9.8 Mining

Mining is the process of using your ship to gather raw materials from gas clouds and asteroids. These materials can be crushed or compressed into raw materials which can then be refined at refineries, which can then be sold on the MARKET, or further processed in autofactories.

Here's how to do it.

Gathering from a gas cloud 
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   * First you need to buy some of those scoops at a station. They are consumables, you will use one scoop per load of gas, so buy several. Consult MARKET LIST SCOOP to view scoops available for purchase on the market, or do SHIPFORGE ENTER (or SF ENTER) to buy ship stuff. The SF SUPPLIES to view what's available. Then SF LOAD SCOOP 3. Then SF CHECKOUT.
   * Now you need to find a gas cloud.
   * Next SHIP DEPLOY SCOOPS and move through the cloud, scooping up whatever it is. Note that your ship looks different when scoops are deployed.
   * If your ship is fitted with a Gas Compressor, you can SHIP COMPRESS to start compressing the gas, removing it from your scoops and placing it into your cargohold. The gas is ready to sell on the market.
   * If you do not have a compressor, or would prefer to refine it directly, you can head to a refinery. See REFINERY LIST for refinery locations.
   * See HELP REFINING for more information.
   * You can also use HARVESTDRONES. For these you will need either the specific small module installed, or to be flying a superhauler, as they have them automatically. See HELP HARVESTDRONES for how to use them.

Tethering an asteroid 
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   * Now you need to buy some tethers at a station. They are consumables, you will use one tether per asteroid, so buy several. Consult MARKET LIST TETHER to view tethers available for purchase on the market, or do SHIPFORGE ENTER (or SF ENTER) to buy ship stuff. The SF SUPPLIES to view what's available. Then SF LOAD TETHER 3.
   * Now go find an asteroid!
   * Get adjacent to the asteroid and face it.
   * Now you can SHIP PROBE ASTEROID, or just SHIP TETHER ASTEROID.
   * If your ship is equipped with an Ore Crusher, you can now use SHIP CRUSH to begin crushing the tethered asteroid into raw materials which are placed in your cargohold. The materials are now ready to be sold on the market.
   * If instead you wish to refine the asteroid directly, head to a refinery.
   * See HELP REFINING for more.


*Note: Use of crushers and compressors is highly recommended! Refining directly from your scoops and tethers will cost marks, but crushing and compressing is free and allows you to start making bank!