I see people asking, newbies mostly, the best way to make Auec. 99% of the time people respond with Bounty Hunting followed up by claims of 1-2 million an hour. I respond to them 1) what ship are you using; 2) how long have you been BHing The answer is always some high cost, highly modified ship piloted by someone who has been BHing and PVPing for ages. I respond again with telling them it is wrong to tell a newb to expect that kind of return on an unmodded entry level ship piloted by a captain who can barely make it in and out of a hanger on Loreville.
FPM is the best and safest way to make AUEC IMHO. With little investment one can pick up literally 20k in 20-25 minutes or less. Pembroke Suit Ore-Bit mining tool, mining bit, and tractor beam attachment will pay for themselves many times over. Obtain the Investigation contract and it will send you to a mine to search and rescue. While you are there, mine. Remember the location and put it on farm. Learn several locations and then farm on a circuit.
Then progress into ROC mining. Save up to rent, or buy a ROC, Rent a Cutty Black, make 220k on a full load of hadinite. Rinse, and repeat then go buy your own ship. Now it is all money in the bank so save up for Prospector.
Prospecting can be hit or miss. I can make guaranteed money with the ROC easy. The Prospector, and the Mole for that matter, has extra steps which can cause one to lose one's effort in a blink of the eye.
I focus on Bexalite, Agrisium, Larinite, and Quantainium. Any rock over 5% is cracked. Then pick up the 100% content rocks. What I mean is 100% of the core material, or 100% of sellable material. The less inert you pick up the better off you will be. Example: 73% Larinite, 12% Titanium, 9% Gold, 6% Aluminum= 100% sellable material. So when you need to decide pick up the least amount of inert as possible to increase the bottom end of your mining expedition.
Note that the filter XL module is good for a new ship miner as it will convert 30% of inert material into the lowest mineral/metal content of the rock being extracted. Multiple different mining heads and modules offer up combos that are too numerous to mention here. Suffice to say the modules help dearly but are not required.
Once mined the unrefined ore must be transported and in the case of Quantanium, it must be delivered to the refinery in 15 minutes or it will explode. There is confusion as to if the clock stops when storing the ship at the terminal, so it is best to store the ship then hot foot it to the refinery deck to open a work order. Choose whatever method you wish or just sell the ore unrefined however doing so leaves much Auec on the table, but cuts out extra steps and refining costs. Research the materials and refineries as some are better value for different material. With Quant, it doesn't matter it just needs to be close by.
Once the Work Order is made and fees paid you wait until completion then pick up your order, transfer to ship of choice and take it to a major city to sell. Some people leave a designated ship at the station then fill it. Be aware that any material over the max capacity the ship can carry is lost. Transporting can be easy-peasy or a bad experience. I lost a load of 3 days worth of Quantainium due to a 30k while landing. Ship was listed as destroyed and everything was lost. Griefers can also shoot you down and ruin your day as well, so it may pay to have a buddy or a hired gun on overwatch to escort you to your destination. The rewards can be great if you are choosy on what you mine and extract. A bunch of random bits will lead to a disappointing return.
Can one make millions a day at mining? Probably not, but consistent returns can be easily obtained with marginal effort. That Auec stacks up fast too. I bounce between Roc mining and ship based mining to keep things from being too much of a grind.