Belts in the drone regions are no different from belts elsewhere. The big problem, and one that has been pointed out repeatedly elsewhere is that there are no good sources of low-end minerals in null. That is, the only time folk will mine low ends is so that they can roll and respawn a hidden belt for additional high-ends, and that is done only by big multi-player operations or by players who run a half-dozen max-skilled Hulks for hours at a time. What CCP should have done was introduce the miner equivalent of Plush compound, which is a huge source of tritanium and also accounts for half the value of a Drone Patrol or Horde. Or something similar.

As always: I don't have anything against buffing mining or removing drone alloys, so long as it's not done in isolation.

Sorry Gray Scale this is where CCP raw statistics don't take into account actual play:

Intro
Ask you self why do people mine ABC vs Other ores
GÇô It is not an issue profitable nor there being enough low ends it is an issue of Ease and safety! If those Ores were available then you would find those mining in High sec would be moving to null sec. Decreasing the Demand and Supply There fore no nerf and empire peeps will be able to find more asteroids to mine a buff.

In null sec High ends (ABC) are a lot easier and safer to come by because:
--> System upgrades produce hidden, difficult to scan, High Volume high quality roids that a hulk can sit at mine continuously for hours
--> In Regular belts the unit number may be small but the size per unit is large so a Hulk can get several cycles of a mining stripper off before the asteroid pops
Comparatively To mine Veldspar it is difficult because
-->The units of veldspare are the same number as ABC but the Size per unit is only a small fraction of the size, so they deplete extremely fast
-->This leaves the hulks to mine veldspar on regular belts which is a lot more dangerous as they are on the over view and can quickly be warped to.
--> The units of Veldspar may be large but the volume of veldspar isn't you may only get 2-3 cycles per roid before they pop. Resulting in a lot of partial cycles and a lot of relocating to collect veldspare to complete a manufacturing quota.

My Speciality for the past 5 years has been organizing null sec mining ops, and this is the biggest bottle neck for self sustaining mining in null sec. Other wise the same status quote will happen GÇô Mine Safe High ends in Upgraded belts ship them to empire in exchange for Empire ores in Empire which are compressed plates and jump them to Null sec. I though the current push for null sec is to be independent of Jita

Requested Recommendation:
For hidden Upgraded Belts
--> Substitute the Sportsman Asteroid with Veldspar but increase the unit sizes so a hulk has to mine the same volume to finish it off. (that would be so awesome)
-->Allow us to instal mining upgrade that can change the make up of the asteriod. If there was a level 1 mining upgrade that contained only Empire base ores you would be the toast of the town.(as we could just keep flipping that one belt over and over till we got the empire ores we needed) (this one fix would make null sec self sustainable and allow miners to fill local quotas easily)
-->Allow us to instal mining upgrades that focus on Hebergite and lower would solve the Noxium bottle neck that is currently felt.
For standard null sec belts
--> increase the amount of veldspar in each asteroid
Or Bring out new tools to mine
- Bring out a tool that would allow use to mine multiple asteroids as once ie a Mining drone the size of fighters that can only hit Empire ore types, to allow Carriers and and Super Carriers to mine 10 to 20 asteroids at the same time. Via jet can mining. Leaving the high end and longer to mine asteroids for barges to complete.

When dominion came out, the mining up grades encourage mining for profit (ship it and sell it to jita) not mine for local production.
Nerfing the drone regions of ores will not increase the number of miners on the bets. It will just limit the production with in that one region. (the CSM didn't ask the right people what will solve the problem.)

In summary:
Make all ores as easy to come by as ABCs. This will encourage the miners who would have been out in null sec for production out there. As it sits with the Dominion Expansion they are in empire where Empire ores are easier and safe to come by. Also remember Upgrade Belts Flip, Regular belts don't.
Increasing the access and safety to Empire ore will move those miners who mine for production out to null sec, there for decreasing the supply and demand for Empire ores resulting in a Buff to empire mining since asteroids will be easier to come by.