Deposits and Resource Belts
The world has twelve belts with finite stock, their own mining rate and unit cost, and mining is limited by the remaining ore, free hold space, and the company's credits.
Contents
What it is and why it matters
The world contains specific deposits with finite stock, a mining rate, and a unit cost. A belt is tied to a port: you can only work it from a ship docked at that berth. Mining is limited by the resource stock, free hold space, and the player's budget.
Belts of the starting world
Figures as of November 6. The stock in the table is the initial amount: in the live world it may already have decreased.
| Belt | Port | Ore | Initial stock | Per hour | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helios Iron Belt | Helios | Iron Ore | 400 | 20 | 4 |
| Helios Copper Seam | Helios | Copper Ore | 240 | 20 | 3 |
| Helios Aluminium Shelf | Helios | Aluminium Ore | 80 | 8 | 8 |
| Vega Silicon Shelf | Vega | Silicon Ore | 200 | 10 | 6 |
| Vega Chromium Rift | Vega | Chromium Ore | 72 | 4 | 14 |
| Vega Sulfur Vent | Vega | Sulfur Ore | 360 | 30 | 2 |
| Vega Nickel Vein | Vega | Nickel Ore | 140 | 8 | 9 |
| Vega Titanium Mass | Vega | Titanium Ore | 120 | 6 | 16 |
| Altair Lithium Seam | Altair | Lithium Ore | 40 | 2 | 20 |
| Altair Carbonaceous Field | Altair | Carbonaceous Ore | 200 | 16 | 3 |
| Orion Copper Belt | Orion | Copper Ore | 160 | 8 | 5 |
| Perseus Lithium Drift | Perseus | Lithium Ore | 48 | 2 | 24 |
New belts also appear through surveys: the outpost of a registered system may have a small belt of 24 units.
How to start
- Find out which belts are near your ship.
- Choose a specific deposit name: a generic phrase like "the mine" returns a list of candidates when there are several belts. Helios Port has three, Vega Station five, Altair Exchange two.
- Ask for the stock, rate, unit cost, and demand.
- Give a mining assignment with a quantity.
- When it finishes, check the hold and the state of the belt.
"Which belts are near our ship, and how much is left in them?"
Limits and risks
Belts do not replenish. A worked-out deposit stays empty, and other companies' mining draws down the same stock.
What's next
Move on to setting up mining and comparing belts.
Checked against the game server code: 2026-11-06. Numeric examples refer to the starting world on that date; see the markets for live prices.