Minining-how does it work

[johnnyhandsome]

So how does mining work in KSP? Specifically, once I've mined some ORE on the surface, how do I get the converted ORE into a tank? There doesn't seem to be a way to move things that aren't connected. At the moment, I'm just putting a lander on a surface with ORE tanks and ISRU and a drill all in one package. That doesn't seem very efficient, am I doing something wrong? 

[LordKael]

In the stock game, the ore tank, a fuel tank of the type you're attempting to produce, and the ISRU unit all have to be on the same vessel. To make it more efficient, you could dock two or more crafts together, or do a Martian style set up where a lower stage has the ISRU, drills, and ore tanks, and the upper stage has the fuel tanks, and when your ascent stage decouples, the unneeded mass is left on the surface. A variety of mods will allow you to connect the ships without docking, or allow you to transfer resources between two vessels without them even being connected (KAS/KIS, or MKS).

[Red Iron Crown]

Gameplay question move to Gameplay Questions.

[Plusck]

1 hour ago, johnnyhandsome said:

So how does mining work in KSP? Specifically, once I've mined some ORE on the surface, how do I get the converted ORE into a tank? There doesn't seem to be a way to move things that aren't connected. At the moment, I'm just putting a lander on a surface with ORE tanks and ISRU and a drill all in one package. That doesn't seem very efficient, am I doing something wrong? 

Sounds like you're doing it right. I too combine them all into one lander, but I use a docking fuel lifter to take the converted fuel up to orbit from larger moons (the Mun and bigger planets/moons). Some pics are here. It isn't pretty...

You don't need to do any moving: the ore tanks will all fill at the same rate, and ISRU will draw from ore tanks and feed to fuel tanks equally (or LF/ox/monoprop depending on what you've chosen to convert to). As long as the tanks are connected (including by Klaw / docking port) they will be filled when ISRU is running.

I take it you have right-clicked on the ISRU and started converting, and that it isn't indicating that there is no ore/no space to store the output?

Edited March 31, 2016 by Plusck

[Blaarkies]

Step by Step Mining Guide -by rhadamant

You might want to take a look at that, it explains everything around mining. There are some forum threads about a "crawler rover" modular base, and also some calculations about fuel cell powered ISRUs

If your lander is more than 40ton, then the added ISRU mass shouldn't worry you...Otherwise you should split it up to an ISRU-drill-depot station, and Lander that claws onto the station. I use a modular lander(I leave fuel tanks on the station, and connect the type of fuel I need to the lander it needs to take back to orbit)

And remember, the big ISRU is powerful, it will easily beat 2 drills at converting ore faster than they can drill. On a 4.6% ore concentration spot, I had to use 6 drill to keep up, but a level 3+ engineer will reduce that number a lot

Edited April 5, 2016 by Blaarkies