Mini Drill Ore requirement ?

[Mapoko]

Hello.

After a bit of trouble, a failed refuel attempt and almos losing my vessel (Hard mode career) I managed to land on the sweet spot (supposedly) of ore.

As you can see in pic 1.

Then I deployed my drill and it just do not do its job. Do I need an engineer present (like labs) now or it is something else.
I really hope there is something else, because I am planning asteroid recovery mission and it will be unmanned. Hope there is a bit of ore on the asteroid, so I can deorbit it.

 

[Alchemist]

It's also biome-dependent. Ore content be completely 0 in some biomes... even when that scanner shows higher concentration. In fact, whatever it shows is only some kind of bonus multiplier, that is applied to the base value for the biome.

Yeah, if you're unlucky enough to stumble upon a no-ore biome, even the large drill will show the same. But this map thing highlighting unminable territories is just misleading

[Mapoko]

I guess it was my bad for rushing and not sending a rover first, but I tried to snag a Mun Base contract as well.

I do not have the narrow band scanner yet.

 

P.S. I think I found what is wrong with it :

 

Pretty much limited of using the small ones in Hard mode (due to the 50% resource abundance) I guess.

I think it should be put somewhere more visible!

[basic.syntax]

An engineer does help processing efficiency, once the 2.5% concentration min requirement is met. IDK if you have unlocked the surface scanner part: that would tell you the exact ore concentration (when landed) at a location; it can be stuck on a rover or very light biome-hopper probe to look for the highest concentration of ore in a particular biome.

Edited May 7, 2016 by basic.syntax

[Mapoko]

I have the surface scanner ready and mounted on the future rover, but I guess I am not moving this base anytime soon. It has too little fuel to even hop 500m. Maybe will figure out something. That's the fun of it.

Thanks guys! Just hope that 2.5% requirement for the small version will be highlighted / more visible in future versions.

I am not sure that I even have 2.5% concentration anywhere in Kerbin system. Will be more sure once I get the narrow band scanner and send some rovers

[basic.syntax]

You can rescue it later, by landing a claw-equipped rover with a fuel tank     (Build so the claw is high enough to reach a solid part like the fuel tank, they don't grab landing legs, and colliding too hard with them can result in an "overstressed" leg explosion.)