Orbital Mining versus Automated Mines

[Fistandantillus7 (OP)]

Orbital Mining versus Automated Mines, why would a person choose one over the other? The former is an in-orbit ship/station and the latter is an on-planet instillation but… what in-game mechanic makes these choices different? Why spend the RP on orbital mining when automated mines need no research?

OK I know Orbital Mining can only be done on small bodies (<500km, specific size based on technology I believe) so Automated Mines or orbital habitats + staffed mines are needed on a venusian planet. Other than that… 

[Scandinavian]

1. Orbital mines cost half of what automines do (technically a little over half, since you have to wrap them in a hull). This is what your research points buy you.
2. Orbital mines benefit from ship officer mining bonuses, not civilian governor mining bonuses.
3. Different logistics footprint - automines use freighters or civilian liner capacity; orbital miners use tugs or move under their own power
4. Orbital mines can be built in shipyards, which have much faster production ramp-up rate than general construction factories, but which are much less flexible than general construction factories.

[nuclearslurpee]

Manual Mines: cost 120 corundium, require population to work. You usually want to use these if possible because they are cheap, but population is often a limiting factor (either a body is difficult to colonize, or you simply can't move people fast enough).

Automated Mines: cost 240 corundium, require no population to work. These are in terms of resource efficiency the worst choice, but they will always work in every situation which often makes them a necessary evil.

Orbital Mining Modules: cost 120 corundium (plus a bit for ship structure, etc.), require no population, but can only operate on small bodies. These are actually the best possible mine you could use (same cost as manned, no population requirement) but are only usable on a limited set of bodies so sadly you cannot use them for everything.

For an effective economy you will need to build all of these in most cases. Players often want to avoid Automines but they offer a lot of usefulness in avoiding a mineral crunch when your colonization fleets are not moving people to manned mining worlds as quickly as your shipyards chew through your duranium reserves.

[misanthropope]

if your RPs are really tight or if you are starting in a much less orbital-friendly system than sol, automines might be the way to go for you early.  but in the standard-ish start i'd say focus on orbital to get that first push outwards, and hopefully you can pay the iron price instead of the gold price for your automines in the midgame.  eventually your terraforming will markedly outstrip your growth rate, and at that point the need for automines starts to really wind down.

scandinavian's last point is very important early on.  CF capacity is crushingly expensive at low tech.

[Fistandantillus7 (OP)]

Thank you all.