by Bill "FFCO" Falconburg

Every truly dedicated miner is looking for the bigger, better ore.  One such ore is Jaspet, commonly found in 0.3 and 0.4 solar systems.  Now we all know that low security systems (0.4 and below) are the PVP playgrounds.  Parking an ore barge at a belt in one of these systems usually means certain death.  So how do we rescue those poor little asteroids floating along helplessly, just waiting to be hauled into the safety of a station?  Ninja mining.  Mega-Corp or solo miner, ninja mining can save the day.  With some planning and preparation the process is easy and you can start raking in the ore with only a minor amount of risk involved.  Here are two of the best ways to ninja mine for Jaspet. 

 

Method #1  (NPC station in-system)

 

This is what you will need: 

 

1 Shuttle
1 Industrial
1 Retriever

 

The Retriever is ideal for ninja mining.  The Procurer is too small to make it worthwhile, and the Covetor is too expensive to risk without serious protection.  Outfit your Retriever with 2 Strip Miner 1's, 2 Nanofiber Internal Structure 1's and if you have the Electronics skill at level 5 (highly recommended) you will be able to fit a Small Shield Booster 1.  The shield booster isn't critical, but it does help.  You shouldn't be trying to tank fire when you are ninja mining.  Instead, you should be using speed, agility, and sneakiness to avoid being attacked at all. 

 

Once the Retriever is ready to go, get into your shuttle and go to your target system.  Using the shuttle, make 3 safe spots, an insta to the gate, and an insta to the station.  Then go get in your Industrial, put the shuttle (repackaged) into the cargo hold, and head back to the station you just made an insta for.  Pull the shuttle out and use it to go get your Retriever.  Congratulations, you are now ready to mine. 

 

Method #2  (no NPC station in-system)

 

This is what you will need:

 

1 Shuttle
1 Industrial (at least 9000m3 cargo capacity)
1 Retriever (Refer to method #1 for Retriever set-up)
3 Giant Secure Containers

 

Ninja mining without a station takes a little more time and effort, but it's worth it.  Stationless systems tend to be less populated, and that, of course, means less PVP activity.  When selecting a target system, make sure it is next to a 0.5 or higher security status system that has a station in it. This gives you a home base to put your ore in.   With that said, take your trusty shuttle and make 4 safe spots in your target system.  Label one of them "Ore Stash".  Then make an insta to the exit gate from "Ore Stash", and another insta from your home base station to the entrance gate.  Now put the 3 giant cans into your Industrial's cargo hold and head to "Ore Stash".  When you get there deploy and anchor all three cans.  You are now ready to go get your Retriever and start mining.  Using the Retriever, fill each secure container and your own cargo hold with Jaspet ore.  Then head back to your home base station and trade out the Retriever for the Industrial.  Go get the ore out of your cans, drop it off and go right back to mining.  You can keep repeating this process until you have had your fill of Jaspet. 

 

If you use these methods of ninja mining you'll be able to rake in tons of Jaspet with only minimal risk.  Remember, no matter how you mine in low security space, there will always be risk involved.  So stay sharp out there and happy mining!