2019.10.11
This is a very brief guide intended for newer players on the basics of mining, specifically in high security space.
As a new player, through certain in-game tutorial missions, you receive a Venture mining frigate. Horde's Newbean Initiative can also provide you with a Venture. The skills required to fly one are minimal, and it is a new miner's staple ship, boasting relatively good mining bonuses and a large ore hold.
The Pandemic Horde High Sec Division has 32 Athanors anchored in The Forge. Athanors are fitted with moon mining drills, which blasts chunks out of moons for harvesting. These moon chunks take time to cycle, and thus there is a schedule to these moons, viewable here:
When one of these moon chunks is ready, a fleet can be formed up to go mine it. This fleet will usually be fairly organized, with an FC and a larger ship providing mining boosts on grid. As with any fleet, there will be a Mumble channel for voice comms.
When you arrive at an Athanor, you can warp to a rock and activate your mining laser on it. The ore will be transferred to your Venture's ore hold. If you cannot see rocks on your overview, you need to adjust your overview settings:
When your ore hold is full, you should drop your ore into an Athanor labeled REFINERY nearby using the Cargo Deposit button . These Athanors are fitted Reprocessing Facilities, which allow you to compress your ore for sale and transport.
You will want to sell your ore, either by selling to a Horde buyer, or selling it in Jita yourself. We highly recommend the former, as transporting ore yourself makes you a target for ganking, even in high sec. Look on the forums or ask your FC if you need help on where to sell your ore.
In general, you will want to ask the FC to recommend which ore you should mine first. You will want the ore worth the most ISK, unless you are looking to keep the ore yourself for manufacturing. https://ore.cerlestes.de/market/ore - This website will show the market prices of any ore in Jita, which is a rough guide to what is worth/not worth mining.
Beyond your Venture, you can eventually upgrade into Mining Barges, and then Exhumers, each a more effective mining ship with better bonuses towards mining ore quickly. After reaching this level, consider looking into an Orca, the end all be all Industrial Command Ship, far beyond the scope of this guide.
Training Mining (more ore yield), Mining Frigate (improve Venture yield), and Mining Upgrades (improve yield with mining modules) will increase your efficiency. Training Mining Drone Operation and Mining Drone Specialization will also help, as you can start using drones to supplement your mining.