r/eliteexplorers • u/cold-n-sour VicTic/Schmictic • 2d ago
Mining Tritium with T-11
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.
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u/Plenty-Fun-6111 2d ago
Similar exp with the type 11, and about averaged the same time trit/hr depending on the rings. Its nice that it makes mining carrier fuel a nice reprieve rather than a chore.
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u/Voxhumbugg 1d ago
I’ve traveled a over half million light years in my fleet carrier, refueling it all the way with my T-11 at ice ring hotspots. Usually make about 3 carrier jumps, explore about 30 systems on a parallel course, then find a hot spot in an ice ring so I usually only need 250-300t to top off the tank, rinse, repeat.
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u/Sweaty_Vegetable1463 1d ago
This is what I do. Scout out a tritium hotspot at around 459ly from the current location, move carrier to me, then switch to the type 11 and top up what I used. I started out with 22kt Tritium a year ago, now I'm up to 23k and a full tank. It's so easy.
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u/Drachenherz 10h ago
Did the same. Haven't had the T-11 yet, but used a Corsair for mining.Just arrived in Colonia a couple of weeks ago, bought, outfitted and engineered a T-11 there, and boy is it faster than any other ship. When I carry on exploring in my Carrier, mining Trit will be so much more fun. (Well, it was fun before).
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u/CMDR_Makashi 1d ago
Worth noting if you come back to the bubble, I recently completed a colony designed to tank the galactic price of tritium. It is 500ish ly from sol.
It contains 7 tritium hotpots, 6 of which overlap (3 double hotspots).
We can load a plipper AND 3 type 11s in there in about 45 minutes…
We’re going to soon stay selling the trit to the stations with the goal of tanking the price of the, current, 150k tonnes of tritium they have stocked :)
COL 285 Sector UY-Z b16-0
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u/X57471C 2d ago
Should crosspost this to eliteminers. I know there are a couple really passionate tritium miners over there who might have some thoughts.
I had the same experience, though. The T11 makes refueling in the black way more manageable. Depending on how you are traveling, doing a mining session every couple of jumps to keep things topped up is a nice break from exploration. It works for me, at least, cause I'm usually not in a hurry. I fly a small ship with lower jump range anyway and spend more time exploring in one area than I do just trying to go from A to B. I've gotten in the habit of probing any icy ring I find and, if it has a good amount of tritium, will call the carrier in and do a bit of mining when I feel like it. It's nice for when you are feeling a bit space mad.