Mining is one of the primary ways to gather resources in the Frontier, providing the raw materials needed for fuel production, manufacturing, construction, and trade. Mining has become a more interactive activity focused on reading asteroids, exposing valuable materials, and collecting the regolith they release.
A successful miner doesn't simply harvest rock. They learn how asteroids are structured, identify valuable deposits, and safely return their cargo before danger arrives.
Pre-Flight Checklist
Before departing for an asteroid field, make sure your ship is properly prepared.
Essential Equipment
Fuel
- Never leave your Base without spare fuel.
- Mining often takes you far from safety.
Small Cutting Laser
- Your primary mining tool.
- Required to extract materials from asteroids.
Synthetic Mining Lens
- Required to operate your Small Cutting Laser efficiently.
- Different lenses may offer different characteristics depending on availability and progression.
Recommended Equipment
Cargo Grids
- Increase carrying capacity.
- More cargo means fewer trips and improved efficiency.
Gravity and ION Sensor
- Useful for detecting signatures and locating resource-rich areas.
- Asteroid groups are now easier to detect at range.
Understanding Asteroids
Asteroids are no longer simple resource nodes.
Each asteroid contains:
- An outer crust
- Internal material layers
- Valuable cores
- Different mineral distributions
The outer layers often contain less valuable resources. The richest materials are frequently buried beneath the surface and require cutting through outer sections before reaching them.
Think of mining as excavation rather than harvesting.
Asteroid Types
There are sixteen asteroid types found throughout the Frontier.
Examples include:
- Char
- Ingot
- Flint
- Mire
- Ember
- Spar
- Glaze
Many asteroids can also appear with variant prefixes:
- Prime
- Core
- Deep
- Shocked
- Hollow
These variants indicate how the asteroid formed and may influence the materials found within it.
Material Distribution
Resources are distributed differently within each asteroid:
Veins
Long resource seams running through the rock.
Nodules
Concentrated pockets of material.
Mixed Deposits
Resources dispersed throughout large portions of the asteroid.
Efficient miners learn to follow exposed seams and continue cutting toward richer concentrations.
Finding Mining Sites
Locating Asteroid Belts
- Open the StarMap.
- Search nearby systems.
- Locate asteroid belts or resource-rich sites.
- Warp to the desired location.
Asteroid belts now better reflect the stellar environment they orbit, meaning different systems may offer different mining opportunities.
Explorers willing to venture into unfamiliar locations may discover valuable deposits before other Riders.
Mining Operations
Step 1: Approach the Asteroid
Warp into the belt and choose a target asteroid.
Move within operational range.
Once inside 12 km, the Cutting Laser will display an aiming marker to help identify where your laser will strike.
Step 2: Examine the Surface
Pay attention to:
- Surface color
- Material exposure
- Existing cuts
- Visible seams
Keep in mind that surface appearance does not always perfectly indicate which regolith will be produced.
Step 3: Start Cutting
Activate your Small Cutting Laser and aim directly at the asteroid.
- Asteroids do not simply shrink.
- The laser physically removes material.
- Chunks break away from the asteroid and you have to manually pick them up.
Continue cutting through low-value outer layers to expose richer interior deposits.
Step 4: Collect Regolith
As material breaks free, it becomes collectable regolith.
Resources are now grouped into five families:
- Silicate: Common rocky minerals.
- Carbonaceous: Carbon-rich materials that are generally easier to extract.
- Metallic: Dense metal-bearing resources.
- Sulfide: Industrial minerals used in advanced production.
- Volatile: Useful for fuel production and chemical processing.
Collect released regolith before moving to the next target.
Nearby players can also collect loose material, so don't leave valuable resources floating in space for too long.
Mining Skills and Progression
New skill progression system.
For miners, the most important skills are:
- Extraction: Improves mining efficiency and overall resource gathering.
- Tracking: Improves mining laser tracking and extraction performance.
- Fuel Economy: Allows longer mining trips before refueling.
- Scanning: Improves signature detection and targeting range.
Growing Mining Skills
Mining activities contribute toward:
- EXTRACTION Memories
- TRACKING Memories
As these Memories deepen, associated skills improve automatically over time.
Regular mining is now rewarded with continuous progression rather than milestone-based advancement.
Mining Safety: Watch for Feral Drones
Mining generates activity that can attract unwanted attention.
- Colliers: Dedicated mining drones that harvest asteroids.
- Shifters: Salvage-focused drones that work nearby wreckage.
Some groups may include combat escorts.
If hostiles arrive:
- Stay alert.
- Monitor nearby signatures.
- Be prepared to leave.
Returning Home
Successful miners know when to leave.
Once your cargo hold is approaching capacity:
- Return to your nearby Refuge.
- Use a Docking Clamp to dock where applicable.
- Store resources in secure storage.
- Refine or process materials for manufacturing.
Remember:
Ore floating in space belongs to whoever reaches it first. Regolith in your cargo is potential profit. Resources safely stored in your base are yours.