SakashiroWhich is F-ing boring, let's face it. It's the opposite of adventure.

Sir-Duke

Episparh

Why bother with anaconda then? Python is 192t and have it in faster and better handling package.

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Hmm... How many collector limpets do you use at a time?
Please don´t say "all"
XD

Sakashiro... low LTD content ...

1. Platinum laser mining - a game of boredom
2. Core mining for Musgravite, Monezite and other cores that are present in rocky rings. This is more engaging but you end up with 2-3 commodities to sell at the end.

Episparh
Let me stop you here as this 3 words summarize your problem. LTD content is usually half than what you would see in painite/platinum rock. LTD rocks max is around 35% while painite is around 70%. Back in the days only Borann was a thing because of the overlaps , usually every 2nd rock had 10+ % LTDs it still was not very effective and subject to RNG, this is why the miners invented mapped runs. Back then painite was considered more consistent while LTD was a meta only with right ship and map/luck. Back then a core mining LTD and VO were the usual go to for new CMDRs for starting money as 2 rocks were enough to fill up a cobra.

SakashiroActually I was looking for platinum first, but metallic rings seem to be about as rare as ELWs, and metallic rings with platinum hotspots even more so. However, I mined LTDs before (in my Courier, lol) but don't remember it being that slow. In fact I once mined 30 LTDs in a shorter time, even though I didn't have limpets and had to scoop the fragments manually, and I had to do it in three runs because the Courier had only 6 cargo and 4 refinery bins. I expected a smoother experience with a proper mining ship, so this session was slightly disappointing. If I had spent the time just hauling with my T-9 instead, the profits would have been ten times higher.

Quillmonkey

You are talking only about surface mining. Core mining does not follow these percentages. It’s all covered in the doc i posted above.
LTD are still fine for cores, however I’d actually go to VO hotspot to pick up opals, ltd and a bit of tritium.
As for boring: I find mining in hazRES quite entertaining and profitable. Though now I tend to map if I need some cash for speed.

SakashiroActually I was looking for platinum first, but metallic rings seem to be about as rare as ELWs, and metallic rings with platinum hotspots even more so. However, I mined LTDs before (in my Courier, lol) but don't remember it being that slow. In fact I once mined 30 LTDs in a shorter time, even though I didn't have limpets and had to scoop the fragments manually, and I had to do it in three runs because the Courier had only 6 cargo and 4 refinery bins. I expected a smoother experience with a proper mining ship, so this session was slightly disappointing. If I had spent the time just hauling with my T-9 instead, the profits would have been ten times higher.

Anadromous#1229Asteroid populations differ between console and PC. Rocks are persistent, and respawn every 6 hours rather than once a week like core asteroids.

SakashiroOK, so I filled up my shiny new Python's cargo hold with limpets and left the bubble in some random direction. I scanned dozens of systems and after a long time found a planet with a low temperature diamond hotspot in its icy ring. I dropped into the hotspot, killed two pirates, then started prospecting. Nothing, nothing, nothing, low LTD content, nothing, nothing, nothing... I realized that if I continued wasting limpets on prospecting, I would soon run out of them. So I started flying from rock to rock and shooting my mining lasers at them. Whenever LTD fragments began to show up, I shot a prospector limpet at the rock to increase the yield. The results still weren't great, but at least I managed to cut down the insane limpet wastage.

Now I have 14 units of LTD in my cargo hold and spent 47 limpets. And I'm wondering: How the F did people play this game before EDSM, EDMC, Inara etc. were around? Before every double and triple hotspot was mapped, before every market was monitored 24/7 etc.

The average price of LTD is 119,775 Cr, but thanks to Inara I know there's a place where I can sell them for 432,601 Cr. So there's a profit of 6 million credits waiting for me. Plot twist: While I was looking for a mining hotspot, I came across several Earth-like and water worlds and mapped them with my double-engineered surface scanner. So the exploration data in my ship is probably worth much more than the LTD in my cargo hold. And it was much less tedious to obtain. And it'll sell for the same price no matter where I go.

Bottom line: Without EDSM/EDMC, mining is an utter waste of time. Literally the only way to make it worthwhile is to mine where everyone else mines, and sell where everyone else sells. Which is F-ing boring, let's face it. It's the opposite of adventure.

SakashiroActually I was looking for platinum first, but metallic rings seem to be about as rare as ELWs, and metallic rings with platinum hotspots even more so. However, I mined LTDs before (in my Courier, lol) but don't remember it being that slow. In fact I once mined 30 LTDs in a shorter time, even though I didn't have limpets and had to scoop the fragments manually, and I had to do it in three runs because the Courier had only 6 cargo and 4 refinery bins. I expected a smoother experience with a proper mining ship, so this session was slightly disappointing. If I had spent the time just hauling with my T-9 instead, the profits would have been ten times higher.

Sakashiro
Now I have 14 units of LTD in my cargo hold and spent 47 limpets. And I'm wondering: How the F did people play this game before EDSM, EDMC, Inara etc. were around? Before every double and triple hotspot was mapped, before every market was monitored 24/7 etc.