Manda Express: Mining Operations

Welcome to Manda Express Mining Ops

Greetings, duster, if you're reading this, it's because you've expressed interest in the mining profession, and a fine profession it is! Mining is the backbone of the EVE economy; every ship, module, component, and piece of ammo manufactured in New Eden, started as a rock somewhere in space. Your job, is to extrude that rock from the thousands of asteroid belts found throughout New Eden star systems, and deliver it to the refineries that will turn it into something useful. It's not a glamorous job, it won't make you famous, but it can make you rich.

This page was created to help get you familiar with Manda Express mining operations, the basics of mining, and the ships you will mine in. So let's get started.

Mining Ops Organization

Management

The director of mining operations at Manda Express is Padraig "Paddy" O'Mahone. He has experience in mining, hauling, exploration, missioning, planetary interaction, wormhole navigation, and....dying.

He is your first stop for questions about ship fittings, skill paths, and general ore and ice mining.

You are encouraged to look around on the web for information as well. When you do search the web, pay attention to the date on the articles you read, as information about the workings in EVE can quickly become outdated.

Paddy O'Mahone

Corp Mining Ops

Manda Express will have scheduled corporation mining ops on an "as needed" basis for resource/revenue generation. Ideally, these will include every mining pilot in the corp, Orca support, and a freighter for hauling.

Corp ops attendance is not mandatory, but is highly encouraged. If we are to succeed as an entity, we need members to participate in these operations for the good of the group. Just make a good faith effort to attend.

This... is an Asteroid

Basic Mining Concepts

Mining is using a mining laser, ice harvester or gas harvester to collect resources that can be used to build things.

Miners may collect ores from asteroids, ice blocks from ice belts, or gas from gas clouds.

Any ship with a mining laser fitted in a high slot can mine. Lock on to an asteroid, turn on the laser, collect ore.

Ore is what you get when you mine asteroids. It is then refined into minerals in an NPC station or player owned structure (POS), and used in the manufacturing process to produce items. Unrefined ore can also be sold on the market, sold by contract, or used in certain agent missions.

The types of ore that can be found, depends on where in New Eden you are located (i.e. which empire quarter) and the security level of the solar system (e.g. hisec, losec, nullsec).

For in-depth mining information, go to Uniwiki

Ice ore is what you get when you mine ice asteroids. It is then refined into a specific isotope (and a few other components), depending on which faction's ice you are mining. Isotopes are used to fuel capital ship jump drives and POS's. Unrefined ice can also be sold on the market, sold by contract, or used in certain agent missions.

Ice can only be mined using an ice harvester, and those modules can only be fitted on Mining Barges and Exhumers.

For in-depth ice mining information, go to Uniwiki

Gas is what you get when you harvest gas from gas clouds. Gas from gas cloud sites (found in losec/nullsec) is used in the manufacture of Boosters. Gas of the Fullerite variety from wormholes is not used in booster production but instead is used in T3 manufacturing. This can be extremely profitable.

Mining Barges and Exhumers cannot fit gas harvesters, only regular ships and the Venture can do that. The Venture is the king of gas harvesting, due to its gas mining bonus, it's large ore hold and it's agility compared to larger combat ships with a gas harvesting fit.

For in-depth gas mining information, go to Uniwiki

Ore

There are 16 basic ores in the EVE universe.

Hisec ores: Veldspar, Scordite, Pyroxeres, Plagioclase, Omber, Kernite

Losec ores: Jaspet, Hemorphite, Hedbergite

Nullsec ores: Arkonor, Bistot, Crokite, Gneiss, Spodumain, Dark Ochre, Mercoxit

Note that Mercoxit in 0.0 is the only place to get Morphite.

Each ore type has two variants of increasing rarity which, when reprocessed, produce an extra 5% or 10% more minerals than the base ore.

For example, the base ore, Scordite, has two variants: Condensed Scordite (5% more yield than the base ore upon refining), and Massive Scordite (10% more yield than the base ore upon refining).

Where ores are found also varies by Empire space.

Below is a chart with ore locations in Empire space (i.e. hisec and losec only) by system security level. Remember, the ore found in the higher sec systems will also be found in the lower sec systems (e.g. you will find Veldspar in every sec below 1.0). The reverse is not true for the ores found in the lower sec systems (e.g. you will not find Hemorphite in any sec above 0.2).

Ore in Empire Space

For detailed lists of ore location by empire quadrant, and the names of all ore variants, go to Uniwiki

Minerals

Ores can be refined into minerals (8 of them) in order of value/rarity: Tritanium, Pyerite, Mexallon, Isogen, Nocxium, Zydrine, Megacyte, Morphite - minerals are used in production and manufacturing, and manufacturing is what we do.

Specific ores contain only certain mineral types. The more valuable/rarer minerals are found in the higher end ores, which are, of course, more difficult to mine due to their location in more dangerous space.

For a chart on the mineral content of each ore and the net refining yield from stations, go to Uniwiki

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Basic Mining Skills

ORE Mining Frigate

If you're just getting started, you should know the initial skills you need, to get you into a ship and burning rocks. Below is a list

Essential Mining Skills

Mining: 5% yield bonus per level - if you're a serious miner, take this to level V
Astrogeology: 5% yield bonus per level - again, level V recommended
Mining Upgrades: 5% reduced CPU penalty for upgrade modules - at least level III recommended, or higher if you want better fittings
Mining Frigate: Unlocks the Venture ORE mining frigate. 5% bonus to mining output per level and 5% reduction to gas cloud harvesting duration per level

In addition, you'll eventually want to add the following skills, to broaden your options in mining revenue.

Additional Mining Skills

Science: Essential for many skills, but level IV is required to get Astrogeology to V
Ice Harvesting: Allows ice mining, which can be very lucrative - eventually train to V
Gas Cloud Harvesting: Another option for income, also needed on certain agent mining missions. If you ever venture into wormholes, gas harvesting is very profitable - train to V if you want to fit Gas Harvester II's
Deep Core Mining: Allows the mining of Mercoxit, the most profitable ore in EVE - train to level IV

NOTE: To enable you to fit mining ships for maximum yield, it is important that you train your core ship operation skills according to Manda training doctrine (see the training operations page).

Recommended additional mining-related skills

Drones: Skill at remote controlling drones. Can operate 1 drone per skill level. Useful to all mining ships for either rat defense or additional yield.
- Scout Drone Operation: Skill at controlling scout combat drones. Bonus: drone control range increased by 5000m per level (Used for defense)
- Mining Drone Operation: Skill at controlling mining drones. 5% to mining drone yield per level

Manage your drone training as you see fit. As you attain more drone skills, you will develop a truly viable defensive capability. A ten ship fleet, fielding fifty combat drones in space, can actually leverage massive firepower.

Your first mining ship will undoubtedly be the ORE frigate, Venture. It only requires the Mining Frigate skill, which can be trained immediately by a brand new pilot, providing a viable mining ship with a low barrier to entry.

The Little Miner That Could

Venture
Mining Frigate Bonuses (per skill level):

5% bonus to mining yield
5% reduction to gas cloud harvesting duration

Role bonuses:

100% bonus to mining yield and gas cloud harvesting
+2 warp core strength

Ore Bay: 5,000m³

The Venture cannot mine ice.

For a detailed Venture overview, recommended skills, and fitting examples go to Uniwiki

The Venture is extremely capable for an entry level mining ship. It replaces all standard frigates as the new pilot's first mining ship. With its sizable ore hold and its mining bonuses, it can get right to work earning you an income.

This little frigate is defensively weak and easily destroyed, but is inexpensive to replace. You will rely on the Venture's agility and +2 warp core strength to escape aggressors, not its tank.

The Venture does not become obsolete once you move on to more advanced mining ships, however. It is still a strong choice for specific mining situations: ninja mining in low or null sec systems, and gas cloud harvesting.
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Mining Barge Skills

Tech I ORE Mining Barges

Once you've done a few mining sessions in your Venture, you decide mining is for you, and you feel it's time to move up, you'll want to start training for the more capable, ORE mining barges.

The second level of ORE mining ships is the Mining Barge. Namely, the Procurer, Retriever and Covetor. Now we're talking about some real mining yield! Mining Barges are the only ships that can fit strip miners in their high slots, which, combined with trained up skills and a good fit, far out-mine the Venture, or any standard combat ship with a mining fit.

Tech I Mining Barge Skills

Mining Barge: Allows the piloting of T1 Mining Barges - train it to V. To train this skill, you must have these skills trained to indicated levels: Mining Frigate III, Astrogeology III, Science IV, Mining IV, Industry V

NOTE: Mining Barge I will allow you to fly any of the three T1 Mining Barges. Each level of the skill trained increases the bonus you get for that barge, maximizing mining yield, ore hold capacity, or shield tank EHP.

(Ore) Processing: Each ore type has a processing skill related to it (e.g. Veldspar Processing). Each level trained gives a 5% reduction in refining waste. But there's another benefit from this skill. Once you train an (Ore) Processing skill to III, you can then use mining crystals for that ore type in T2 modulated strip miners, thus increasing yield per cycle. (Ore) Processing level III allows the use of T1 crystals, level IV allows the use of T2 crystals. T1 strip miners cannot use crystals.

Choosing Your Ship

Which Mining Barge you will pilot depends largely on the mining mission, as each barge has it's own particular emphasis in one of three areas:

Mining yield: The Covetor and Hulk emphasize pure rock crunching power. Optimally, they are used in fleet operations when there is Orca support, industrial haulers and protection to back them up.

Autonomy: The Retriever and Mackinaw emphasize ore capacity, and can remain on-site longer. Best suited for solo mining work, but they still work well in group operations.

Resilience: The Procurer and Skiff emphasize defense, with effective hit point (EHP) levels rivaling that of battleships, making them ideally suited to mining in dangerous space.

ISIS

If you need to see the details of a specific ship in EVE, CCP created the Interbus Ship Identification System (ISIS). You access ISIS through an icon on your neocom:

ISIS

You can view every ship in EVE from every faction. You can mouse over a ship's icon for a quick overview of the module size to fit, the ship's primary role, it's intended tank type, and ship bonuses per skill level.

If you click on a ship's icon it will bring up the "Show Info" window for that ship.

Selecting the "Requirements" tab will give you a list of the skills you need to be able to fly that ship.

The "Mastery" tab will list all the other skills you'll want to train to increase your effectiveness piloting that ship.

ISIS is a very useful tool and a great source of ship information.

Mining Yield

Covetor
Mining Barge Bonuses (per skill level):

4% bonus to Strip Miner yield

3% reduction in Ice Harvester duration

Ore Bay: 7,000m³

Hitpoints/EHP: 4,500 / 5,771 (stripped hull)

Ore/hour: 157,804m³ (0.1 ore unit)

Ice/hour: 69 units

For a detailed Covetor overview, recommended skills, and fitting examples go to Uniwiki

If you are in a fleet op, with an Orca providing boost, and dedicated haulers moving the ore, you'll fly the Covetor. The Covetor has the highest mining yield but the smallest ore hold. So without an Orca to transfer ore to, and haulers to bring that ore back to station, the Covetor would negate its high yield mining advantage by having to make frequent trips to offload.

The Covetor also has the weakest tank and is a favorite of gankers because of this. You need to be vigilant. Watch local for a sudden influx of pilots into the system, this can often indicate a ganking fleet has popped in and could hit the belt soon. Be aware of other non-mining ships in the belt, which may serve as a warp in point for ganking ships. You can keep moving your barge around the belt, such as by orbiting the asteroid you're currently mining, which will make it harder for gankers to land on you. Finally, you can align yourself with a celestial while you mine, giving yourself the best chance to warp out in time.

In the end, there's only so much you can do to counter gankers. The reality is, ganking is part of a miner's life, and you will take losses. It's the cost of doing business. However, T1 Mining Barges are relatively cheap to replace, so if you're not losing one every other day, you should still come out ahead.

Ore Capacity

Retriever
Mining Barge Bonuses (per skill level):

5% bonus to ore hold capacity
50% bonus to Strip Miner yield

33.33% reduction to Ice Harvester Duration and capacitor use

Ore Bay: 22,000m³
27,500m³ with Mining Barge trained to V

Hitpoints/EHP: 6,000 / 7,691 (stripped hull)

Ore/hour: 143,339m³ (0.1 ore unit)

Ice/hour: 64 units

For a detailed Retriever overview, recommended skills, and fitting examples go to Uniwiki

For solo missions when you are without Orca or hauler support, the Retriever is the ship to fly. The Retriever has the largest ore hold by far. Only it's T2 cousin, the Mackinaw, has bigger.

This vast ore capacity allows the Retriever to remain on the belt for extended periods and reduces the number of trips needed for offloading. The Retriever has slightly less mining yield than the Covetor, but not by much. Because of this and it's giant ore hold, the Retriever is usually the most popular ship in any asteroid belt.

The Retriever has more tank than the Covetor, but is still relatively weak, and easy prey for gankers. The same rules about ganking for the Covetor, apply to the Retriever.

Tank Ability

Procurer
Mining Barge Bonuses (per skill level):

5% bonus to shield hit points
200% bonus to Strip Miner yield
66.66% reduction to Ice Harvester Duration and capacitor use

Ore Bay: 12,000m³

Hitpoints/EHP: 18,000 / 23,252 (stripped hull)

Ore/hour: 131,503m³ (0.1 ore unit)

Ice/hour: 58 units

For a detailed Procurer overview, recommended skills, and fitting examples go to Uniwiki

It's not that the Procurer has a better tank, it simply is a tank. With relatively inexpensive components, the Procurer can achieve EHP comparable to a standard battleship. This makes it by far the most gank resistant of the T1 Mining Barges. It is gank resistant, no ship is gank proof.

You will fly the Procurer when the mission is more risky. The Procurer's mining yield is lower than the other two Mining Barges, but is respectable. Since the Mining Barge re-balancing, the Procurer is now a very viable choice for good mining. The single strip miner is offset by the ship yield bonus, and the ice harvester cycle time is vastly reduced.

In a crowded belt, gankers will avoid you because they know the Procurer is simply too tough and they will hit easier prey. This does not mean you can't be ganked, you're just less likely to be. But even if you do get ganked, the Procurer is the cheapest of the Mining Barges and is easily replaced. The ship is really a great value for the money.

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Exhumer Skills

Tech II ORE Exhumers

If you are going to make mining your career, one of your careers, or have it perform a large supporting role in one of your other careers (like manufacturing), then any serious miner will eventually want to graduate to Exhumers.

The third level of ORE mining ships is Exhumers. These are the Hulk, Mackinaw and Skiff. Exhumers out perform T1 Mining Barges in every category: yield, capacity, tank, speed and general mining bad-assness.

Tech II Exhumer Skills

Exhumers: Allows the piloting of Tech II mining ships: Skiff, Mackinaw, Hulk - to train this skill, you must have Spaceship Command IV and Mining Barge V. You will eventually want to train Exhumers to V to maximize each ship's bonuses.

Hail to the King, Baby!

Hulk
Mining Barge Bonuses (per skill level):

3% bonus to Strip Miner yield

4% bonus to all shield resistances

Exhumer Bonuses (per skill level):

3% bonus to Strip Miner yield
4% reduction to Ice Harvester duration

Ore Bay: 8,500m³

Hitpoints/EHP: 6,000 / 8,713 (stripped hull)

Ore/hour: 173,913m³ (0.1 ore unit)

Ice/hour: 73 units

For a detailed Hulk overview, recommended skills, and fitting examples go to Uniwiki

This is the big kahuna. The aptly named Hulk is the king of mining. This Exhumer simply cannot be matched in terms of its raw ore, or ice, mining power. This ship is the ultimate goal of every serious miner.

The Hulk shares the drawbacks of it's T1 cousin Covetor, in that it has a weak tank and small ore hold, though both are better than the Covetor's. The big difference here is that the Hulk is not cheap. At roughly 205 million ISK per hull, you will not want to risk this ship lightly.

The Hulk excels in fleet mining operations where there is Orca and hauling support. A fleet of Hulks with mining boost can devour entire roid and ice belts with equal vigor. When yield is what you need, and security is good, the Hulk is your ship of choice.

Mack Daddy of Capacity

Mackinaw
Mining Barge Bonuses (per skill level):

5% bonus to ship ore hold capacity

4% bonus to all shield resistances

Exhumer Bonuses (per skill level):

1% bonus to Strip Miner yield
1% reduction to Ice Harvester duration

Role Bonus:

50% bonus to Strip Miner yield
33.3% reduction to Ice Harvester duration and activation cost

Ore Bay: 28,000m³
35,000m³ with Mining Barge trained to V

Hitpoints/EHP: 8,000 / 11,625 (stripped hull)

Ore/hour: 150,505m³ (0.1 ore unit)

Ice/hour: 68 units

For a detailed Mackinaw overview, recommended skills, and fitting examples go to Uniwiki

The T2 counterpart of the Retriever is, of course, the Mackinaw. The Mackinaw's ore hold capacity is massive, outstripping several different industrial hulls for sheer volume. With Mining Barge trained to V, the 35,000m³ ore hold allows for extended loitering time on the belt before needing to dock for offloading.

A clear choice for solo mining, the Mackinaw can sport a moderate tank with the right fitting. But like the Hulk, this ship is not cheap. So you will want to keep on your toes, and stick to hisec mining when solo. Losing a Mackinaw will sting.

The mining yield of the Mackinaw is less than that of the Hulk but not dramatically so, and only slightly less than the Covetor's yield. The Mackinaw is more than suitable for fleet operations.

Flying Fortress

Skiff
Mining Barge Bonuses (per skill level):

5% bonus to ship shield hitpoints
4% bonus to all shield resistances

Exhumer Bonuses (per skill level):

1% bonus to Strip Miner yield
1% reduction to Ice Harvester duration

Role Bonus:

200% bonus to Strip Miner yield
66.7% reduction to Ice Harvester duration and activation cost

Ore Bay: 15,000m³

Hitpoints/EHP: 19,625 / 29,091 (stripped hull)

Ore/hour: 138,078m³ (0.1 ore unit)

Ice/hour: 61 units

For a detailed Skiff overview, recommended skills, and fitting examples go to Uniwiki

The Skiff, like the Procurer, is a tank...only more so. With T2 modules, maxed skills, implants, and fleet boosts, the Skiff can attain insane EHP. Even on its own, the Skiff can tank well over 100k EHP. Yes, that's one hundred thousand.

Clearly, if you want to make it tough for gankers to kill you, the Skiff is the way to do it. In all but the largest gank attacks, they will ignore you. There are gankers who will bring enough firepower to take down an Orca, which means they could take you down if they chose, but the reward is not comparable. So if it's a choice between you and the Orca, they'll kill the Orca.

In fact, pilots have taken to fitting Skiffs as bait ships, mounting an energy neutralizer instead of a strip miner, and a warp scrambler to point unsuspecting, overconfident gankers. The "Battle Skiff", as it is sometimes known, then either takes the ganker down itself with neutralizer and drones, or holds the "hunter turned hunted" in place until hidden buddies arrive to kill him.

As with all Exhumers, the Skiff is not cheap. But it will not go down easily, or often. With a larger ore bay, higher mining yield and considerably higher top speed than the Procurer, the Skiff is a very good choice for efficient mining when extra protection is required.
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Tanking ORE Ships

ORE ships get bonuses to their shield hitpoints and shield resistances, and therefore should be shield tanked. Low slots should be reserved for cramming in as many Mining Laser Upgrade (MLU) or Ice Harvester Upgrade (IHU) modules as possible.