🌌 What is Low-Sec Belt Mining
- Asteroid belts in low-sec contain rarer ores not found in high-sec.
- Ores refine into valuable mid-tier minerals like Zydrine, Megacyte, Isogen, and more.
- Belts are static, unlike anomalies (though anomalies also exist).
- No CONCORD protection → anyone can legally attack you.
- Rat spawns are tougher than in high-sec, but manageable with drones.
📊 Why Mine Low-Sec Belts?
✅ Access to ores unavailable in high-sec.
✅ ISK/hr higher than belt mining in high-sec.
✅ Good stepping stone between high-sec mining and null/WH operations.
⚠️ Hunters know belts are bait grounds.
⚠️ Competition from pirates and opportunistic miners.
⚠️ Requires discipline, scouting, and strong logistics.
🚀 Ship Choices
1. Expedition Frigates
- Prospect → Covert cloak, agile, decent ore hold. Great for ninja mining.
- Endurance → Better for ice, but still usable for belt ores.
Best choice for solo survival.
2. Mining Barges / Exhumers
- Procurer / Skiff → Tanky, good for surviving hunters.
- Retriever / Mackinaw → Large ore hold, but weak tank → risky.
- Covetor / Hulk → High yield, but glass cannon. Only viable with fleet protection and boosts.
3. Support
- Porpoise → Small, agile fleet booster. Reasonable for low-sec ninja fleets.
- Orca → Possible, but a fat killmail magnet. Only bring if your corp controls the area.
- Haulers:
- Blockade Runner (BR) → Best option. Cloaky, agile, and safe for hauling compressed ore.
- DST (Deep Space Transport) → Tanky, can survive gate camps, but slower than BR.
🛠 Fitting Philosophy
Survival > yield. You can’t profit if you’re dead.
Prospect – Cloaky Ninja Miner
- Highs: 2x Modulated Deep Core Miner II (with crystals).
- Mids: Cloaking Device II, Medium Shield Extender II, Multispectrum Hardener II.
- Lows: Warp Core Stabilizer II, Inertial Stabilizers.
- Rigs: Small EM/Explosive Reinforcers.
- Drones: None (Prospect can’t use).
Playstyle: Warp in cloaked, mine selectively, cloak/warp when danger appears.
Skiff – Tanky Fleet Miner
- Highs: 2x Modulated Strip Miner II (crystals).
- Mids: Large Shield Extender II, Adaptive Invulnerability Field II x2, Survey Scanner II.
- Lows: 2x Mining Laser Upgrade II, Damage Control II.
- Rigs: Medium Core Defense Field Extender x2.
- Drones: 5x Warrior II for defense.
Playstyle: Works in corp fleets with Porpoise/Orca boosts, relies on tank + intel.
📦 Logistics
- Compression: Essential. Ore is bulky — always compress in Porpoise/Orca or citadel before hauling.
- Hauling:
- Solo → Blockade Runner.
- Fleet → DST with scouts or BR chain.
- Staging: Operate out of a citadel/refinery in low-sec for quick compress/dock, then export to high-sec.
🧭 Efficiency Tactics
- Scouting: Never warp into a belt blind. Use an alt or fast ship to check.
- Safe Spots: Make bookmarks in every system for instant warps.
- Stay Aligned: Always align to a safe/citadel while mining.
- Survey Scanner: Minimize wasted cycles on nearly-empty rocks.
- Intel Channels: If your alliance has intel, use it — pirates roam low-sec constantly.
- Time Zones: Mine during low activity periods (your local low-sec “quiet hours”).
⚔️ Threats
- Solo Hunters: Usually in fast tackle (Interceptor, Dramiel, Orthrus). If you’re not pre-aligned, you die.
- Small Gangs: Mining fleets are juicy targets. Always scout gates before hauling.
- Gate Camps: Smartbomb BS camps can insta-kill untanked haulers. BRs and scouts mitigate this.
- Ore Thieves: Jetcans are unsafe — only use fleet hangars for ore storage.
💰 ISK Expectations
- Solo Prospect (ninja mining): 15–25M ISK/hr.
- Solo Skiff (no boosts): 20–35M ISK/hr.
- Fleet ops with Porpoise/Orca boosts: 40–60M ISK/hr per pilot.
- Controlled system (corp-owned refinery + hauling): Higher, depending on efficiency.
🔑 Advanced Tips
- Ore choice: Hedbergite & Hemorphite are strong ISK/m³ ores in low-sec. Prioritize them.
- D-scan mastery: Constantly scan 1 AU → 14 AU for probes/ships. Treat combat probes as a red flag.
- Cloak trick: In Prospect, if danger appears, stop mining and cloak instantly — many hunters give up if they can’t get fast tackle.
- Wormhole hauling: Use wormholes to high-sec for safer export of compressed ore.
- Bait mining: Some corps deliberately mine in Skiffs to bait PvP, then drop combat fleets. Effective but risky.
✅ In summary:
- Solo pilots → Use a Prospect. Cloak, mine selectively, and stay mobile.
- Small groups → Skiffs + Porpoise with BR hauler.
- Large corps → Orca fleets with defense + compression, staging from a refinery.