Copyright Frontier Developments Ltd

MINING

If you prefer a solitary life, then mining is for you. This occupation entails travelling from place to place collecting ore. There are two types of mining, Asteroid Mining and Surface Mining, both have their merits and drawbacks.

 Asteroid Mining

Asteroid mining is an old method but it is tried and tested. It is the easiest and cheapest way of obtaining ore and requires you to have a 30MW Mining Laser, Fuel Scoop and a Cargo Scoop Conversion. You simply blast an asteroid with the laser then fly over the bits of asteroid and the Scoop collects as much ore as you can accommodate in the cargo bay. Not all asteroids are mineral rich though, so you may end up with a bay full of rubbish.

Surface Mining

Once you are established, this type of mining is a more predictable means of getting ore. It does, however, demand a large initial outlay in order to acquire the installations and possibly a larger ship (minimum of thirty tonnes of free cargo space) to transport them. The only recommended device is the MB4 Mining Machine which, alas, is still not widely available. The MB4 is impressive in that it not only mines but also refines the material, so you put it in place, leave it and come back to pick up the results. The MB4 can mine, separate and refine minerals, alloys and even on occasions precious metals and gem stones.

The disadvantage is the risk of mining others' claims, resulting in an aggressive response to your activities. In some areas it is illegal to mine and police, depending their mood, may not be too interested in maintaining a public image of fairness and understanding and may blast you to pieces.

Setting up your MB4

1. Choose a mining site with a temperature below 200 degrees Centigrade. The most likely suitable locations will be on systems' inner planets which are more likely to be mineral rich. Ones which humans have hardly touched are more likely to be mineral rich as machines like the MB4 and it predecessors are very thorough, and will have scoured most of the surface of core worlds by now. To test the composition of the crust, you need to land.

2. Land at the chosen site and select the Weapons Control Panel by clicking on the Scanner.

3. Activate the Unload Rig icon  which will cause the mining rig to be unloaded whereupon it will analyse a sample of the crust and relay the results to your onboard computer. If the prospects are good it will bed itself in and begin drilling immediately. You may then take off and come back later once it has mined the full capacity of 10 tonnes.

Finding the MB4 again

All the mines have a beacon which has your own coded signal allowing the computer to pin-point its position. If you pick up someone else's rig, your computer will automatically register the code of the owner. All other rigs belonging to them, in this star system will then be shown on your inventory page. This means that stealing ore is possible, however the same can be done to you. A safeguard is to avoid placing numerous rigs in one system, so that they are not so easily found should one of your rigs be purloined. Your beacons will use a different code in each system.

1. Select the Inventory icon (F3)  and cycle through until you come to the Mining Installations page . It will list your rigs and their location.

2. Fly to the star system in which a particular rig is situated.

3. Set up the Mining Installations page again and use the button next to the rig you wish to find.

4. The onboard computer will then set it up as your current target. You may then fly to it manually or with the Autopilot. You can deselect the target as before by placing the pointer away from the target and using the left mouse button.

 

Collecting the ore

1. Land near to the installation and select the Load Rig icon  with one click. This will remotely instruct the machinery to off load ore into your hold until it is full. It will be no more than ten tonnes at a time because that is the maximum capacity of the MB4's hopper.

2. If there is no ore to collect the first selection of the icon will load the rig onto the ship, if you have space.

3. Your cargo inventory (Inventory icon (F3) ) will show the minerals on board.

Collecting the MB4 Mining Machine

1. Land next to the installation and click on the Load Rig icon  twice so that the rig and the contents of its hopper are taken on board.

2. As stated above, the rig will be loaded after the first click if there is no ore in the hopper.

3. The rig may be left for further mining. There is no need to bring ti on board if you intend to deposit it in the same place.

4. If you want to move the MB4 to another location on the same surface because a site is 'mined out,' it is worth moving it a good distance. This is because the MB4 probes quite a large area with its underground drills.

5. If your MB4 had found a rich seam of minerals, do not move it as the seam may be a long way below ground and the MB4 may not be able to find it again.