Mining in EVE Online is one of the most accessible and consistent ways to make ISK. Whether you’re an Alpha or Omega clone, this guide walks you through the process—from ship selection to ore sales.
What is Mining?
Mining in EVE Online is the process of extracting natural resources from space, which players can then sell or refine into minerals. These minerals are the backbone of EVE’s economy—used to build ships, weapons, structures, and almost everything else in the game.
🔹 How It Works
- Players use specialized ships and equipment (like mining lasers or strip miners) to target asteroids, ice, or gas clouds.
- The resources are stored in the ship’s ore hold.
- Once full, miners haul the materials back to a station, refinery, or structure.
- Materials can either be:
- Sold directly on the market for ISK (in-game money).
- Refined into minerals, which usually sell for more.
- Used in industry to manufacture items.
🔹 Why It Matters
Mining is one of the most accessible professions in EVE. It’s often the first way new players make ISK, since it doesn’t require heavy combat skills or expensive ships. But it also scales up into large-scale industrial operations that support corporations and alliances.
Mining provides the raw materials that drive EVE’s player-driven economy. Without miners, there would be no ships, modules, or stations—because nearly everything in the game is built from mined resources.
🔹 Types of Mining
- Ore Mining → Mine asteroids in belts or anomalies for raw ore (e.g., Veldspar, Scordite).
- Ice Mining → Mine ice fields for fuel blocks and isotopes (used in jump drives & structures).
- Gas Harvesting → Mine gas clouds, often in wormholes or nullsec, for booster production.
- Moon Mining → Large-scale corporate operations extracting valuable moon minerals.
🔹 Ships for Mining
- Venture → Free via Career Agents or cheap to buy
- Mining Barges (Retriever, Procurer, Covetor) → Larger ore holds, more yield, or tank depending on choice
- Exhumers (Hulk, Mackinaw, Skiff) → Advanced versions of barges for serious miners
- Orca & Rorqual → Fleet support ships with boosts and compression (not for beginners)
🔹 Skills for Miners
- Train these early:
- Mining I–V → Basic mining lasers
- Mining Upgrades → Fit better mining equipment
- Astrogeology → Increases yield
- Mining Frigate → Bonus to Venture
- Industry & Refining skills → Better mineral yield after refining
- Skills greatly improve profit, so train them steadily.
For a more in depth look into skills check the skills pages
🔹 Where to Mine
There are 4 main spots to mine –
- Asteroid Belts (standard ores like Veldspar, Scordite)
- Ore Anomalies (Richer ores but are often in lower security space)
- Ice Belts (for ice mining)
- Moon Mining Sites (corporation-controlled; advanced)
Security Levels –
- High-sec (0.5–1.0 systems): Safe but low-value ores. Good for learning.
- Low-sec (0.1–0.4): Riskier, better ores, more pirate activity.
- Null-sec (0.0) & Wormholes: Best ores, richest rewards, but very dangerous.
- 👉 As a new player, stick to high-sec and learn the ropes.
🔹 Ship Fitting
- Mining Lasers / Strip Miners
- Mining Laser Upgrade (MLU) modules
- Shield/armour tank or warp stabilizers
- Optional: Mining Drones
- Visit the fitting pages for LSE approved fits
🔹 Staying Safe
- Beware suicide gankers (Catalyst, Coercer, Talos).
- Avoidance tips:
- Don’t AFK,
- fit tank,
- mine away from hubs,
- don’t use blingy modules.
- Use d-scan to check for hostiles in low/null.
- Mine aligned (point your ship toward a station/warp-out).
- Join a corporation for fleet mining protection.
🔹 Mining in Fleets
Mining fleets are the most profitable and social way to mine.
- Boosters (Orca/Rorqual) give yield, range, and cycle bonuses.
- Haulers keep miners working without downtime.
- Combat ships protect against rats and gankers.
🔹 Making ISK from Mining
- Sell Ore Directly – Quick ISK.
- Refining: Get minerals (e.g., Tritanium, Pyerite).
- Industry – Use minerals to build ships/modules and sell them (long-term path).
- Sell Ore Directly – Quick ISK.
- Refining: Get minerals (e.g., Tritanium, Pyerite).
- Industry – Use minerals to build ships/modules and sell them (long-term path).
Check the LSE Ore buy back for an how to sell directly to LSE, no need to haul your own or
🔹 Final Tips
- Always check the market value of what you’re mining.
- Look for Ore Anomalies in quieter systems.
- Fit Survey Scanners to check asteroid content.
- Avoid high-traffic belts and mine during off-peak hours.
- Start in a Venture and train for Mining Barges within your first week.
- Always mine in safe areas until you understand PvP dangers.
- Use Survey Scanners to maximize yield and avoid wasted cycles.
- Upgrade skills steadily—Mining → Astrogeology → Mining Barge → Exhumers.