Quantainium Mining - Episode 8, Star Citizen Mining Tutorial - Tips & Recommendation for Quantainium

[@ghostbustar]

Fairly new to the game and after watching many excellent guides such as this one I managed to successfully complete my first Quantanium mining trip today. I hadn't planned on mining Quant as I thought It would be wise to do a few practice runs on none volitile ores to start with but the very first rock I scanned had 33% Quant so I decided to risk it for a biscuit. It was a fairly nerve-racking experience for the first time but It went to plan and stored the prospector with 5 mins to spare, so the research paid off.

[@RedMonsterSC]

Awesome! Glad that the videos helped!

[@SpaceShortsYT]

With this very concise mining quantanium overview, you've earned a subscription today. Your information is detailed and easy to follow.

[@AnzuBralor]

I use the Lancet head, with a Surge module, a Brandt module, and an FLTR-XL module. The Surge instantly pushes the charge level up close to the green, so you only need to use it the once. Then I hit the Brandt to increase the stability and decrease the resistance, which makes the last little distance to reach the green easier at 100% power. Yes, it takes a little longer to fill in the green with Brandt active, but the easier control of the charge level makes up for that. Some people prefer the Stampede which does the reverse - you fill in the green faster, but the instability is much higher. I actually find that's a little faster, but requires a lot more concentration and messing around with power. The FLTR-XL is passive and just filters out some % of inert materials. Once the rock is initially broken up, 50% power is usually plenty to reach the green for the smaller pieces - you won't need Surge again. But Brandt can be useful for those 100% quant rocks, as you mentioned.

[@psykosmach6132]

thanks dude your comment allow me to discover the Brandt module it's amazing!

[@Drakey_Fenix]

The Brandt module is honestly one of the best modules for mining Quantanium. It's way to underrated considering that every KZbinr that makes these mining tutorials always skip it for something else, like the stampede (which is more for experienced miners.) Each one to their own of course, but the Brandt really is something every beginner miner should be using if they want to have an easier time. I'm experienced at this point but I still prefer the Brandt considering how much relaxed mining is with that equipped. This tutorial at least shows people that the Brandt is something to consider.

[@eonrier9469]

iv just started mining in SC, im slowly going through all of your videos so that i dont fubar anything, iv come across a few Q type asteroids but as im using a rental I cant seem to mine them, but after watching your modual video and this one, the next Q type im going to take a crack at mining, cheers for these videos

[@anthonysidbury8735]

I haven't started mining yet but I'm getting closer to buying my Prospector and jumping in. This was really great information that should really be very valuable going forward - thanks.

[@hroboys3817]

This is by far the best Video for mining Quantanium! Thank you so much!

[@RedMonsterSC]

You're very welcome!

[@Kyrra_Storm]

I didn’t even think about using the timer as a way to jettison cargo that isn’t as good as quantainium by taking only a little to get the cargo empty. That’s gonna come in handy. Thanks!

[@Shepelepsy]

solid video, I'm one of those miners about to jump into the Volatile Mining. I just learned Alt-J from you thanks!

[@xanmanxiii]

Before your tutorial = Quantanium killed me dead real quick and angry. After your tutorial = chillax Quantanium mining! TY!

[@kevinwsmith2021]

Thanks for this video series. I just started cracking Quantanium today and your video makes all the difference!

[@Argon2022]

The first time I mined Quant the other day I was in the mole solo cause it's all I have for this months subscription. The 7 minute alarm went off while my volume was up pretty high. It scared the fuck out of me cause it was 3 am and I thought it was someone screaming bloody murder.

[@BerlinCB]

It would be helpful if the end of the video also included where you refine and then sell. Thanks for the content.

[@thesen3D]

Awesome tutorial, just bought a prospector and a raft under iae to start my mining adventures

[@mikebryant538]

Nice guide! I found that Quantainium can spontaneously explode even with plenty of time and a gentle landing. I use the impound method but instead of touching down, my ship just hovers over the pad. Time impound fine is also time based so it often expires without having to pay anything.

[@Jett_Heller]

Ah, very god tutorial! Well done and thanks! Was aware of vehicle storage benefits but had not considered the impounding option. Nice suggestion with mined minerals ejection if coming across a good Quantinium rock. Usually run with 2 people in a Mole so loadout suggestions work well with double benefits. Generally with the Mole we will mine asteroids with good resources (Borase/Laranite) if we come across them and then go for a quantanium rock of good percentage. In the last stage we are happy just to extract all broken rocks without scanning because the Mole has 96 SCU storage capability which usually will not get filled up anyhow. Scanning before extraction just takes up too much time.

[@RedMonsterSC]

Thanks for being here! The jettison cargo keybind has been hit and miss with the 3.15 version, so be careful when relying on it for clearing out your cargo hold!

[@algee2005]

I tried with an empty cargo load, and when i pressed ALT+J, it fired off three times xD

[@cybershark2020]

@@algee2005 You need to have mining mode on otherwise it just throws the chaff!

[@cybershark2020]

Yes, because the actual button is somewhere in the right windshield when pressing F.

[@kile514]

great vid! i’m currently renting a roc and using my taurus to do some surface mining , gonna buy the rock then start to save up for a prospector 😎

[@user_16309]

This is great! Thanks!!

[@arenlarsen]

I am new to Star Citizen and this series of mining guides was very helpful. Thank you

[@TheEVEInspiration]

Currently using Lancet + 1 Brand and 2 x Focus III And I make sure that during extraction I use up any remaining charges of the Brand module so I can put a fresh one in once the ship is safely stored at base. This makes the base instability modifier with a Lancet be -73% and with an active Brand this becomes -93.2% (sufficient IMO). The resist modifier in both scenarios becomes -79.75% which should help getting quicker to the optimal without having to do a lot of module charge management. I also tried Brand + Vaux C3 + Focus III, which basically improves the overall baseline stats at the minimal expense of -4% optimal window size.

[@TheEVEInspiration]

Hmm, did some math based on my understanding of the resistance effect. It looks like Focus is always a bad choice for the Lancet (Torrent looks much stronger). 2 x Focus III is about on par with Torrent III + Rieger C3 (this combo is 10% more optimum window and adds less instability).

[@jeffjackson868]

Had the timer bug blow me up in like 5 minutes with a prospector full of pure quant lol

[@SOSYNZ]

i really want to start mining im so fed up with the roc. but feels like forever to get the monmey to buy the prospector. Good video all look at this once more to learn :D

[@vgames1543]

If you can, spend real money on the Prospector. You will keep it as long as you refresh the insurance and wipes don't remove it.

[@stephenconnor1847]

Great video, thank you. A question or two, if I may? A friend and I were Prospector mining on Lyria. We found a high percentage rock and worked together to break the initial large rock. We were very lucky and got a “good break” and eventually ended up with 4 purple rocks at close to 100%. We both extracted two then he almost immediately blew up and I quickly followed suit, with almost no warning. Was this just buggy SC? Was it related to the fact that he bumped my ship (before mining) and we both had “torque imbalance” warnings occasionally? Was it related to the fact a few of the rocks fragmented violently with a full green zone but partially filled red - they didn’t explode but the pieces did fly off at a fair clip? I also wondered if it was related to the quantity we extracted, is there a limit? Running solo the day before I extracted 1100cSC with no issue. Sorry for all the questions, but I’d love to find a viable method of making money in this game that doesn’t involve death!

[@RedMonsterSC]

Thanks Stephen! That seems to be happening to other players as well. Here's an issue council report that you can help contribute to: issue-council.robertsspaceindustries.com/projects/STAR-CITIZEN/issues/STARC-12966 Unfortunately in that situation the only choice you have is to quickly jettison your cargo to avoid blowing up. I have a separate video in the quick fixes playlist about how to jettison. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIO1k2ijeNxpo5Y

[@cybershark2020]

Hey, me and a friend tried a couple of times the Lyria mining operation but we found many problems when mining on the surface that do not exist in space mining. He blew up when trying to mine exactly like your friend and one possible issue is that gravity affects these volatile rocks turning them into projectiles almost. So a trick I discovered is to start moving away in reverse from the rocks as soon as it almost breaks so it doesn't hit your ship. Also it would be prudent to max your shields on the yellow rocks if you can't max them on the parent rocks cause you need the power. Other problems on planet mining are : HUD tremors, bad visibility on the mining indicator, big rocks that need a MOLE or 2 prospectors, rock instability that throws rocks a long distance and rock overlap when they glitch into the ground.

[@Maxos43]

Sometimes even if (IMO) I don't hit the landing pad to hard, the quant is fully change in inertmaterial in the refinery. Also how long the quant will take once you have done the first break before it turns into inert ? You can make you ship store to avoid to loose you're quantainium. No need to touch the pad to being impound just fly above it. I'm pretty sur sometime the timer of instability add some times while you're adding quant to the cargo. And finaly if you can put the laser control power on a throttle, it helps a lot to push energy by go from "0 to 100%" in a seconde (depending on the rock, I can not be consider responsible for any dommage on your ship for this tips) Funny at 11:44 there is subtitle inser from YT on the video, something about Microtech that is not in the video :D

[@RedMonsterSC]

Thanks for the heads up on the subtitles. That was part of the original video script that I edited out on the video, but forgot to remove from the subtitles. Should be fixed now.

[@darth_merkin3626]

Hey Monster! I love your tutorials on mining! Thank you so much! So, in one of these videos which now I can't find, you had a chart with 'mileage' distances between various Lagrange points that would drop you into that hidden asteroid belt. I can't find it for the life of me. Would you mind sharing it again? Thanks for any help!!!

[@RedMonsterSC]

Those charts are from the cornerstone group. The links from the description may need to be updated, but in the meantime you can just search online for "cornerstone group asteroid belt distances" and should get it.

[@christophertinker493]

I'm a new quantanium miner with no luck on a successful haul.

[@RedMonsterSC]

Patience and the right equipment are your friends here. :)

[@vgames1543]

I tried a Helix 1 loadout with Brandt and 2x Vaux C3 but could not even scratch a 6.9k rock with 35% Quant. I only managed to crack it with the help of another player who had a mole nearby.

[@n00bster83]

I was looking through the cheatsheet for best deep space Quantanium deposits; yellow X indicates best followed by green and then white or is it the other way around? Thanks for the clarification, great guide!

[@RedMonsterSC]

Yes, that's correct. I had established a color code in one of my other charts but neglected to copy over the legend to this one.

[@cybershark2020]

Very good question!

[@magnusjohnson138]

what is the best deployable mining device for quant mining in an asteroid belt with instability loadout 1?

[@anthonylitten9504]

How do you use the brant module.

[@vanguardgaming704]

Great/informative video. Quick question. I noticed on your videos that your able to clearly see the progress marker when your mining. I can barely make out mine when I do it. Any suggestions on how I can get this to look better? Thanks in advance.

[@RedMonsterSC]

The Prospector HUD has some current issues making the display hard to read. Until CIG fixes it, you could try and adjust your gamma settings lower, although that will affect the rest of your game visibility. The orange HUD is in the Argo Mole which is a lot easier to read.

[@hyde3735]

Can’t find the lancet mining laser at any of the L1s or the L2. Don’t see a kiosk or it displayed.

[@RedMonsterSC]

The terminals have a hidden category. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJinmYCYpJedfNU Also, I know you've already found and commented on that video, but I'm going to link it here for those who might have that question in the future.

[@hyde3735]

@@RedMonsterSC thanks again for your help; greatly appreciated

[@dianeweaver8379]

Outstanding tutorial! One question: Once I get to transporting my Refined Quantanium to sell at a TDD, is there a stability time-limit on the transport of the refined ore as well?

[@RedMonsterSC]

Refined materials are stable, so there's no time limit anymore.

[@Takamitzu]

Just a quick question at my Prospector the Scan Result and Cargo Tab is Looking very different compare to urs barly hard to read how can i change it to make it look like urs ?

[@RedMonsterSC]

There's a known issue with the Prospector HUD brightness and glitching for the latest patch. I'm betting mine looks a lot like yours now.

[@mikebryant538]

I'm a long time miner but I just did my first Quantainium run in 3.15 and was dismayed at the changes. My scanning display shows all sorts of flickering distortion making it very hard to see the power levels. The color scheme for the charge bar is now white on light green which is very poor contrast. It would be nice if this was due to cheap equipment which I could upgrade but I'm worried that CIG decided to make mining harder by making it more difficult to see what is going on. Any tips for making the new displays stay on and not flicker?

[@RedMonsterSC]

There are a few open issue council reports for this issue. None of them list any good workarounds unfortunately. This does not appear to be an intentional problem that CIG introduced, but something they should be working on tracking down and fixing. Here's one of the issue council reports, but there are other duplicates linked to this: issue-council.robertsspaceindustries.com/projects/STAR-CITIZEN/issues/STARC-23576

[@mikebryant538]

@@RedMonsterSC Thanks for the link. I'm pretty sure it was added intentionally to provide immersion but the frequency of glitches is very frustrating. I stopped playing during 3.14 due to mining bugs, it looks like I may be doing the same for 3.15.

[@Savukala]

Still mining on the dark side.. 😁

[@mikebryant538]

@@Savukala Has mining improved any in the latest version? I haven't played in a very long time, waiting for some improvements.

[@Savukala]

@@mikebryant538 Hi, I couldn't say for much since I only got into the game about half a year ago so I have not really experienced any patches yet and dont know what it was like before. What I can say though is that the UI is still a challenge, mining in Lyria's sun-facing side is really tough because of the white on white thing. I do mine on the dark side though and I like how there is a lot of customizable parts to put into your prospector so it can suit your particular mining style, but its a grind of course. Still a full load of quantanium gives you about 280k aUEC after processing, so it is a real good value but finding the right rocks can sometimes take a long time.

[@_Brando_69]

Found my first rock that I couldn't bust today. 7k mass 55 percent quant

[@Lightstep9]

Are there still selling Quantanium headaches at cities? Meaning there are selling caps of how much they receive and stuck with a sell window waiting for an opening.

[@RedMonsterSC]

Nope! I believe that was addressed in a server side towards the end of 3.14. Made both mining and trading a lot more enjoyable!

[@JohnVanderbeck]

If you are mining Quant on Microtech where are you refining it? Are there any places close enough that have a good Quant output?

[@RedMonsterSC]

MIC L1 refinery does offer some quantanium yield bonuses so I would definitely go there. Anywhere else is too much of a trip with the limited time on quantanium.

[@n00bster83]

Also a follow up question, is the Brandt module absolutely necessary? Wouldn't 3x filters maximize your profit by reducing the inert materials to the least amount possible?

[@RedMonsterSC]

That would be up to your personal preferences. The Brandt certainly helps when you get those trickier rocks with high instability, although filtering out ~50% of inert materials is useful when you get a bad break. If you're confident in your abilities to manage highly unstable rocks, then go for the FLTRs!

[@Bitchesgivehigh5s]

If you have a mole you can run one full laser with all 3 FILT and just use the other 2 for what hes talking about.

[@JohanFroloff81]

How do i change the hud colour? I have seen yellow and light blue, i think it has something to do with what helmet you are wearing.

[@RedMonsterSC]

That's based on the ship you're mining in. Unfortunately star citizen doesn't offer the ability to change HUD colors.

[@TheEVEInspiration]

@@RedMonsterSC I seen my change on the Mole and it was after I installed the XL-1 (before I was running Crossfield). As both are from the same manufacturer and military, it must have something to do with the Grade (my theory). I made some other changed too, like coolers and shields, I do not suspect those are of influence.

[@MegaMonty28]

Ok so I need to know what im doing wrong.. I rented a prospector.. and went to Lyria surface to mine quant. I could not find any quant. Only found 1 quant rock in more than 1 hour of searching and it was more than 6k mass and 34% quant. Can someone point me at the right direction please?

[@RedMonsterSC]

So, the rented prospector will have a hard time with Quantanium, But you can still make money with the right materials. Check out my tutorial for rented prospector here kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKHaeH6ViLuSsLs.

[@techhab3139]

When I transport my refined quantanium, why can I not just use my prospector to transport it to my sell location?

[@RedMonsterSC]

The prospector cargo space is designated for raw ore and doesn't have a cargo grid for refined ore or commodities. You can try renting a transport ship from the shop below where you put in the refinery order.

[@cybershark2020]

@@RedMonsterSC Yes, I rented the Cutlass for this from the space rafinery, it works to sell your rafined goods at the planet trade terminal.

[@AnzuBralor]

Hey Red, what's your source for that table at 5:08 ? And I don't really understand the meaning of the different colours in the table, can you explain?

[@RedMonsterSC]

The gold X's are the best locations, green X's are better than average. There are some online sources with more detailed/updated information with scouting locations.

[@AnzuBralor]

Thanks!

[@ManFunNeverForgot]

I'm a new miner. Luckily I am prepareing PRIOR to launching the game..

[@skorp11on30]

Have they removed bed logging out from the Mole.? Why.???

[@RedMonsterSC]

Bed logging should still work. I haven't heard of it being removed. Just make sure you're on a landing pad or in space first and shut off your engines.

[@skorp11on30]

Ahh yep, i confirmed it is still there and working, i wasn't looking in the right direction when i was lying in the bed.

[@TeddyLindsell]

Greetings and a question, if I’m unfortunate enough to reach critical levels on QT and choose to eject the cargo, can it be recovered once or if it stabilises again?

[@bradenwoods1111]

It goes boom...so no lol

[@raulbustamante8749]

2 years later I wonder if jetisoned Quantanium can be recovered

[@RedMonsterSC]

Sadly there's nothing left behind when you jettison to scoop up later on. It's all just lost.

[@rickeverett5807]

Is it possible to break up a 6000+ mass rock with a Lancet? I’m not having much luck. I can usually get to optimal zone with a surge, or sometimes two surges, but usually it falls back out of the zone before it will break and usually a third surge will overcharge it and blow it and my ship. Have also tried a surge, then a stampede with no luck either. Thinking that it’s just too much for the Lancet to handle, but if anyone has suggestions it would be appreciated!

[@RedMonsterSC]

If you're willing to test a little, the torpid or forel modules will cut resistance by 20%. That and that MAY help you make positive ground on charge levels.

[@rickeverett5807]

@@RedMonsterSC thanks for the response! I should have watched some of your other vids before asking. This one popped up in my recommendations and sure glad it did as your mining tutorials are the best I have run across. Sub added, thanks again!

[@thejohngalt7078]

Where on the microtech moons do you find the most deposits of quantanium?

[@RedMonsterSC]

Honestly they're going to be scattered around the surface, so there's not one specific starting place I could point you to. Just that you'll have a decent shot of seeing them pop up.

[@user_16309]

5:08 the “x”’s are white, yellow and green. If there’s a Logan’s I’m not seeing it. What do the colors represent? Great series. Thanks!

[@RedMonsterSC]

Hey, the gold/yellow is best location, green is good. I had a legend in some of my other charts using the same design but looks like I'll need to add it here.

[@user_16309]

@@RedMonsterSC thank you! This series is fantastic! Re-watching a lot. Please don’t remove these!

[@RedMonsterSC]

@@user_16309 I appreciate that very much! They'll be sticking around for quite a while.

[@dalliias]

I'm new to it, made 300k in the first day

[@RedMonsterSC]

Congrats! Love it when the profits start rolling in!

[@dalliias]

@@RedMonsterSC Thanks! It’s a nice breakthrough I also started using Surge Mod, Brandt Mod and the FLTR-XL mod, these work really well together for me

[@chrisdale5631]

I’ve spent a few days looking on Clio and Caliope. I haven’t found any Quant. Any tips?

[@RedMonsterSC]

They should spawn there, I would just watch for the orange marbling on rocks and not spend too much time scanning other rocks. Lyria is a bit of a hot spot right now, since any rocks that are spawned in groups of 2 or more are quantanium.

[@chrisdale5631]

@@RedMonsterSC so your saying rocks on Clio have good amounts but don’t spawn in the clusters like on Lyria?

[@RedMonsterSC]

@@chrisdale5631 Somewhat the opposite. You can get clusters of rocks on any planet surface, but for some reason the clusters on Lyria are all quantanium.

[@chrisdale5631]

@@RedMonsterSC thanks for the replies. Seems the hotspot on Lyria is because that’s where the QT is found.

[@thingsido6067]

I see you do your mining with the helix laser? I made miljons with a Lancet, and exactly as Anzu in the comments, I do it with a Surge, Brandt and FLTR-XL. Is the Helix really worth it since it doesn't have the instability properties of the Lancet? Before patch 3.14 I found tons of the stuff on Lyria, I look for dark patches between mountains, sometimes it happens to be that the first rocks I see is a cluster of quant making a trip last less than 30mins. Are the moons arround Microtech much better? TIP: Swap the quantumdrive of the Prospector with a Spectre, shaves of a bit of time traveling to the station.

[@RedMonsterSC]

Hey, I did a lot of laser and module swaps when recording the video, although my usual laser is the lancet with one of the other module combos based on whether I'm running solo or in a group.

[@rogerstalder7184]

what about the module what reduces the Innerts? not usefull

[@RedMonsterSC]

It can be useful, but slows down your extraction rate. With Quantainium you have some time constraints to keep in mind, so anything that slows you down can be risky. My preference is to deal with some extra inert at the end in exchange for an easier-to-manage fracturing process.

[@cybershark2020]

Sorry to say this is NOT EVERYTHING. the most important part is finding the rocks and the hardest!