Ship Mining Guide

Here we'll review how to fracture and extract mineables with a ship. For specifics on mining heads, gadgets, and finding mineables please reference those specific guides. To begin, you'll need:

• A mining ship (MISC Prospector, ARGO Mole, Drake Golem, etc.)

• Food and water

Find a mineable rock - this photo is of surface deposits, but you can do asteroid mining too. 

​Switch to the mining operator mode with [middle mouse click]. Looking at a rock will scan it automatically. Depending on your ship and its parts you may not be able to fracture every rock. If you are finding too many difficult/impossible rocks, or you're struggling with certain aspects of mining, try:

• Swapping to a different mining laser (if possible, not all ships allow this)

• Modifying your mining laser with modules (either passive or active) OR

• Attach a gadget to the rock to modify the rock's attributes directly!

Below is a photo of a rock that is impossible for the prospector with the default Arbor mining laser (with no modules) to fracture. Rock clusters have a variety of sizes and difficulties, so just look for smaller rocks keep scanning until you find one that does not say impossible. 

​Ships have two mining modes - FRACTURE MODE and EXTRACTION MODE. Switch between them with [left alt] + [left click]

Once you find a rock you can mine (here is an "easy" one in the same cluster), engage fracture mode with [left click].

Adjust your physical distance from the mineable (range indicator on left) by moving your whole ship, and adjust your laser power (bottom right) with [scroll wheel] until the charge level rises into the optimal range. Continue adjusting your distance and power as necessary to avoid overcharging the rock.

​After you have finished fracturing, switch to EXTRACTION MODE with [left alt]+[left click]. Before engaging your beam, scan each piece to decide if it is worth harvesting. The piece's composition shows on the right side after looking at it for a few seconds. Avoid extracting pieces that are high in inert material unless offset by an extremely valuable mineable.

​[Left click] to engage your extraction beam. This will harvest the mineable and deposit it automatically in your ship's mining bags.

​Repeat these steps until you get bored or have filled your ship's storage! See the REFINERY GUIDE for help with processing and selling your material.