Mining asteroid belt?

[Bubbaisagod (OP)]

This is my first post on this forum, therefore i will start by saying: Hello!

After years of surveying, i sadly had to conclude that the only sources of neutronium the sol system are small deposits on asteroids.
The biggest ore deposit is 26000 tonnes but most of them are -10000 tonnes
My question for the community is: What is the best way to mine those minerals?

1) Placing automines and massdrivers
2) Build a huge fleet of mining ships
3) . . .

[Haji]

Automines due to their versatility - you know you'll have a use for them after you're done with the asteroids. You don't have that guarantee when it comes to asteroid mining ships, and they are surprisingly expensive. Not as much as automated mines, but even the modules themselves cost more than normal, manned mining complexes and you'll need additional minerals for all the stuff associated with building a ship/base like armor, crew quarters, possibly engines and fuel storage.
The third possibility is to rely on civilian mining operations. You can read more about them on Aurora wiki ( http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Civilian_mining_complex ).  However you cannot control their growth (which can be slow at the beginning) you need a colonized body (with population) for the process to even begin, and the civilian mines are established only on bodies with duranium present. And it costs money to buy those mineral of course.
All in all automated mines are the most reliable method of getting minerals from asteroids, and most other bodies in fact.

[Barkhorn]

Automines and mass drivers are your cheapest bet, they can both be delivered by civilians, which saves you fuel and micromanagement headaches.  They can also be shipped to planets when their asteroids are mined hollow.

I recommend working on jump tech though, and searching nearby systems.  You'll probably find some much larger sources of everything.  For instance, it's not uncommon to find planets with tens of millions of multiple minerals.  In my current game, I have a planet with over ten million of everything but Tritanium.  Which is no problem because other planets in the system have millions of that.

[Brian Neumann]

The only time I ever find asteroid miners to be useful is when there are a lot of asteroids in a system with small deposits with high accessibility that I desperately need.  If the deposits are only a few hundred to a thousand tons then moving the auto mines around is just a big hassle.  The asteroid miner is a single order, and it costs less in general.  The ship overhead is where things can get expensive.

Brian

[Viridia]

I'm currently relying on civilian mines and buying up what they dig out. Excellent source of minerals without having to fuss about doing it myself, but as already mentioned the main downside is civilians won't expand outside a system unless you do.

[Bubbaisagod (OP)]

Thanks for the fast response and the detailed answers . . .
40% of my construction capacity is now allocated to making automines and massdrivers.
Next thing on my list are a few cargo vessels.

[Barkhorn]

I actually havent seen my civilians expand from sol at all, even systems with asteroids that have lots of duranium.

[NihilRex]

You need a pretty large civilian population in the system, and Sol has to be heavily mined on the civilian side of things, before they leave Sol.

[Sharp]

you don't really need to many mass drivers, especially if you are running low on neutronium, cheaper just to get a freighter to do the occasional pickup as sorium is more plentiful.