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Ice or ore?
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Lia Aldard
Doomheim
#1 - 2017-06-01 06:35:12 UTC
Just picked up a procurer for mining a long with 2 strip miners for ore and 2 strip miners for ice, what one should I focus on mining if I want profits? I heard ice is used to fuel POS, but I don't run any POS's or am even apart of any
Do Little
Bluenose Trading
#2 - 2017-06-01 07:48:14 UTC
Ice is profitable but Ice is also very competitive. Fields are small and respawn 4 hours after they deplete you'll need to keep track and catch the spawn to do well. Once the fleets arrive the ice disappears quickly.

Ice products are used to fuel all player built structures - POS, Citadel, Engineering complex, and capital jump drives. It's useful stuff!
Bjorn Tyrson
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#3 - 2017-06-03 01:09:35 UTC
Ice is also much easier to train into. Since there is only one refining efficiency skill to train. So short term it is probably your best bet. Long term. Particularly in null, ore can be better. Not only because the best ores spawn out there. But also if you have any industrialists in your corp they will gladly buy up whatever you have since it saves them having to ship it in. (And you shipping it out)
Krysenth
Saints Of Havoc
#4 - 2017-06-03 03:15:56 UTC
Bjorn Tyrson wrote:
Ice is also much easier to train into. Since there is only one refining efficiency skill to train. So short term it is probably your best bet. Long term. Particularly in null, ore can be better. Not only because the best ores spawn out there. But also if you have any industrialists in your corp they will gladly buy up whatever you have since it saves them having to ship it in. (And you shipping it out)

To be fair, the same can be said of ice as well, especially if you're training as a dedicated ice miner. They'll hoover up the ice, and ice products, out of your hands at fair/above fair prices faster than you can put up contracts sometimes. Hell, I often try to do that since I manufacture fuel blocks on a larger scale in an effort to try providing everything for my corp's needs xD
Shiloh Templeton
Cheyenne HET Co
#5 - 2017-06-03 03:45:40 UTC
This site will help you calculate the profitability of both. A big advantage of ice in HS is that it is very semi-afk friendly. Ore requires you to re-position your lasers much more frequently. The advantage of ore is you can find a belt to yourself any time of day.

Bjorn Tyrson
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#6 - 2017-06-03 04:23:04 UTC
Shiloh Templeton wrote:
This site will help you calculate the profitability of both. A big advantage of ice in HS is that it is very semi-afk friendly. Ore requires you to re-position your lasers much more frequently. The advantage of ore is you can find a belt to yourself any time of day.



That's a fair point. And also why I said that location matters since it's different depending on area of space.
I haven't mined in HS in almost 6 years. Back then ice was the way to go for afk and omber was life for isk/hr. Things are likely quite different now.
Kathern Aurilen
#7 - 2017-06-12 07:49:39 UTC
Ice is good, always being needed badly. But the fields are a magnet for gankers.

I made good pretty good money for fuel blocks.

No cuts, no butts, no coconuts!

Forum alt, unskilled in the ways of pewpew!
TheGuy Akachi
Maniacal Miners INC
The Legends In The Game
#8 - 2017-06-19 11:21:57 UTC
I suggest ice.

I've been mining ore for a very long time, and just started to do ice mining (in lowsec) in an Endurance (Tech 2 Mining Frigate) and am quite impressed with the income.

I've been making 30 mil ISK/hr, which is a lot more than I have in highsec (11.5 mil ISK/hr).

I mine solo, as in no alts or boosts. So this is very good income for me. Sure it is risky, but you don't need to mine in lowsec. If you find an alliance with nullsec access, you can mine there.

Also ice will be in more demand than ore for the most part. Unlike ore built items (ships, modules, other structures), ice is destroyed consistently. Hour by hour fuel blocks are consumed. And with more structures being added into the game, the consumption is to rise.
Francis Raven
GeoCorp.
The Initiative.
#9 - 2017-06-19 12:20:04 UTC
I would suggest whichever ore/ice you have better refining skills in. The refined goods, once you have decent skills and a cheap place to refine in, offer more returns and the the ice or ore itself.

ExDominion | Nullsec Corporation | Website | Forums | Established Nov. 2015 |

Nick Knocks
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#10 - 2017-06-20 05:27:54 UTC  |  Edited by: Nick Knocks
OP what ever you do, don't mine in hisec. Make dank isk in null with some rorqual boosts and a standing fleet behind you. Also you get the best refinery bonus. (I get 85% and my skills aren't perfect)
Millard Audene
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#11 - 2017-06-22 11:17:05 UTC
Nick Knocks wrote:
OP what ever you do, don't mine in hisec. Make dank isk in null with some rorqual boosts and a standing fleet behind you. Also you get the best refinery bonus. (I get 85% and my skills aren't perfect)



^^^ Truth. And null is not nearly as scary as you may think, if you've never dipped your toe in. Keep your intel channels up and open, keep local in a separate window, and make sure you are in the designated standing fleet for a reactionary force, should you still get jumped. My last venture into null was in Providence, and I have to say that since I moved to Delve, my income has jumped dramatically.

Also, don't be afraid to train into a platform other than a barge. While I wouldn't suggest using an expedition frigate for your everyday mining, unless you have a dedicated hauler, there are times when it can be a lot of fun, and with the right equipment, you can bring in more than a tank-fit Procurer without using any boosts. On my Endurance, with Rorqual boosts and fit for ice yield, my cycle time was just over 30 seconds last time I checked. Oh, and while the Endurance is the expedition frigate geared towards ice mining, you can huff gas with it as well as mine traditional ore. Also, the Prospect can mount ice mining lasers, and mine ice, not to mention being able to mount a covert ops cloaking device.
StarterrorPrime
Black Rose Fleet Strategics
#12 - 2017-06-26 02:24:49 UTC
Bjorn Tyrson wrote:
Ice is also much easier to train into. Since there is only one refining efficiency skill to train. So short term it is probably your best bet. Long term. Particularly in null, ore can be better. Not only because the best ores spawn out there. But also if you have any industrialists in your corp they will gladly buy up whatever you have since it saves them having to ship it in. (And you shipping it out)


Tell that to Horde Miners!

Anyway, All jokes aside, I feel what you make nullsec mining isnt exactly wortn what you get versus low sec mining since I've made more of a stable profit picking at hemorphite and more resource rich ores. Sure i go wormhole mining for Arkonor but thats tedious and nerve wracking, especially with a 20min timer for you to get your ore and get out. I can nab Hemorphite or plagioclase quicker but ehh, im on the fence as I need more data in regards to this.