Asteroids and ore

This page should be updated due to game changes.
Reason: Locations need to be updated for the post-October 2020 ore revamp. See official change memo here.

Main article: Mining

Asteroids are large irregular chunks of rock that can be found in many places throughout New Eden. When mined, asteroids yield ore which, when refined, produces minerals of various types that serve as the basic building blocks of almost every craftable item.

Where to find asteroids

An asteroid belt. The ship in the middle is sitting at the warp-in point.

Asteroid belt geometry

Asteroid belts

Virtually every star system in EVE (with the notable exception of Jita) has at least one asteroid belt. Most star systems have several -- up to more than a dozen in some cases. These belts are listed on the overview and the right-click menu, and always have the same geometry: a rough semicircle of asteroids, approximately 50 km in diameter. A ship warping to an asteroid belt's beacon (through the right-click menu or the overview) will warp to the center of the semicircle. Note that mining lasers have an (unboosted) range of only 10-15 km, so in order to mine asteroids a ship has to fly closer to the belt after warping in. If you want to save on travel time, you can warp to mining bookmarks instead.

A given belt will have a mixture of asteroids containing different ores. The mixture and size of the asteroids (i.e. how much ore each asteroid contains) is determined by the system's location in the EVE universe and its security status (see asteroid distribution below). Each asteroid belt contains a finite number of asteroids (which disappear once fully mined), but the asteroids respawn after downtime if there are no asteroids left. The website Dotlan has maps showing the number of belts per system.

Deadspace pockets

Mineable asteroids can also spawn in deadspace pockets, such as the ones created for missions. Unlike asteroid belts, these are not organized into a set shape. Some are composed of dense clumps of asteroids, while others are scattered fields. For a list of which missions' deadspace pockets contain asteroids, see Mission Mining or EVE-survival.

Cosmic anomalies

Lastly, one of the two kinds of cosmic anomaly contains asteroids (the others contains hostile rats). The asteroids in cosmic anomalies tend to be a little larger and contain rarer ore than the normal asteroid belts in a star system. However, unlike asteroid belts, once all the asteroids in the anomaly have been mined, the anomaly disappears after broadcasting a short message in Local. As with all cosmic anomalies, new anomalies spawn semi-randomly.

Note that in many locations you will find decorative asteroids, which cannot be mined or otherwise interacted with. These will have colorful names such as "Snake-shaped Asteroid".

There are different types of asteroid cosmic anomalies, named by what kinds of ores are contained within. Each type comes in three variants (small, average, and large) - the "larger" the anomaly, the more asteroids (and hence the more ore) it contains. A "Small Kernite and Omber Deposit" therefore contains a small number of Kernite and Omber asteroids, while a "Large Bistot Deposit" contains a large number of Bistot asteroids. Ore anomalies will contain all three variants of the ores they contain.

The following chart illustrates the makeup of cosmic anomalies. "Small", "Average" and "Large" are defined above:

High security space

See also: High-sec

• Omber (small • average • large)
• Kernite and Omber (small • average • large)
• Jaspet, Kernite, and Omber (small • average • large)
• Hemorphite, Jaspet, and Kernite (small • average • large)
• Hedbergite, Hemorphite, and Jaspet (small • average • large)

Low security space

See also: Low-sec

• Gneiss (small • average • large)
• Dark Ochre and Gneiss (small • average • large)
• Crokite, Dark Ochre and Gneiss (small • average • large)
• Spodumain, Crokite and Dark Ochre (small • average • large)

Null security space

See also: Null-sec

• Bistot (small • average • large)
• Arkonor and Bistot (small • average • large)
• Mercoxit, Arkonor and Bistot (small • average • large)

Ore Prospecting Arrays

In player-owned sovereign nullsec, it is possible to deploy Ore Prospecting Arrays, a deployable sovereignty structure which, when deployed in a system, periodically generates asteroid clusters of various sizes at set intervals.

All sizes of asteroid clusters are capable of spawning regardless of system security status, and all clusters of a given size contain the same volume of ore, but asteroid clusters in lower security levels will spawn the more valuable ore variants with greater frequency. With the exception of Small Asteroid Clusters (which lack Mercoxit), all clusters contain varying amounts of all nullsec ore types: Arkonor, Bistot, Crokite, Dark Ochre, Gneiss, Spodumain, and Mercoxit.

Small Asteroid Cluster • Medium Asteroid Cluster • Large Asteroid Cluster • Enormous Asteroid Cluster • Colossal Asteroid Cluster

Asteroid distribution

An asteroid belt, as seen on the overview. Note the belt's warp-in point (marked with an inverted triangle), as well as the variety of different asteroid types (all labelled according to what kind of ore they contain).

For the distribution of ice asteroids, see Ice distribution.

The EVE universe can be divided into four quarters:

• The Amarr quarter (includes systems held by the Amarr, Ammatar, Khanid, Blood Raiders, and Sansha's Nation)
• The Caldari quarter (includes systems held by the Caldari and Guristas)
• The Gallente quarter (includes systems held by the Gallente and Serpentis)
• The Minmatar quarter (includes systems held by the Minmatar and Angel Cartel)

Each of these four quarters has its own set of asteroid types. Additionally, the lower the security rating of a system, the rarer the asteroid types that can be found there. Finally, each system can also include all the asteroid types of same-quarter higher-security systems. For example, a Gallente system with a security rating of 0.7 will have asteroid belts with not only Omber asteroids, but also Veldspar, Scordite, and Plagioclase asteroids.

System security rating	Quarter
█ 1.0 to 0.5	Veldspar Scordite Pyroxeres	Veldspar Scordite Pyroxeres Plagioclase	Veldspar Scordite Plagioclase	Veldspar Scordite Plagioclase
█ 0.4 to 0.0	Pyroxeres Kernite Jaspet Hemorphite	Pyroxeres Hedbergite	Kernite Omber Jaspet Hemorphite	Kernite Omber Hedbergite

Ores in null security space

Null security space is not as clearly defined as high security due to being player owned. Instead it is easiest to classify it by Security Class, which is most easily viewed via sites like Dotlan by using the Security Class filter on a map.

The following table shows the security class letter used for null security regions:

Class Letter	Region
F	Detorid, Cache, Insmother, Impass, Feythabolis, Tenerifis, Omist
G	Stain, Esoteria, Querious, Paragon Soul, Delve, Period Basis
H	Vale of the Silent, Tribute, Venal, Geminate, Deklein, Tenal, Branch
I	Wicked Creek, Scalding Pass, Great Wildlands, Curse, Catch, Immensea, Providence
J	Pure Blind, Syndicate, Fade, Cloud Ring, Outer Ring, Fountain
K	Cobalt Edge, Perrigen Falls, Malpais, Oasa, Kalevala Expanse, Outer Passage, Etherium Reach, The Spire

Using these, the type of ores available can be determined using the following table:

System true sec	Security Class
	F	G	H	I	J	K
Base	Scordite Omber Hedbergite Hemorphite	Scordite Plagioclase Omber Kernite	Scordite Pyroxeres Jaspet Hemorphite	Scordite Omber Hedbergite Hemorphite	Scordite Pyroxeres Plagioclase Jaspet	Scordite Omber Hedbergite Hemorphite
1	-	Gneiss	Hedbergite	Jaspet	Dark Ochre	Dark Ochre
2	Gneiss	Pyroxeres	Dark Ochre	-	Crokite	-
3	Bistot	-	Kernite	Gneiss	Bistot	Crokite
4	Arkonor	Bistot	Crokite	Dark Ochre	Hemorphite	Bistot
5	Pyroxeres	Crokite	-	Arkonor	Hedbergite	Arkonor
6	Mercoxit
7	Plagioclase	Dark Ochre	Bistot	Kernite	Arkonor	Gneiss

• Note that, going down each column, all ores present in the class above also spawn. For instance, "J" systems spawn Veldspar, Scordite, Pyroxeres, Plagioclase, and Jaspet. "J1" systems have all of those, plus Dark Ochre. "J2" systems have everything in "J1" systems, plus Crokite, and so on.

In general, the rarer the ore, the higher its volume per unit (e.g. one unit of Veldspar has a volume of 0.1 m³, whereas one unit of Arkonor has a volume of 16 m³). Since mining lasers mine a given volume of ore per minute, it takes longer to mine the rarer ore types. Additionally, each ore reprocesses into a different set of minerals. For details, see Reprocessing.

Note that mining Mercoxit requires the Deep Core Mining skill as well as special mining modules (Deep Core Miners or Deep Core Strip Miners). All other ore types can be mined with all types of ore mining lasers or strip miners.

A long, long time ago...
The Resource Distribution update on December 17, 2019 removed Veldspar and Spodumain from Null Sec Asteroid belts, and reduced the value of the largest Ore Prospecting Anomalies. It is as of yet unclear if the removed ore types were replaced with others at different security levels and classes. See this dev post for the official announcement, which deliberately came 3 days after the change.

Ore variants

Each asteroid type has three further subtypes that yield more (+5% / +10% / +15%) minerals when reprocessed. Otherwise they are identical in every way to their base ore, and are found in the same regions, but in lower quantities, except for the +15% variant which is only found in moons. For instance, if an asteroid belt has Omber asteroids, it will also have some Silvery Omber asteroids and a few Golden Omber asteroids. If you get the chance, you should always mine the higher-yield variants before mining the base ore.

Base ore	+5% variant	+10% variant	+15% variant	Found in
Veldspar	Concentrated Veldspar	Dense Veldspar	Stable Veldspar	Everywhere
Scordite	Condensed Scordite	Massive Scordite	Glossy Scordite	Everywhere
Pyroxeres	Solid Pyroxeres	Viscous Pyroxeres	Opulent Pyroxeres	Amarr and Caldari 0.9 (or lower) space
Plagioclase	Azure Plagioclase	Rich Plagioclase	Sparkling Plagioclase	Caldari 0.7 (or lower) space Minmatar and Gallente 0.9 (or lower) space
Omber	Silvery Omber	Golden Omber	Platinoid Omber	Gallente and Minmatar 0.7 (or lower) space
Kernite	Luminous Kernite	Fiery Kernite	Resplendant Kernite	Amarr 0.7 (or lower) space Caldari and Minmatar 0.4 (or lower) space
Jaspet	Pure Jaspet	Pristine Jaspet	Immaculate Jaspet	Amarr and Gallente 0.4 (or lower) space
Hemorphite	Vivid Hemorphite	Radiant Hemorphite	Scintillating Hemorphite	Amarr and Gallente 0.2 (or lower) space
Hedbergite	Vitric Hedbergite	Glazed Hedbergite	Lustrous Hedbergite	Caldari and Minmatar 0.2 (or lower) space
Gneiss	Iridescent Gneiss	Prismatic Gneiss	Brilliant Gneiss	Amarr and Minmatar 0.0 (or lower) space
Dark Ochre	Onyx Ochre	Obsidian Ochre	Jet Ochre	Caldari and Gallente 0.0 (or lower) space
Spodumain	Bright Spodumain	Gleaming Spodumain	Dazzling Spodumain	0.0 space (or lower, except Gallente)
Crokite	Sharp Crokite	Crystalline Crokite	Pellucid Crokite	0.0 space (or lower, except Minmatar)
Arkonor	Crimson Arkonor	Prime Arkonor	Flawless Arkonor	0.0 space (or lower, except Caldari)
Bistot	Triclinic Bistot	Monoclinic Bistot	Cubic Bistot	All of 0.0 (or lower) space
Mercoxit	Magma Mercoxit	Vitreous Mercoxit	-	All of 0.0 (or lower) space

Ore Chart

Ore	Vol- ume	Batch size	Mineral from 100%-yield reprocessing
			Tri	Pye	Mex	Iso	Noc	Zyd	Meg	Mor
Veldspar	0.1	100	400	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Concentrated Veldspar (+5%)	0.1	100	420	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dense Veldspar (+10%)	0.1	100	440	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scordite	0.15	100	150	90	0	0	0	0	0	0
Condensed Scordite (+5%)	0.15	100	158	95	0	0	0	0	0	0
Massive Scordite (+10%)	0.15	100	165	99	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pyroxeres	0.3	100	0	90	30	0	0	0	0	0
Solid Pyroxeres (+5%)	0.3	100	0	95	30	0	0	0	0	0
Viscous Pyroxeres (+10%)	0.3	100	0	99	33	0	0	0	0	0
Plagioclase	0.35	100	175	0	70	0	0	0	0	0
Azure Plagioclase (+5%)	0.35	100	184	0	74	0	0	0	0	0
Rich Plagioclase (+10%)	0.35	100	193	0	77	0	0	0	0	0
Omber	0.6	100	0	90	0	75	0	0	0	0
Silvery Omber (+5%)	0.6	100	0	95	0	79	0	0	0	0
Golden Omber (+10%)	0.6	100	0	99	0	83	0	0	0	0
Kernite	1.2	100	0	0	0	60	120	0	0	0
Luminous Kernite (+5%)	1.2	100	0	0	0	63	126	0	0	0
Fiery Kernite (+10%)	1.2	100	0	0	0	66	132	0	0	0
Jaspet	2	100	0	0	150	0	50	0	0	0
Pure Jaspet (+5%)	2	100	0	0	158	0	53	0	0	0
Pristine Jaspet (+10%)	2	100	0	0	265	0	55	0	0	0
Hemorphite	3	100	0	0	0	240	90	0	0	0
Vivid Hemorphite (+5%)	3	100	0	0	0	252	95	0	0	0
Radiant Hemorphite (+10%)	3	100	0	0	0	264	99	0	0	0
Hedbergite	3	100	0	450	0	0	120	0	0	0
Vitric Hedbergite (+5%)	3	100	0	473	0	0	126	0	0	0
Glazed Hedbergite (+10%)	3	100	0	495	0	0	132	0	0	0
Gneiss	5	100	0	2000	1500	800	0	0	0	0
Iridescent Gneiss (+5%)	5	100	0	2100	1575	840	0	0	0	0
Prismatic Gneiss (+10%)	5	100	0	2200	1650	880	0	0	0	0
Dark Ochre	8	100	0	0	1360	1200	320	0	0	0
Onyx Ochre (+5%)	8	100	0	0	1428	1260	336	0	0	0
Obsidian Ochre (+10%)	8	100	0	0	1496	1320	352	0	0	0
Spodumain	16	100	48000	0	0	1000	160	80	40	0
Bright Spodumain (+5%)	16	100	50400	0	0	1050	168	84	42	0
Gleaming Spodumain (+10%)	16	100	52800	0	0	1100	176	88	44	0
Crokite	16	100	0	800	2000	0	800	0	0	0
Sharp Crokite (+5%)	16	100	0	840	2100	0	840	0	0	0
Crystalline Crokite (10%)	16	100	0	880	2200	0	880	0	0	0
Bistot	16	100	0	3200	1200	0	0	160	0	0
Triclinic Bistot (+5%)	16	100	0	3360	1260	0	0	168	0	0
Monoclinic Bistot (+10%)	16	100	0	3520	1320	0	0	132	0	0
Arkonor	16	100	0	3200	1200	0	0	0	120	0
Crimson Arkonor (+5%)	16	100	0	3360	1260	0	0	0	126	0
Prime Arkonor (+10%)	16	100	0	3520	1320	0	0	0	132	0
Mercoxit	40	100	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	140
Magma Mercoxit (+5%)	40	100	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	147
Vitreous Mercoxit (+10%)	40	100	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	154
Ore	Vol- ume	Batch size	Tri	Pye	Mex	Iso	Noc	Zyd	Meg	Mor	Max security and quarter of EVE where ore can be found
			Mineral from 100%-yield reprocessing

  1234   Green backgrounds indicate the best value per m3 for that mineral.

External links

• Ore and mineral tables