1. 📍 What is Wormhole Mining?
- Wormholes are unmapped star systems (classified C1–C6) with no local chat safety and no CONCORD protection.
- Every wormhole has connections that shift daily, meaning your mining site might suddenly open to hostile fleets.
- In return, wormholes offer access to high-value ores, gas clouds, and ice, often comparable to null-sec.
2. ⛏️ What Can You Mine in Wormholes?
Ore
- Wormholes contain null-sec ores (e.g. Arkonor, Bistot, Crokite, Spodumain, Mercoxit).
- Common minerals: Zydrine, Megacyte, Morphite (very valuable).
- Depending on the class of wormhole, you’ll see different concentrations:
- C1–C3: mid-tier ores, similar to low/null border zones.
- C4–C6: richest ores, same as deep null-sec.
Gas
- Fullerenes (used for Tech III production).
- Clouds like C50, C60, C70, C72, C320, C540, with C320 and C540 being extremely valuable.
- Gas mining is often more profitable than ore in wormholes.
Ice
- Only available if the wormhole connects to systems with ice belts.
- Not native to wormholes.
3. 🚢 Ships for Wormhole Mining
Ore Mining
- Venture → cheap, warp core strength, disposable.
- Procurer / Skiff → tanky, good for survival.
- Retriever / Mackinaw → huge ore hold, risky without defense.
- Hulk → max yield, glass cannon.
Gas Mining
- Venture → can gas mine with harvesters.
- Prospect → cloaky gas mining frigate, excellent for ninja operations.
- Endurance → better for ice than wormholes, but still viable.
Support
- Orca → can be brought in, but highly risky and often trapped.
- Porpoise → smaller, cheaper, safer wormhole fleet booster.
- Rorqual → cannot enter wormholes.
4. ⚙️ Fittings & Survival Tactics
Essential Modules
- Probe Launcher → you must scan your own exits.
- Cloak (Covert Ops if possible) → hide when hostiles enter.
- Shield Extenders / Damage Control → tank against rats and ambushes.
- Gas Harvesters (if mining gas).
- Survey Scanner → monitor ore.
Mining Safely
- Always bookmark your exits and keep them updated.
- Use D-Scan constantly — wormholes have no local, so cloaked hunters won’t show until they decloak.
- Mine aligned to a safe celestial or structure so you can warp instantly.
- Use a scout alt to watch for wormhole activity.
- Drop mobile depots / containers only if you can retrieve them quickly.
5. 💰 ISK Potential
Ore Mining
- C1–C3 ores: ~20–40m ISK/hour solo, higher in fleets.
- C4–C6 ores: 50–100m ISK/hour depending on market and boosts.
Gas Mining
- C50–C72 gases: ~20–50m ISK/hour.
- C320 / C540 gases: 200–500m ISK/hour (extremely profitable, but sites are rare and contested).
6. ⚖️ Pros & Cons
✅ Advantages
- Access to null-sec level ores and Tech III gases.
- No sovereignty — anyone can set up mining ops.
- Very high profits with the right sites.
❌ Disadvantages
- No local → stealth hunters can ambush without warning.
- Exits shift daily → you can be trapped or cut off.
- Structures (Athanor, Raitaru) may be required for serious ops.
- Solo play is extremely dangerous.
7. 🛡️ Best Practices
- Never mine alone in expensive ships — Ventures and Prospects are safer.
- Always have scouts and probes active.
- Collapse wormhole entrances if you want to mine in peace.
- Mine quickly and move ore to safe citadels or Orca compression.
- Treat wormhole mining like ninja-mining — always assume you’re being hunted.
8. 🚀 Progression Path
- Start with Venture gas mining in wormholes you find from high-sec.
- Train into Prospect for cloaky gas ninja mining.
- Join a wormhole corp → access to Athanors and Raitarus for refining.
- Expand into Skiff fleets for serious ore mining.
- Specialize in C320/C540 gas operations for extreme ISK/hour.
✅ Summary:
Wormhole mining is high risk, high reward. You can pull null-sec ores and rare gases worth hundreds of millions per hour, but stealth hunters, shifting exits, and no CONCORD make it deadly. The safest entry is cloaky gas mining with a Prospect, while the most profitable path is organized moon/ore fleets in C4–C6 wormholes.