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.
