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== Resource Availability and Values ==
=== Commodities ===
This is a table displaying the approximate market prices for mined minerals, metals, and chemicals. Most high value minerals, including Void Opals and Alexandrite, are gemstones that can only be obtained via core mining, while some such as Painite and Low Temperature Diamonds can be mined with lasers. Market prices for mined commodities vary depending on the economy type of a station and its level of demand for a specific good.
This is a rough table on which minerals, metals, and chemicals are most valuable to mine. These prices will be lower or higher (even up to 8 times) depending on demand in the station you're selling to. It can be helpful to screenshot the nearest station's metal, mineral and chemical market prices to ensure highest profit, since varying demand of different resources can result in great variation of profit. Note that this information below is not often updated, and it is recommended to check third-party tools such as [https://eddb.io/commodity eddb.io] or [https://inara.cz/galaxy-commodities/ inara.cz] for up to date prices. High value minerals such as Void Opals or Alexandrite are gemstones, obtain exclusively via core mining. The only exceptions are Painite in metallic rings, and Low Temperature Diamond and Bromellite in icy rings, which can be mined with lasers.
Note that this table is updated infrequently, and it is strongly recommended to check third-party tools such as [https://eddb.io/commodity eddb.io] or [https://inara.cz/galaxy-commodities/ inara.cz] for the latest prices.
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*Mining features were first added in the Beta 3 Update for ''[[Elite Dangerous]]'', which was released on October 28, 2014.
*Mining was greatly expanded with new features and modules by ''[[Elite Dangerous: Beyond]]'' Chapter Four (3.3), which was released on December 11, 2018.
*Mining in [[Planetary Ring System]]s is always more efficient than mining Asteroid Belt clusters because rings contain vastly more asteroids. Use the System Map to identify rings with "Pristine Reserves", which guarantee more plentiful results.
* Asteroid fragments will display on the ship's radar as grey boxes.
*The material content (Low, Medium, High) does not affect the amount of metals, minerals or chemicals that the asteroid contains. Instead, focus on the concentration of a substance within the asteroid's fragments. If the fragments have a low concentration, near or below 15%, move on to another asteroid. Using Prospector Limpets can double the yield of asteroid fragments.
* Use the System Map to find systems with asteroid belts or rings that have the description "Pristine Reserves" and "Metallic".
*Even if cargo capacity is full, the Refinery can still be filled to 100% per slot. Upon selling a haul at a station, the full Refinery slots will complete processing and add additional units to the cargo hold, allowing the Refinery to be used as an overflow cargo space to a limited extent.
* Mining in planetary rings is more effective as there are always plenty of nearby asteroids to choose from (unlike belts).
*Asteroid fragments may drift and clip into other asteroids or chunks from a detonated asteroid, but Collector Limpets will still attempt to collect those fragments and will end up destroying themselves. If a player notices they are losing Collector Limpets with unusual frequency, this may be the cause, and the problematic fragment should be added to the exclusion list.
* For maximum profit, focus on mining highly valued metals or minerals (like Painite, Platinum, Palladium, or Low Temperature Diamonds).
*Activating [[Night Vision]] can be useful even when mining in bright areas. Night Vision allows asteroids and asteroid chunks to be seen through debris clouds caused by core mining and certain sections of rings.
**Rocky and Metal-Rich rings are best for core mining, for various gemstones such as Painite, Musgravite, or Monazite
**Metallic rings are best for laser mining Painite and precious metals like Platinum and Osmium. Several other metals can still be profitable.
**Icy rings have hotspots for laser mining and core mining.
* Use collector drones to speed up efficiency.
* Use prospector drones to double the yield of asteroid fragments.
* If the asteroid's fragments have low concentration (below ±15%), don't waste your precious time and try a different one.
* Even if your cargo is full, you can still fill up the refinery to 100% per slot. When you return to a starport to sell your cargo, this frees up space and each full refinery slot will go into your cargo hold. Treat it as extra cargo space.
* Enabling Night Vision is useful especially when mining in the massive shadow of a planet.
* The material content (Low, Medium, High) does not affect the amount of metals, minerals or chemicals that the asteroid contains.
* Keep an eye on the fragments; in some cases, they will get themselves stuck inside the meteorites. This will make it so your collector limpets will launch themselves into the rock; destroying themselves. If you notice a drone die early quickly look out for this and add it to your exclusion list as soon as possible to avoid more limpet loses.
* You can craft additional limpets via [[synthesis]] and you are very likely to pick up the components for them while mining; however they are incredibly wasteful of [[Nickel]], which is a common engineering material. Use this only in a pinch such as seeing rare materials with no drones.
* If you are only mining for access to [[Selene Jean]]'s engineering then always go to planetary rings. You can still use prospector drones to increase yield but you will be instead looking for group asteroids so you can collect as much as possible as fast as possible as you generally won't be too concerned with profit in this scenario. In fact, more common ores may be desirable due to being able to refine them faster. Use as many collector limpet controllers as you can equip with as big of a refinery as possible as well to help out.
* Always avoid or run away from NPC pirates while carrying mining cargo unless piloting a ship that is combat capable or equipped with a [[Fighter Hangar]]. Pirates almost always use [[Limpet Controller/Hatch Breaker|Hatch Breaker Limpets]], which means dealing with them involves a high risk of partial or total cargo loss.
== GuidesVideos ==
<gallery>
File:Elite_Dangerous_Pilot_Training_-_Mining
File:Elite_Dangerous_-_How_to_Mine_Void_Opals_for_~100_Million_Credits_per_Hour
File:Advanced_miners_guide_How_to_locate_Mother_lodes_Elite_Dangerous.
</gallery>
==Videos==
<gallery>
File:Elite_Dangerous_3.3_Beta_2_Mining_-_Boom!
File:Elite_Dangerous_-_Another_way_to_look_at_it
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