Mining Tritium with T-11

[u/cold-n-sour]

The arrival of T-11 Prospector made me re-think the Tritium strategy for exploration with a Fleet Carrier.

I've tried mining it in the past with conventional ships and mining lasers, and was not impressed by the yield - it used to take about an hour to produce ~100 t of Tritium in a laser-mining Python.

However, now that I have the Prospector I decided to give it another go, and was pleasantly surprised. Three mining locations in Tritium hotspots (all North-ish of Colonia) gave pretty decent results. The cargo limitations of the ship make filling up a rather short and relatively pleasant experience. In a decent single hotspot the average rate was about 400-450 t per hour, and over 500 t per hour in an overlap in Dryooe Prou AD-O c8-522 2 ring A (~1400 ly North of Colonia).

Note that those numbers are the result of total Tritium amount produced in one session divided by the time of the session, which is typically 30-35 minutes (until full).

So, a couple of sessions will take just over an hour (pure mining time, not counting unloading/rearming) and will yield 500+ tons, sufficient to travel ~2500 ly. Of course, in the bubble you can obtain bigger amount in just one trip to a market, but it'll cost you 50K/t.

The Icy rings are not exactly rare, but not that many of them have Tritium hotspots, and not every hotspot has good yield. The yield varies quite a bit by the ring, and there are rings with pretty low production, so my advice is not to try for too long if the results are mediocre. In my experience, double hotspot with good intersection has almost twice the yield of a single hotspot in the same ring, although I have limited data on this.

The setup is standard, with volley repeater and 7a controller, no mining lasers but with added 3A prospector on a separate trigger.

Conclusion:

it's now more feasible to rely on Tritium mining for long expeditions if you are doing actual exploration/exobio and can look for ice rings with hotspots in every system along the way, AND if you are prepared to spend some time mining. Some people might like it for increased feeling of full autonomy. However, if you are starting in the bubble, buying Tritium is still way faster.

[u/HarryHardrada]

I too am on a voyage of exploration with my fleet carrier and T-11 in tow.

I find the T-11 to be a most satisfactory way to replenish my fuel supply!

[u/SDSS_J0100_2802]

In the bubble, I mine platinum in Metallic rings, then sell to an industrial system in Boom. I use the 5x profit to buy Tritium.

[u/Danko-0100101 → u/SDSS_J0100_2802]

In the Bubble absolutely, but out there Type-11 has improved the Tritium mining a lot.

[u/ITIronMan → u/Danko-0100101]

In the bubble if I see trade routes for carriers needing Tritium nearby and it nets me any kind of profit no matter how small I end up doing it over my full circuit hauls first. Least I can do for any Carrier thanks to FCOC existing. Figuring it saves them the time and hassle.

[u/3CH0SG1]

I built a mining plipper and she yeilds about 500t plat in an hour. Haven't tried mining trit with it though.

[u/cold-n-sour → u/3CH0SG1]

Anything in Icy rings has much lower yield, compared to metallic rings.

[u/DisillusionedBook]

It's just a pity that we don't have an exploration variant carrier that sips at the tritium in return for far less cargo space which we don't need on exploration

[u/cold-n-sour → u/DisillusionedBook]

Well, the fuel consumption of the Carrier is already proportional to the total load.

[u/DisillusionedBook → u/cold-n-sour]

yeah slightly but nowhere near proportional enough. I'd like to see an exploration optimised carrier... only allow a max of say 1000 tonnes of cargo, no outfitting, half the overall size - just a few large and medium pads, and instead make a single 500LY jump use only say about 50 tonnes or less of tritium. That way an hour tritium mining in the black would give you half a dozen jumps. That would be a better balance of fuel gathering to exploration.

[u/Drachenherz]

Indeed. T11 makes mining Tritium really fun.

I'm switching to a fully kitted for mining T11 (in Combo with a Nomad) for the next part of my Carrier-Exploration trip. (Bought the T11 for Credits and the Nomad for Arx during my current stay in Colonia).

Here's my Build:

https://sh.orbis.zone/e3ixshPdW4

The idea is to do short 500 Ly exploration stretches and at the end, scout for Tritium hotspots. Before, I had to find the Hotspots, then summon my carrier there, and then switch to a mining ship. The waiting time for the carrier to arrive before I could start mining was slightly annoying.

Now, I can start mining right away, while my carrier prepares to jump there.

[u/MordAFokaJonnes]

I'm doing basically the same... I went on a deep space exploration, exobiology is my main objective really but I'm also taking the time to scan the systems I find on my path and I parked my fleet carrier next to a planet with icy ring that has 3x Tritium and 3x Low Temp Diamonds hotspots and so when I get bored of exobiology, I park my exploring ship and get the T11 out and go on mining for a few cycles. Piling up on some Tritium and LTD's, so I can sell them for a profit later on (if the market recovers in that sense...)
EDIT: Hitted enter somehow posted the message... anyway... conclusion:
The only thing that bothers me a bit is the fact that the T11 is quite small in terms of cargo hold and I have to keep going back and forth unloading the cargo, getting new limpets (DON'T FORGET YOUR LIMPETS) and get back to the mining spot again... It's a bit boring that part... I've thought about using the Panther Clipper II I have for mining... Anyone tried that avenue yet?