First, you need a mining beam. Buy one off the market, under the Weapons section, in Arenev (or Areyh if Arenev is out of stock). Next, equip it to your ship in either a Cannon or Universal slot (this slot NEEDS to have an orange background, not a black background like the bottom one in my image).


Next, you'll want to undock and leave the station's sector. Then you'll want to find an asteroid belt to mine. A recent edition is explorable asteroid belts you can find by flying around the system map, but this guide will only be for permanent sectors. There are permanent sectors in each system that usually contain mineable asteroids. You can find them on the minimap or via an arrow.



Note that Hanna in Arenev (and some other systems near Arenev) almost always has no asteroids in it, so you'll have to head to another system to mine if you can't find any there.

Once you are in an asteroid belt, you'll want to spin around like mad while spamming R. This is the best way to find asteroids. When you have one targeted, it'll appear on the top of your screen, with whatever resources it contains.


Once you've found one, get between 100-500m from it, aim at it with your crosshair, and hit 1 (or whichever key has the mining laser on it). It should start mining immediately, with resources appearing in your cargo bay as you mine. Make sure to watch your cargo bay by pressing H, then stop mining once it fills up.


Next, you'll want to sell your resources. Currently the easiest way to do this is to fulfill NPC demands at a station. Only certain stations have demands for the items you'll mine. Most can be sold to Basic Processing Stations. To find one, open your map with M and look for Basic Processing beneath the system name.



Some stations may have their demands fulfilled already. To find out, open up the market and check the Resources>Asteroids tab. If the station is buying, all you need to do is click Sell next to the demand, enter the quantity you have in your cargo, and voila! You're rolling in the bank now.


I hope this guide has helped you on your journey to become a space miner. Good luck, and remember to ask in the Help or Rookie channels if you have any other questions!