EDMining

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This page contains information related to the mining occupation in Elite: Dangerous.

Mining is done in asteroids fields. These exist in two places: Planetary rings and asteroid belts. Planetary rings are better, because they have a much higher density of profitable asteroids. Unless marked otherwise, the content of this page refers to mining in planetary rings.

The game supports two kinds of mining activities:

  • Laser mining. Here you shoot one or more mining lasers at an asteroid which causes fragments of materials to become detached. These fragments you have to collect, either manually or by use of collector limpets, into your cargo scoop. Your ship must have a Refinery module. The fragments are placed into the Refinery where they are processed into 1t commodities of a given kind of mineral.
  • Core mining. With this method you place seismic charges into the fissures of an asteroid, then you detonate the charges to split the asteroid open so you can access and collect the mineral cores that are normally buried within the asteroid. The process is more complicated than Laser mining, but overall more engaging because it requires you to play a mini game how to place seismic charges with an appropriate detonation yield.


References


Basics

This section contains some basics that are the same for both kinds of mining.


Repeatability

  • The placement of asteroids and their content is NOT random. If you leave a mining site and return to it again later, asteroids will be placed in the same locations and will have the same content.
  • Depleted asteroids refresh after 2 hours, which means you can come back to a good spot after 2 hours and start mining again.


TODO Write more about mining maps. For instance, here's a video that is a visual mining map.


What to mine

Laser mining

  • The most profitable metal to mine usually is Platinum.
  • Dituri's guide mentions Omicron Capricorni B / B 1 for maximum profit, because there you will find overlapping Platinum hotspots.
  • In the Buur Pit discord someone said that HIP 1550 B 4 A ring is very good (doubling the usual mining rate).


For Core mining, find the best-selling of the following minerals on Inara (Commodities > Minerals > Sorty by Max Sell, then find a station with High Demand):

  • Monazite
  • Senendibite
  • Rhodplumsite
  • Benitoite
  • Bromellite
  • Void Opals
  • Low Temperature Diamonds
  • Alexandrite
  • Grandididerite
  • Musgravite


Finding mining spots

There are three types of planetary rings:

  • Metallic rings (gray) => these are best because they contain the most profitable materials.
  • Rocky rings (brown)
  • Icy rings (white)


A planet has a certain amount of reserves in its rings. The reserves are shown when you select the planet in the system map.

  • Low reserves are bad
  • High reserves are good
  • Pristine reserves are best


Hotspots

  • When you use the Detailed Surface Scanner on a planetary ring (only 1 probe is needed) it will reveal a number of hotspots, each of which is for a specific mineral.
  • So when looking for a particular mineral, then it's best to go to a hotspot that contains that mineral, because there the concentration of asteroids that contain the desired mineral is the highest.
  • The easiest way to find such a hotspot near your current location is the website edtools.cc:
  • Once you have located a hotspot, target it and travel to it with your ship. Crashing into the ring from supercruise is fine.
  • If you find that there are NPCs mining in the center of the hotspot, then it may be advisable to go to the edge of the hotspot where you are alone. I have not tested myself whether this advice is really relevant, though.


Note: Do NOT go to resource extraction sites (RES), they are infested with pirates and NPCs.


General tips for mining

  • If you just want to mine You can approach a planetary ring anywhere you like. As soon as you are near enough the game will drop you from supercruise and you only need to boost closer a few more km before you can start to work.
  • It is easy to get lost/confused among the asteroids once you are deep inside a ring. An simple method to counter this is to always keep the planet in sight and move towards the planet when you select the next asteroid.
  • If you work on the night side of the planet, then turn on the ship HUD's Night Vision mode to see the asteroids. This is much better than just using the ship's shiplights. If in doubt, work on the dayside of the planet because.


Selling

  • Sell the minerals that you have mined in high tech or industrial systems.
  • Use Inara to find the best prices near you.
  • Important: Sell only to stations which have a demand at least 4x the amount you want to sell, because otherwise a mass sales tax will be levied which will substantially reduce your payout.
  • Don't sell them in refinery systems, they already have a high supply of metals so their buying prices will be substantially lower.


Equipment

General

  • You need a Detailed Surface Scanner to scan planetary rings for hot spots of the desired mineral that you want to mine.
  • Obviously you need a good amount of cargo space so you can mine enough minerals between sales trips to make the activity worthwile.


Laser mining

Mining Lasers

  • There are actually only 2 types of Mining Lasers: 1D (small) and 2D (medium). There are fixed and turreted variants of these.
  • The turret variants are useful for Multicrew, i.e. if another player is crewing your ship and firing the lasers. After reading this forum thread, it seems though as if there are additional complications.
  • The more powerful a Mining Laser is, the faster the fragments of the asteroid that is mined are breaking away. To be more efficient, you therefore want to have 2D Mining Lasers equipped if possible.
  • More lasers also means an increase of the speed at which fragments are chipped off. To be more efficient, you therefore want to have as many lasers equipped as possible.
  • If you use collector limpets (which you should) you will have to balance your chipping speed with the capacity of your limpets. See the [[#Collector_limpet_controller|Collector limpet controller] section below for details


Refinery

  • The highest class Refinery is class 4. The 4A module has 10 bins! The 3A, 2A and 1A modules have 8, 6 and 4 bins, respectively.
  • Within the same class, the number of bins increases with the grade, i.e. the grade A module always has the most bins within its class.
  • Refineries have no weight, so there is no penalty from choosing a higher class or non-D-grade module.
  • When the ship's cargo hold is full, then each refinery bin acts as one additional ton of cargo space because the mineral that was refined in that bin stays there until it can be offloaded to the ship's cargo hold.
  • In general, simply use a grade A refinery of the highest class that your ship can equip.


Collector limpet controller

General

  • The rule of thumb is to equip sufficient Collector limpet controllers that you can have a certain number of limpets active at the same time:
    • 1 active limpet per small mining laser
    • 2 active limpets per medium mining laser
  • In practice I was fine when I was mining in an Imperial Cutter with a balance of 4 medium (2D) lasers and 3 class 5 grade A collector limpet controllers (which equals 9 active limpets). I also tried using 2 collector limpet controllers, which worked but significantly slowed down my throughput.
  • How many limpets should you stock when setting out for a mining trip?
    • A general recommendation I have seen in some video was to fill 50% of your cargo hold.
    • In my experience with an Imperial Cutter that had 512t cargo space and 3 class 5 grade A collector limpet controllers 350 limpets were more than enough.


Imperial Cutter

  • 3x Collector limpet controller 5A.
  • The best slots on the Imperial Cutter are class 8 and reserved for Cargo Racks. The next best slots are class 6, but there are no class 6 Collector limpet controllers, only class 5 and 7. Therefore class 5 controllers need to be equipped.
  • I prefer grade A over grade B because I value the substantially higher limpet life time of the grade A module more than the increased range provided by the B grade module.


Prospector limpet controller

General

  • Always use a grade A Prospector limpet controller!
  • The reason is that the controller's grade determines a multiplier for calculating the number of fragments that are chipped off when firing Mining Lasers at an asteroid.
  • Grade A/B/.../E = Multiplier 3.5/3/.../1.5


Imperial Cutter

  • I currently have a class 3 module, which is good for 2 concurrent limpets and a range of 7700m.
  • I could equip a class 5 module, which is good for 4 concurrent limpets and a range of 9100m, but has 20t mass instead of just 5t.


Specialised limpet controllers

  • Mining Multi Limpet Controller: I don't use this module because the limpets have stats that are greatly inferior to those provided by the generic Collector/Prospector limpet controllers.
  • Universal Multi Limpet Controller: I cannot use this module, even on an Imperial Cutter, because it is available only as a class 7 module. The limpet stats don't look bad, but the high mass (140t) is also not appealing.


Power Distributor

  • You want to fire your Mining Lasers as long as possible, and have the WEP capacity recharge as fast as possible.
  • Therefore you want to have a grade A Power Distributor of the maximum class your ship can equip. This gives the best WEP capacity and WEP recharge rate.


Shield Generator

  • I prefer to have a shield, to minimize the risk of taking damage when accidentally colliding with an asteroid.
  • Obviously a shield also helps when getting fired at by a Pirate.
  • If these two things don't bother you, then you can run shieldless.


Thrusters

Imperial Cutter

  • 7A is slow, but good enough.
  • An 8A thruster module costs a whopping 158 MCr => I'm not willing to pay that until I have a very good reason. So far 7A was good enough.


Abrasion Blaster

  • If possible, equip an Abrasion Blaster for when you find an occasional surface deposit on one of the asteroids.


Core mining

TODO Add Core mining modules. Notably a Shield Generator is needed, but I don't know which strength.

Essential Modules

  • Pulse Wave Analyzer
  • Prospector Limpet Controller grade A
  • Collector Limpet Controller
  • Seismic Charge Launcher
  • Abrasion Blaster(s)
  • Refinery
  • Detailed Surface Scanner


Helpful Modules

  • Good Shield
  • Good Thrusters
  • Good Jump Range
  • Fuel Scoop
  • For multi-purpose Mining: Mining Lasers


Engineering

Engineering is not necessary at all. Possibly useful modifications:

  • Thrusters: Dirty Drives / Drag Drives
  • FSD: Increased Range / Mass Manager
  • Shields: Reinforced / Fast Charge
  • Power Distributor: Charge Enhanced
  • Bulkheads: Heavy Duty / Deep Plate


Engineering

Mining Lasers

Regular mining laser

  • Regular mining lasers cannot be engineered because there are no blueprints for them. As a consequence, also no experimental effect can be applied.


Pre-engineered mining laser

  • A pre-engineered class 1 Mining Laser with modifications "Long Range" and "Reduced Distributor Draw", as well as the "Incendiary Rounds" experimental effect, can be purchased from the Human Technology Brokers at the megaship Zetian's Recall in system LTT 198.
  • Entering the system requires a permit. The permit giving faction is called "Torval Mining Ltd". Systems where to acquire reputation can be found on Inara. Once enough reputation is achieved, the permit can be acquired on the megaship Orchestral Falcon in system Tavgi.
    • Note to self: I already have the permit.
  • In the Tech Broker menu the module is called "Modified Mining Laser (Fixed)".
  • Material purchase cost per module
    • 20 Arsenic
    • 24 Rhenium
    • 28 Phosphorus
    • 16 Osmium
  • So far I have not bothered with obtaining such a pre-engineered Mining Laser simply because I prefer to mine in large vessels who can equip a superior medium-size Mining Laser.
  • See the ED wiki for more details, e.g. the exact module specs.


Power Distributor

The ship's Power Distributor can be modified so that Mining Lasers can be fired for a longer period of time.

  • Modification = Weapon Focused Power Distributor
    • Gives a bonus both to the WEP capacity (+60% at G5) and the WEP recharge rate (+44% at G5), at the cost of reducing all SYS and ENG stats.
    • The G5 modification is provided by two engineers only:
      • The Dweller. Located in the bubble, system = Wyrd.
      • Etienne Dorn. Located in Colonia, system = Los.
  • Experimental effect = Super Conduits
    • Reduces all capacities by -4%, at the cost of increasing all recharge rates by 4%.
    • Given that capacity is unlikely to be high enough to be able to deplete an asteroid without recharging, improving the recharge rate seems to be more important than capacity.


Materials needed for grades 1-5 of Weapon Focused Power Distributor + Super Conduits:

  • Raw materials
    • 4x Cadmium
    • 5x Phosphorus
    • 3x Selenium
    • 3x Sulphur
    • 5x Tellerium
  • Manufactured materials
    • 2x Conductive Components
    • 4x Electrochemical Arrays
    • 3x Heat Resistant Ceramics
    • 3x Hybrid Capacitors
    • 5x Polymer Capacitors
  • Encoded materials
    • 3x Anomalous Bulk Scan Data
    • 5x Classified Scan Databanks
    • 1x Security Firmware Patch
    • 4x Unidentified Scan Archives


Other modules

  • Limpet controllers: There is no point in modifying any Limpet Controllers because the available blueprints only affect mass, integrity or power draw.
  • Refinery: There is no point in modifying any Refineries because the only available blueprint only affects integrity.
  • Other modules may be modified to increase jump range.


Fire groups

Laser Mining

  • Fire Group 1
    • Primary: Discovery Scanner
    • Secondary: Detailed Surface Scanner
  • Fire group 2
    • Primary: All Mining Lasers + all Collector limpet controllers
    • Secondary: Prospector limpet controller


Core mining

  • Fire Group 1
    • Primary: Pulse Wave Scanner
    • Secondary: Prospector limpet controller
  • Fire group 2
    • Primary: Seismic Charge
    • Secondary: Detailed Surface Scanner
  • Fire group 3
    • Primary: All Abrasion Blasters + all Collector limpet controllers
    • Secondary: All Mining Lasers


How to mine

Limpet operation

TODO Write something about how prospector limpets and collector limpets work.


Laser mining

The process of laser mining works like this:

  • Preparation step
    • Activate combat mode so that you can fire your lasers.
    • Put 4 pips to WEP.
    • Deploy your cargo scoop so that collector limpets can deposit the minerals they collect.
  • Prospecting step
    • Point the ship in the general direction of the next asteroid you want to mine. Note: You can't select the asteroid as a target, the asteroid should simply be somewhere in the middle of the HUD.
    • Fire off a prospector limpet. Wait a moment until you hear the sound of the limpet actually being deployed and/or see it in your field of view.
      • If you hear a warning "Prospector limpet failed" then you can ignore that warning.
    • The prospector limpet travels in a straight line until it hits an asteroid. This is why your ship's nose must point towards your next target asteroid.
      • If the prospector limpet does not hit an asteroid it will travel until its distance exceeds the maximum distance of your prospector limpet controller module, then it will expire.
    • Once you see the prospector limpet you can select it as a target. The information provided by the limpet is then shown in your target panel.
    • As soon as the prospector limpet hits an asteroid, it attaches itself to the asteroid and provides information about the composition of the asteroid and the amount of minerals left to mine.
    • If the asteroid does not contain the mineral(s) you seek, or not in the desired concentration, move on to the next asteroid and repeat the prospecting step.
      • In a guide I have seen the recommendation to only mine if the asteroid contains at least 10% of the mineral you seek. This advice may be ok if you have a smaller, more agile ship. With an Imperial Cutter, which is my favourite mining ship, I personally think it is better to mine even if the concentration is low, because relocating to a different asteroid is time consuming and reduces your effectiveness more than mining a low-yield asteroid.
    • But if it does, you can continue to the next step.
    • Important: You could also mine without prospecting first, but this would be dreadfully inefficient, because using a prospector limpet will dramatically increase the yield of an asteroid. See the section Prospector limpet controller further up on this page.
  • Mining step
    • Approach the asteroid until it is in range of your lasers.
    • Fire your lasers. Fragments start to chip off the asteroid which you have to collect. You don't need to hit the same spot on the asteroid over time, just hitting the asteroid as a whole is sufficient.
    • Fire off some collector limpets. Those will now start to collect the fragments and bring them back to your ship.
    • In the navigation panel, make sure to select fragments and place unwanted minerals on the ignore list so that the limpets will not collect them.
    • When fragments are deposited in your cargo scoop, they automatically go into your refinery for processing. Once enough fragments of the same mineral type have been collected in a given refinery bin, the fragments are automatically converted into a 1t canister of that mineral and that canister is then placed in your cargo hold (capacity limited by cargo racks). The refinery bin becomes empty and is available again to receive a new set of fragments.
    • When your power distributor's capacity is exhausted you need to stop firing your lasers for a moment until the power distributor has recovered some of its capacity. Except for lowering your productivity this is not a problem.
    • Watch the prospector limpet's information in your target panel. It will eventually tell you that the asteroid is depleted. Once all remaining fragments have been collected, you can find the next asteroid to mine.
  • Relocation step
    • If no asteroids are nearby you have to move your ship. Retract your cargo scoop to travel faster.
    • Avoid going in circles. Select a reference point (the hotspot POI or the planet are good choices) and then make sure that you continue to travel roughly in the same direction relative to that reference point.


Core mining

  • Fire Pulse Wave Analyser => some asteroids will light up, these are interesting asteroids that could contain Cores. In [2] these are called Core Rocks.
  • The shape of asteroids that can potentially contain Cores varies depending on Ring type => [2] has video footage for each.
  • Fire Prospector Limpet at a potential asteroid => shows "Core found" in the bottom-left panel.
  • The mineral in the core may not be the same as the mineral in the hotspot.
  • Asteroid has fissures of 3 strengths.
  • The Seismic Charge Launcher fires charges in 3 strengths, depending on the number of pips you fill when you fire it.
  • You want to fire charges with strength equal to the fissure.
  • When the first charge is fired a mini-game begins. You have 2 minutes in which to set the right amount of charges in fissures around the rock to get into the optimal middle Detonation Yield range shown in the upper right if the HUD.
  • Charges already set can be disarmed again to reduce to the detonation yield.
  • A charge can be fired before the 2 minutes are up to end the mini game.
  • Increase the ship's distance to the asteroid before the detonation => shields are important
  • The detonation frees up to 15 resource chunks.
  • Open your cargo scoop and deploy some collector limpets to scoop up the resource chunks.
  • Navigate around the fractured rock, target surface deposits and fire the Abrasion Blasters at them => mineral chunks will become free and get collected.


Mining spots

In this section I'm listing mining spots that I have worked in myself, or that I've heard of to be very lucrative. This list is probably of no great use, as you would probably always want to consult one of the online tools to find something near a specific location. Nevertheless, I didn't like to discard that information from my notes, so I decided to put it on this wiki page.

  • Delkar
  • Yan Musu
    • Planet 8, ring A
    • Was recommended by CMDR Fey Sky during a mining CG in April/May 2025 ("better than Delkar") and where the Buurs held a meet.
    • 10 jumps from Diaguandri with 350 limpets.
    • 6 jumps from CG system with full cargo bay.
  • Omicron Capricorni B
  • HIP 1550
    • Planet B 4
    • 15 jumps from Diaguandri
  • Wregoe TA-E d12-25
    • Planet 4
    • Has a triple Platinum hotspot
    • 21 jumps from Diaguandri
  • G Scorpii
  • LP 855-34
    • 6 jumps from Diaguandri
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