On my 2nd trip to a Pristine Metallic ring in my new A-rated T6 miner.
Finally stumbled upon a 44.3 % painite asteroid and my limpet is collecting away but finding it took quite a while and I was starting to lose hope after my first big (and easy) run so...
1) Does the visual size matter in regards to the amount of minerals an asteroid contains?
2) Is there any way, by its visual looks, which is a good asteroid and which is not?
3) If I find one good one are the other nearby asteroids likely to be good too or is it totally random?
4) Is one part of the ring (inner, outer, middle) likely to be better?
5) Is the overall quality of the ring determined by your instance? For example I find poor mining then log out and quit. When I return do I have a completely randomized (and potentially) better field now?

I'd like to help, but have not mined in ages and I suspect the new changes have altered the rules for mining somewhat.

For what it's worth though:
1. Asteroid size does not indicate amount of minerals. Bigger isn't necessarily more.
2. Asteroid looks also do not indicate presence of certain minerals. Combined with #1, smaller asteroids may be better than bigger one simply because it has better mineral content.
3. Random AFAIK. But if there is a certain mineral in a ring, then there will be asteroids with it. Pristine rings have more.
4. You can see in the "map view" which part of the ring is Pristine. Go there. You don't need to go exactly to the "beacon" in the asteroid, so long as you're in the right ring.
5. Never thought of quality as instanced, so never checked.

One thing we did realize before though was that asteroid output was dependent on the number of people mining it. For example, if the asteroid could output 20 units of Mineral A, one person will get 20 units. If two persons were mining it, they would get 20 units each, more or less. And so on. Point is, more people mining meant more output. Your mining laser only determined how fast you got your 20 units, that's why I could mine faster than my son because I got a better laser. However, even if my prospector drone already told me there were 0 units of Mineral A, my son could still be mining for a few minutes and getting HIS 20 units.

** Again, note that all of this was from a good many patches ago, so things may have changed now. Just posting to give you an idea.

Appreciate it. Thank you sir.

Yes, there is a benefit to mining in a WING as the asteroids are separately instanced for each player AND you can get a TRADE CREDIT (5%) when you cash in.

There are a lot of missions on the boards for various mined commodities. Pre 2.1 it was generally Osmium, Painite and Platinum, but now you see a lot of Samarium, Praeseodymium and ICE mined commodities (Lithium Hydroxide, Methane Clathrate and Methanol Monohydrate) which can bring you FAR more than the actual price of commodities.

I used to load up on missions and head out to mine, but it was very much a grind as I would end up finding everything EXCEPT what I needed, and wasting a bunch of PROSPECTORS trying to find something useful. Been mining in a COBRA with 32 ton Cargo so it was a pain. Going to move to an ASP when I next get the mining bug.

Painite has gotten very profitable. Pre- 2.1 it was about 30-35K per ton, now I have seen it at 65-70K a ton which is damn good.

If you are very adventurous, I saw this chart, but I don't know if it is still true in the current patch level. Yield increases with risk, proximity to RES sites. Honestly I haven't noticed this but especially with the new AI, I don't venture too close. I have had similar yields in Asteroid Belts as I have "close" to a RES (but close being Mm or ls not Km!!!







My impression from a few mining expeditions is that yields per asteroid have DECREASED since 2.1.

Interesting!
My T6 is a great miner but for obvious reasons I have been avoiding the RES's.
I use the RES's as a navigation point to drop from SC then boost away. I go far away from it - so far, in fact, nothing spawns and you are all by yourself the whole time. Think I'll check how close I can get to a HazRES and still be by my lonesome.
And thanks also for the other info. Going to have to tie a string around my finger to remember to check the mission boards prior to cashing in as I sometimes forget!

Looks like one bit of mining trivia is true
Had to get offline this morning while still in the ring after being all alone the whole time.
Upon start-up I immediately had a Imperial Courier spawn nearby. Lucky I was ready for it and jumped.

EDIT: Made just a bit less then a million credits this second trip. Painite going for 75,000/ton.

What made mining most profitable for me (pre 2.0 of course) was the missions and building rank with local factions.

The "Neutral" type missions are OK. But once I had hit "Allied" status with the local station factions (achieved by completing mining missions), the big money was like pie. I would come back with a hold of 15-20 each Osmium, Platinum, and Painite, and cash in the entire load on missions that paid up to $500K for just 3 to 5 tons. By the time my cargo hold was empty from hitting a few local stations/systems for missions, I was $2-$3 million richer.

Often times after a mining trip, I'd just park at a station and check the missions. Oh hey, there is one for 3 tons @ $250k and another for 5 tons at @$450k. Accept both and instantly complete. Log out and go do something. Return a couple hours later, check the mission board. Yay, another $750k worth of missions, move to another station where I'm "Allied". Repeat.

I practically never took a mining mission unless I had the material in my cargo hold. Helped keep the pirates away, IMO.

That was all pre 2.0 of course. I've not done mining since then until the last week or two. Things seem similar, but I've got to reestablish my strong local faction reputation over a network of stations that offer good prices.

Yes I have been jumping to find the best sell point (have it now) so hopefully the missions will come as my rep goes up.
3rd trip and I went to a HazRES in a Pristine Metallic but had to move 50 km away to shake a too curious DBE.
Mining seems good so far though.

There may be some truth to the "better mining closer to the HazRES" idea.
Started 70 km from it and worked my way closer.
Mining was okay until I got 16 km from the HazRES and could see the lasers from other miners and fighting.
Next asteroid checked had 45% Painite. And no interference.
Perhaps lucky, perhaps not. I will start much closer next trip and see how it works out.

Wouldn't even drop into the RES's, just drop into the right ring.

Except for my first trip in the Cobra (ice ring) I have been in a Pristine Metallic which happens to be the innermost ring and also where a LRES and a HazRES are located.
Learned something else too and that is to stop wasting my time with non-Painite (or Platinum) asteroids. One of those is worth 10 of the rest.

Good to hear you are making headway.

I've read a few comments elsewhere that 2.1 has ruined mining, but the two trips I've been out thus far, it's been excellent. And the newly added mined materials are good payout, too.

I may try to fit in a session tonight.

I am enjoying myself. A good change of pace from my usual trading, missions, and BH'ing.
Thanks for the kick in the arse to get me to try it.

Ok. Not a lot of data yet (just got back from my 4th trip) but I mined up to the HazRES several times, getting as close as 12 KM, and the asteroid composition didn't seem to change. Had to run away several times also. So maybe my Painite monster was a fluke yesterday. Will keep testing.
Due to silly real life stuff had to save several times and, yes, upon logging back in a ship (or 5 ships) will spawn near you no matter where you are.
Watched a couple combats as I was escaping and see the AI uses missles now. Didn't see that too much pre-2.1 or at least I didn't.

Averaging a bit less then 2 million a trip but still kind of experimenting. On today's trip I will focus on the money, aka Painite, which goes for 75,000/ton. Came back with 21 tons this trip.
Had a couple of "almost chances" at the Mission Board prior to sell-off but either had the wrong cargo or not enough.
With this money coming in fairly steady I am going to take a "Corolis look" at a AspE miner. The "6" is working very well but always looking for an edge.

Overall though between the different ships, mining, missions, trading, and BH'ing I am not sure how people say they get "bored" with ED...though there is a chance I may be a little odd!

Can you tell the refinery what minerals to refine? I used to have to "eject" unwanted canisters manually. Would be great if you could program the refinery to just process Minerals X, Y, and Z and ignore the rest.

Indeed it would!
Yes you can manually watch it and dump stuff as its being processed but it certainly would be nice if you could say "Pick up Painite and ignore the Gallite."
My 3rd trip today was a bit of a bust with only 21 tons of Platinum. Was ignoring asteroids with 13-15% Painite which may have been an error in hindsight.
On my 4th trip now near a HazRES and found a rock that was 44% Painite that yielded 18 tons of it. Unfortunately the location where I had been selling it has dropped the price from 75k to 45k a ton. Had to stop and save halfway thru the 4th run so I got some time to use INARA to find another port to sell.

EDIT: Boy I gotta give INARA credit. It is already reflecting the Painite price drop and it just occurred earlier today.

I think Inara just lifts the prices from another site EDDB? That gets them from data sent in by players. If you want to contribute install EDMC https://github.com/Marginal/EDMarketConnector and hit the update button when you dock at a market to send the latest data. I use it although I don't always remember. The prices on Inara will update to ones you have sent in almost immediately which can be oddly satisfying.

That sounds pretty cool.
My internet connection is crap but a upload of market prices can't be too bandwidth intensive.

See, that's the thing... when you broadcast your local prices, people may come and flock to your area if the price is good. Now I don't want to sound selfish but 1) that's gonna cut into your profits and 2) the mob will bring with it unsavory characters as well. These are the top two reasons why I don't use crowd-sourced data to know where to go. I do use the data to compare with my local systems and determine if it's good or not, but I don't broadcast my location to the galaxy-wide-web.

Well that certainly is practical reasoning.
And based on my own experience it is certainly easy for you, a single player, to bring down market prices on a particular item.