Originally by: Pwett

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Edited by: Pwett on 27/02/2007 19:24:56
Edited by: Pwett on 27/02/2007 19:22:34
Maybe I'm the only one seeing it, but I see two arguments in this thread:

a) Isotopes are getting too expensive for non-aligned T2 producers / POS managers / etc.
b) Ice is not worth mining.

Maybe I believe in the free market and that's bad, but shouldn't a) solve b). We're still in a transitionary phase right now after the latest market shift, but if you have the refining skills, then the per/can value of standard ice is:

 Glacial Mass $3,534,992.64
 hydrogen isotopes 8,250
 heavy water 1,375
 liquid ozone 688
 strontium clathrates 28

and of your best 0.7+ ore:

 Scordite $3,242,444.79
 tritanium 458,609
 pyerite 229,029

Now, the three questions that you need to ask yourself is
a) how fast can I mine - for example, my hulk can fill a can in 11 minutes whereas my mack takes 25
b) how many cans of ore can you expect to find in a belt. - for example, the biggest of big scordite asteroids that I ever found in highsec were a bit less than a full-can of ore (and I had a system to myself). And there were never really all that many asteroids to begin with. It was easy enough to deplete an entire 8 belt system of scordite in a day.
c) Completely ignoring the time it takes to find full belts worth of scordite, or whatever the flavor of the month is, how much longer does it take you to get a full mining setup for X ore (skill training time (refining / reff eff x, ore IV, drone interfacing IV, mining drone V, and isk generation time (+/-600 mil to afford the hulk + 3 MDCM 2's) compared to a mackinaw (Ice harvesting V, Ice processing 1, and +/-100 mil for ship + strips)?

As more empire miners (b) realize that it might actually be more profitable to mine ice than their normal high-sec belts then prices for (a) will stop rising. Supply will increase to meet demand, it just takes time.

P.S. Numbers are from my index. 30-day, I do believe.

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