamonds don't pan out maybe that space toilet paper has potential.
 

Blind Owl

Hallucinogenic Owl
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Nov 27, 2015
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Takeiteasy

Space Marshal
May 21, 2017
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Takeiteasy
I want to go after a mining ship in game, not because it'll be end game but I need a respectable goal to reach and it will provide me a way of generating in game cash with little to no risk. Go fly to the depths of space, mine and mine.... drink... mine some more... Then head back and sell it on a market of some kind. Or stock it up and refine it myself into even more money or items.

I hope we can get a manufacturing ship to make ship parts or equipment, buy a blueprint or design for a ship part... Like we have today you can get a real part from Audi or a cheaper thinner part from a reproduction company, and if you have the raw materials you can print them out and sell them in the frontier planets for maximum profit from asteroid to ship parts. That would be immensely satisfying to reach that level of sophistication of gameplay lol
 

Gabgrave

Grand Admiral
Nov 22, 2016
146
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Gabgrave
I'm interested in the idea of mining as a side career as well. Thinking about it, there's a number of factors involved in mining, from the prep to the job to getting back with the ore for sale.

Firstly, before we even take our mining ship out, we need to know where to mine. That means getting info on mining spots, either through information sellers, missions or taking your sensor ship out to scan some locations. After which, you need to trust that the information is correct, and that you won't be ambushed by pirates who also know the info, or who intercepted your info/mission that you got.

Next is the mining part, you either moved to the location in a group, or alone if you are in a prospector, and want to start mining. Again, if you already have the sensor data, all you need to do is to go to the right spot and start mining the ore you want. But if it's a new location, you probably need to start scanning the place to find the best place to mine. This could mean you'll be hanging out in the area for longer than expected. Maybe long enough for others to pick you up on long range scans, and tag you as an easy prey. Assuming you're out there alone, that's a huge risk you'll be taking.

Finally, if all went well, you'll have several SCUs of ore, and your next step is either to transport them for direct sales, or else moving them to a refinery to process them for a higher value. You'll have to hope that your way points are safe enough as well, and that you won't come under attack while en route. And then, once you drop off the ore, you'll probably need to head back for another round of mining, so do you take the same established path, or do you try to identify alternate ones, so that you don't get predictable and dead.

So there's a number of variables to think about when mining either solo or in a group. Looking forward to working the mechanics to the limits :)
 

Black Sunder

Rock Raiders
Officer
Jun 19, 2014
8,270
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Black_Sunder
"So get a Prospector"

I had this whole list written down but mainly it comes down to being a really good solo or small group ship and unless you're super terrible and manage it badly it will always turn a profit because it is an all profit to pilot vehicle(APTPV™). Get one to have it because you'll use it one day when you don't feel like doing much. Its also the only mining ship atm that can go down to the planet and mine it directly.

-Edit- The Prospector can asteroid mine as well but is a scalpel compared to the Orion's Sledgehammer approach. Whereas the orion will probably get the entire asteroid reduced down the Prospector can get at small valuable deposits while leaving the rest, however anything in the inner core of large asteroids would probably remain inaccessible.

Orions should be for large ops due to their inherent running cost. When you're going to have a few or several of them present you get the most out of their performance along with the cargo ships that are also present and running things back to storage. When you have many Orions present and working together you can reenact this:
 
Last edited:
Aug 12, 2017
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F_Tek
Apparently (according to a youtuber quoting Star citizen articles) the prospector will be able to use it's superior Xian made thrusters to reach the centre of dense asteroid fields which will contain better seams. I'll try to find a link...... Critacorn - "Star Citizen : Prospector" is the vid
 

Blind Owl

Hallucinogenic Owl
Donor
Nov 27, 2015
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Apparently (according to a youtuber quoting Star citizen articles) the prospector will be able to use it's superior Xian made thrusters to reach the centre of dense asteroid fields which will contain better seams. I'll try to find a link...... Critacorn - "Star Citizen : Prospector" is the vid
Critacorn? Isn't that what happens after you eat corn on the cob?
 
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