Type-9 HeavyMining

The Type-9 Heavy is Lakon's bulk freighter, and mining is simply bulk hauling with extra steps — which is exactly why it excels at it. Eleven optional internals (topped by two class-8 slots) swallow a maximum-size refinery, several collector and prospector limpet controllers, and still leave hundreds of tonnes of cargo room for the ore.

The trade is survivability. The Type-9 has notoriously weak shields and the agility of a moon — it cannot run from or fight off a determined pirate. As a mining platform that means choosing your ring carefully: mine in solo or a private group, pick low-threat systems, or bring a wingmate to ride shotgun. Get the safety right and it is the most productive laser-mining session in the game.

Four things make the Type-9 a mining powerhouse:

• The biggest hold. Hundreds of tonnes of ore per trip — the single longest mining session of any non-Cutter hull, so you make fewer, fatter runs to market.
• Room for the full limpet fleet. Multiple collector and prospector controllers plus a class-8 refinery means limpets do the gathering while you cut, maximising yield per minute.
• Three medium mining mounts. Three large-equivalent mining lasers (or a core-mining toolkit) chew through deposits fast.
• Cheap to run for the capacity. No rank or permit gate, and the credits-per-session from a full hold of high-value ore are enormous.

Lead is unmatched affordable volume — ~512+ t mining fit (~790 t max), second only to the Cutter — held back only by ~110 MJ stock shields and 132/202 m/s crawl.

The 90/100 headline is a verdict against the mining role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Every table rates ships for mining specifically, split by landing-pad class. The Max cargo column is maximum ore-hold tonnage; the rating is the same 1–100 suitability verdict used across the site.

Same class — large mining ships

9 large-pad mining hulls carry a rating, led by Imperial Cutter (92). Every same-pad rival lands where this one does — the direct field to shop.

Other classes — the medium miners

The medium-pad mining field (9 rated), led by Type-11 Prospector (95) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

Other classes — the small-pad prospectors

The small-pad mining field (3 rated), led by Cobra Mk V (58) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

The hull is around 72M Cr with no rank or permit gate — the cheapest route to a truly enormous cargo hold. A mining fit doesn't need expensive combat engineering, so the all-in cost is dominated by the hull and the limpet/refinery kit rather than weapons.

Because a full hold of high-value ore can be worth tens of millions, a well-run Type-9 pays for itself in a handful of sessions. The ARX Jumpstart variant (below) gets you started even faster.

Lakon offers the Type-9 as an ARX pre-built — the same hull you may already own via the Jumpstart trading package. The pre-built rules apply: stock modules sell for 0 Cr and cannot be stored or transferred, but engineering the stock cores in place keeps the free rebuy.

To convert a trading Jumpstart Type-9 to mining, add mining tools, limpet controllers and a refinery to open slots — never strip stock modules — and swap cargo racks as needed.

A high-volume laser-mining barge that also carries the core- and surface-mining toolkit. Initial is a buy-only starter; A-rated is the productive baseline; Engineered focuses on the cores that matter for a barge — thrusters and FSD for transit, a survivable shield, and mass-managed range. Mining tools themselves cannot be engineered.

Buy or re-role the hull and fit two mining lasers, a refinery, one prospector and one collector controller, and as much cargo as fits.

Add a Pulse Wave Analyser in a utility slot to spot mineable rocks at a glance.

Leave the stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads on — a barge survives by running, not tanking, so never pay the mass penalty of military armour.

Mine a known painite or platinum hotspot in solo until the hold is full, then sell — even this basic fit is hugely profitable.

A-rating priority for a barge — transit and survival, since mining tools aren't rated:

• 1Thrusters → A — A 850t hull needs every scrap of thrust to manoeuvre in a ring and dock. ~9M Cr
• 2FSD → A — Shorter market runs with a full, heavy hold. ~12M Cr
• 3Power Plant → A — Run lasers, limpets, refinery and shields together. ~8M Cr
• 4Power Distributor → A — Sustained laser fire without browning out. ~6M Cr
• 5Shield Generator → bi-weave — Any shield is better than the Type-9's feeble stock protection. ~5M Cr

Bulkheads stay Lightweight Alloy — military grade adds tonnes the barge can't spare and won't out-tank a pirate wing anyway. Keep the mass for cargo and jump range; survival comes from the shield, not the hull.

Mining engineering is about transit, range and a survivable shield — not weapons. Mining tools cannot be engineered. Pin core blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Recommended order

• 1Thrusters and FSD first — a heavy barge lives or dies on manoeuvring in the ring and getting laden cargo to market quickly.
• 2Low-Emissions plant keeps heat and signature down while running a full limpet fleet.
• 3Reinforced bi-weave plus Heavy-Duty boosters give the best survivable-shield-per-slot.
• 4Charge-Enhanced distributor (G3) is a light last step so the lasers and limpets never starve under sustained fire.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Engineering won't make the Type-9 nimble, but it roughly quadruples shields, adds meaningful jump range for market runs, and lifts the hold past 500 tonnes. The Lightweight-engineered bulkheads hold stock armour while shedding mass — feeding range and cargo rather than a tank a barge will never win with — turning a fragile hauler into a productive, survivable mining operation.

• Always mine the Type-9 in solo, a private group, or under escort — its shields and speed cannot survive an open-play pirate interdiction.
• Set the FSD to a low power priority so a deployed limpet fleet never browns out your drive when you need to wake away.
• Collector limpet controllers matter more than prospectors for throughput — bias the fit toward collection.
• Class-8 slots are sacred cargo space; put the refinery and controllers in the smaller bays.
• A laden Type-9 high-wakes slowly — start the jump the instant trouble appears, don't wait.