Originally by: Siigari Kitawa

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Is mining ice in a Retriver a way to make money in any good or reasonable fashion? I am curious, as I want to try ice mining in highsec.

Thanks!

(PS: expected isk/hr would be great)

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Originally by: Zimbalza

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Mining ice is a touch more complicated than the mining of ore.

The minerals derived from ore are used in the building of just about everything Eve has to offer, while ice is used for little else than PoS and Jump fuel.

The appetite for minerals by industrialists is quite high while the demand for ice and ice products are usually met by the corps with the assets that consume it internally.

Mining the ice itself is touchy. There are generally fewer ice belts than there are asteroid belts and so its a bit harder to find but near impossible to deplete. Each unit of ice takes a significant time to collect and unlike ore mining, stopping the cycle early does not yield partial amounts (except for the mackinaw, half a cycle WILL yield 1 ice unit). Each unit of ice is quite large so cargo capacity becomes a very real limitation without hauling plans. Ice is a bit harder to refine perfectly, but when it is refined the space it takes up drops considerably.

To mine ice for profit, what profit there is, should really only be done with a mackinaw with double Ice Harvester Upgrade II's, double ice harvester II's and the highest rank in the Exhumers skill you can manage. You can try this with a Hulk but the only reason would be to equip a tank setup as a mackinaw is a very, very flimsy ship indeed.

As stated above, there are few reasons to mine ice as a single player. The positive qualities are:
1) Most AFK mining you are likely to find
2) Ice is very, very hard to deplete
3) Competition for ice is nearly non-existent

Mining ice in low sec/null sec/worm holespace may be more profitable as the ice found there is richer in refined materials. If you are mining ice in any of those places you are likely also in a corp run mining operation to fuel corp needs.

In general, it is advised to stay away from ice mining if you are doing it as a means of earning ISK. Mining ice in a max-yield mackinaw is pretty slow and terrible earnings, in a retriver...no, just don't. Only reason to mine ice in a retriver is just to do it, get experience using an ice harvester and have a few chunks of ice in your station cargo.

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