Eve Ore - How to Pick the Best Type of Ore for Mining

There are a few varieties of Eve ore at hand in Eve Online. As each form comes with pros and cons, it is necessary to select the right form. In this article you will learn 5 ways to make this choice.

So, are you a newbe in Eve Online, who is just getting into mining ore? Or are you a rich, accomplished industrialist, who just wants to have fun with something different for a change? The answer here will give you the first indication of what class of eve ore will be most suitable for you. If you already have good refining skills and you can start using tier two mining crystals quickly, you can technically harvest any eve ore you wish. If you are a new player however, it is wise to go for an ore easy to mine.

The second category of skills to take into account is Spaceship Command. In what ship are you going to start your mining adventure? Is it a general purpose ship like a frigate, cruiser or battleship? Or will you be using a specialized ship like an exhumer or mining barge to breeze through the asteroid belts? The improved lasers can only be fit on exhumers or mining barges. Therefore it is wise to stick to low-end ores when you can not fly specialized mining ships yet.

Defensive and drone skills are also critical. In the safest solar systems (1.0 space) you can harvest ore (Veldspar) mostly undisturbed. The less safe your solar system is however, the more frequently monsters will visit your asteroid belt to interrupt your mining and the more dangerous they will be. You will need to be able to outlive the monsters and take them out, while your high slots are filled with mining equipment. This requires good defensive and drone skills. Stick to the lower-end varieties of eve ore when those skills are lacking, since these varieties of asteroids are found in high security systems.

The fourth important consideration is the price of ore. The Eve marketplace is entirely player run and very dynamic. Are there a lot of hostilities going on where ships are lost? Then demand for new ships is increased, and prices of ships go up. Then minerals like tritanium required to produce those ships go up too. And the ore that can be processed into those minerals will also become more precious. Fluctuations like these will determine what ore will be most beneficial to mine at a certain period in time. Eve is never easy to foretell!

Finally, lets take a look at how big all those Eve Online ore units really are. There is quite a difference in volume. Veldspar has a size of 0.1 for example, while pyroxeres is 0.3 per unit. This means you will be travelling return trips to the nearest station to drop off your ore quite frequently if you are mining pyroxeres. As this time is not spent mining, your revenue will suffer unless you let a friend do the transporting for you. When you mine on your own, you are better off choosing a small kind of ore not too far from a station.