Thread: Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations" section with the following:

Regular Operations

Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself. It does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near the area of operation. The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids and each belter is assigned their own grid. It is the belters job to survey their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account. Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'. (This is the only element that the belters do not get paid for directly.)

Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the Frankenstein by the crew). Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore processor. Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and, ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for the 'big strike'. If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it knows where to go to refuel.

If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation. Once these are known the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid, and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant. Other factors, like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either too risky or not profitable enough. The rotation of the asteroid in question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting ships at the plant.

Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need to head back. For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.

Solo Operations

As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the jump-net coated ACT. In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich asteroid with minimal rotation). If one is not found, there is no point continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so the ship can move to another location.

Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning for valuable ore. Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming, and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected. Asteroids containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so that the lesser chunks can be discarded. The pieces of valuable ore are often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable intentions.

Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of rock. They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that hostiles are no where to be seen. This is because they are about to enter the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable. (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.) They then wrap the minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves) discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.

Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo on a regular basis. However, it's captain has calculated how rich an asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the mining company he normally contracts himself out to. He is keeping this information to himself.

very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <> wrote:

From: Daryl Frewing <>
Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM

 

In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations" section with the following:
 
Regular Operations
 
Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself.  It does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near the area of operation.  The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids and each belter is assigned their own grid.  It is the belters job to survey their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.  Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'.  (This is the only element that the belters do not get paid for directly.)
 
Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the Frankenstein by the crew).  Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore processor.  Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and, ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for the 'big strike'.  If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it knows where to go to refuel.
 
If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation.  Once these are known the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid, and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant.  Other factors, like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either too risky or not profitable enough.  The rotation of the asteroid in question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting ships at the plant.
 
Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need to head back.  For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.
 
Solo Operations
 
As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the jump-net coated ACT.  In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich asteroid with minimal rotation).  If one is not found, there is no point continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so the ship can move to another location.
 
Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning for valuable ore.  Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming, and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected.  Asteroids containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so that the lesser chunks can be discarded.  The pieces of valuable ore are often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable intentions.
 
Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of rock.  They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that hostiles are no where to be seen.  This is because they are about to enter the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.  (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.)  They then wrap the minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves) discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
 
Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo on a regular basis.  However, it's captain has calculated how rich an asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the mining company he normally contracts himself out to.  He is keeping this information to himself.

Thanks. My basic idea was that a mining coorporation would own the mineral rights for entire asteroid belts. They wouldn't want to absorb the risk of mining so they would just provide an ore processing plant near the area of operations and contract out the mining to individual belters. Kind of like how lumber companies contract lumber jacks for the more dangerous areas today. I figured, right or wrong it's probably how things would develop.

I liked the idea of 'shooting' asteroids back to the home world for processing, but there were just too many variables. Plus, why expend that amount of energy when, thanks to jump drives, you can place a processing plant closer to the source?

Chances are this might take on a different form when mining in the same system as the homeworld, perhaps, but I was trying for a system of mining that was a little bit more mobile.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim O'Reilly
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:05
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <> wrote:


From: Daryl Frewing <>
Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM


 




In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations" section with the following:
 
Regular Operations
 
Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself.  It does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near the area of operation.  The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids and each belter is assigned their own grid.  It is the belters job to survey their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.  Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'.  (This is the only element that the belters do not get paid for directly.)
 
Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the Frankenstein by the crew).  Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore processor.  Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and, ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for the 'big strike'.  If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it knows where to go to refuel.
 
If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation.  Once these are known the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid, and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant.  Other factors, like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either too risky or not profitable enough.  The rotation of the asteroid in question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting ships at the plant.
 
Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need to head back.  For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.
 
Solo Operations
 
As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the jump-net coated ACT.  In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich asteroid with minimal rotation).  If one is not found, there is no point continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so the ship can move to another location.
 
Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning for valuable ore.  Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming, and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected.  Asteroids containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so that the lesser chunks can be discarded.  The pieces of valuable ore are often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable intentions.
 
Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of rock.  They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that hostiles are no where to be seen.  This is because they are about to enter the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.  (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.)  They then wrap the minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves) discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
 
Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo on a regular basis.  However, it's captain has calculated how rich an asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the mining company he normally contracts himself out to.  He is keeping this information to himself.

Points ... I thought it better from a technical viewpoint, and I liked the idea of the captain keeping his ears open for better prospects for him and his ship and crew. 
 
Your idea of a mining company owning the rights to an entire asteroid belt has some validity, particularly if they are out in the (wilds, frontiers)  indeed if they find a particularly rich region they would likely try to harvest/mine/claim as much as possible before their success eventually and inevitably leaks out and the rush starts.  (Just because they have title, at the moment, doesn't mean someone else won't try to move in on them) In more settled areas, portions of the belts might be considered imperial/crown property to be given over in some portion to a "deserving" individual or company that has curried or otherwise attracted favor.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, <> wrote:

From: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 5:43 PM

 

Thanks. My basic idea was that a mining coorporation would own the mineral rights for entire asteroid belts. They wouldn't want to absorb the risk of mining so they would just provide an ore processing plant near the area of operations and contract out the mining to individual belters. Kind of like how lumber companies contract lumber jacks for the more dangerous areas today. I figured, right or wrong it's probably how things would develop.

I liked the idea of 'shooting' asteroids back to the home world for processing, but there were just too many variables. Plus, why expend that amount of energy when, thanks to jump drives, you can place a processing plant closer to the source?

Chances are this might take on a different form when mining in the same system as the homeworld, perhaps, but I was trying for a system of mining that was a little bit more mobile.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

From: Tim O'Reilly <>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:05 -0700 (PDT)
To: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

 

very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <> wrote:

From: Daryl Frewing <>
Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM

 

In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations" section with the following:
 
Regular Operations
 
Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself.  It does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near the area of operation.  The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids and each belter is assigned their own grid.  It is the belters job to survey their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.  Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'.  (This is the only element that the belters do not get paid for directly.)
 
Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the Frankenstein by the crew).  Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore processor.  Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and, ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for the 'big strike'.  If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it knows where to go to refuel.
 
If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation.  Once these are known the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid, and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant.  Other factors, like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either too risky or not profitable enough.  The rotation of the asteroid in question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting ships at the plant.
 
Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need to head back.  For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.
 
Solo Operations
 
As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the jump-net coated ACT.  In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich asteroid with minimal rotation).  If one is not found, there is no point continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so the ship can move to another location.
 
Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning for valuable ore.  Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming, and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected.  Asteroids containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so that the lesser chunks can be discarded.  The pieces of valuable ore are often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable intentions.
 
Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of rock.  They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that hostiles are no where to be seen.  This is because they are about to enter the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.  (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.)  They then wrap the minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves) discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
 
Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo on a regular basis.  However, it's captain has calculated how rich an asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the mining company he normally contracts himself out to.  He is keeping this information to himself.

That brings up an interesting thought...if a belter had his soc stat increased to the point that he owned 'land' ... Maybe that would be mineral rights to an asteroid belt?

There's an adventure in there somewhere. A wild west adventure at that.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim O'Reilly
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 17:30:28
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

Points ... I thought it better from a technical viewpoint, and I liked the idea of the captain keeping his ears open for better prospects for him and his ship and crew. 
 
Your idea of a mining company owning the rights to an entire asteroid belt has some validity, particularly if they are out in the (wilds, frontiers)  indeed if they find a particularly rich region they would likely try to harvest/mine/claim as much as possible before their success eventually and inevitably leaks out and the rush starts.  (Just because they have title, at the moment, doesn't mean someone else won't try to move in on them) In more settled areas, portions of the belts might be considered imperial/crown property to be given over in some portion to a "deserving" individual or company that has curried or otherwise attracted favor.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, <> wrote:


From: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 5:43 PM


 



Thanks. My basic idea was that a mining coorporation would own the mineral rights for entire asteroid belts. They wouldn't want to absorb the risk of mining so they would just provide an ore processing plant near the area of operations and contract out the mining to individual belters. Kind of like how lumber companies contract lumber jacks for the more dangerous areas today. I figured, right or wrong it's probably how things would develop.

I liked the idea of 'shooting' asteroids back to the home world for processing, but there were just too many variables. Plus, why expend that amount of energy when, thanks to jump drives, you can place a processing plant closer to the source?

Chances are this might take on a different form when mining in the same system as the homeworld, perhaps, but I was trying for a system of mining that was a little bit more mobile.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry


From: Tim O'Reilly <>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:05 -0700 (PDT)
To: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

 






very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <> wrote:


From: Daryl Frewing <>
Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM


 


In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations" section with the following:
 
Regular Operations
 
Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself.  It does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near the area of operation.  The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids and each belter is assigned their own grid.  It is the belters job to survey their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.  Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'.  (This is the only element that the belters do not get paid for directly.)
 
Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the Frankenstein by the crew).  Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore processor.  Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and, ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for the 'big strike'.  If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it knows where to go to refuel.
 
If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation.  Once these are known the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid, and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant.  Other factors, like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either too risky or not profitable enough.  The rotation of the asteroid in question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting ships at the plant.
 
Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need to head back.  For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.
 
Solo Operations
 
As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the jump-net coated ACT.  In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich asteroid with minimal rotation).  If one is not found, there is no point continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so the ship can move to another location.
 
Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning for valuable ore.  Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming, and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected.  Asteroids containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so that the lesser chunks can be discarded.  The pieces of valuable ore are often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable intentions.
 
Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of rock.  They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that hostiles are no where to be seen.  This is because they are about to enter the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.  (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.)  They then wrap the minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves) discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
 
Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo on a regular basis.  However, it's captain has calculated how rich an asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the mining company he normally contracts himself out to.  He is keeping this information to himself.

A whole belt in my mind would be like a whole world or nearly so, but on that scale it is only improbable, not impossible ... so yes make an interesting story line

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, <> wrote:

From: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 8:49 PM

 

That brings up an interesting thought...if a belter had his soc stat increased to the point that he owned 'land' ... Maybe that would be mineral rights to an asteroid belt?

There's an adventure in there somewhere. A wild west adventure at that.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

From: Tim O'Reilly <>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 17:30:28 -0700 (PDT)
To: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

 

Points ... I thought it better from a technical viewpoint, and I liked the idea of the captain keeping his ears open for better prospects for him and his ship and crew. 
 
Your idea of a mining company owning the rights to an entire asteroid belt has some validity, particularly if they are out in the (wilds, frontiers)  indeed if they find a particularly rich region they would likely try to harvest/mine/ claim as much as possible before their success eventually and inevitably leaks out and the rush starts.  (Just because they have title, at the moment, doesn't mean someone else won't try to move in on them) In more settled areas, portions of the belts might be considered imperial/crown property to be given over in some portion to a "deserving" individual or company that has curried or otherwise attracted favor.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, <> wrote:

From: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 5:43 PM

 

Thanks. My basic idea was that a mining coorporation would own the mineral rights for entire asteroid belts. They wouldn't want to absorb the risk of mining so they would just provide an ore processing plant near the area of operations and contract out the mining to individual belters. Kind of like how lumber companies contract lumber jacks for the more dangerous areas today. I figured, right or wrong it's probably how things would develop.

I liked the idea of 'shooting' asteroids back to the home world for processing, but there were just too many variables. Plus, why expend that amount of energy when, thanks to jump drives, you can place a processing plant closer to the source?

Chances are this might take on a different form when mining in the same system as the homeworld, perhaps, but I was trying for a system of mining that was a little bit more mobile.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

From: Tim O'Reilly <>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:05 -0700 (PDT)
To: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

 

very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <> wrote:

From: Daryl Frewing <>
Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM

 

In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations" section with the following:
 
Regular Operations
 
Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself.  It does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near the area of operation.  The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids and each belter is assigned their own grid.  It is the belters job to survey their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.  Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'.  (This is the only element that the belters do not get paid for directly.)
 
Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the Frankenstein by the crew).  Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore processor.  Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and, ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for the 'big strike'.  If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it knows where to go to refuel.
 
If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation.  Once these are known the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid, and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant.  Other factors, like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either too risky or not profitable enough.  The rotation of the asteroid in question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting ships at the plant.
 
Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need to head back.  For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.
 
Solo Operations
 
As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the jump-net coated ACT.  In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich asteroid with minimal rotation).  If one is not found, there is no point continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so the ship can move to another location.
 
Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning for valuable ore.  Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming, and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected.  Asteroids containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so that the lesser chunks can be discarded.  The pieces of valuable ore are often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable intentions.
 
Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of rock.  They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that hostiles are no where to be seen.  This is because they are about to enter the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.  (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.)  They then wrap the minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves) discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
 
Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo on a regular basis.  However, it's captain has calculated how rich an asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the mining company he normally contracts himself out to.  He is keeping this information to himself.

If a captain, or several were able to 'disappear' for awhile on some place either not yet opened formally, on a private reserve (per our earlier discussion) or out back of beyond that showed signs of promise hmmm, that could turn into a large adventure indeed ... and when they show back up in "civilization" again there would be quite a bit of interest in various quarters ... the preperations to disappear might be hidden if done over a long enough time but once they disappeared (I'm thinking several ships involved, one or two probably wouldn't attract too much notice but a whole belt or even a significant fraction of one?  Well ... questions and speculation indeed)

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, <> wrote:

From: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 8:49 PM

 

That brings up an interesting thought...if a belter had his soc stat increased to the point that he owned 'land' ... Maybe that would be mineral rights to an asteroid belt?

There's an adventure in there somewhere. A wild west adventure at that.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

From: Tim O'Reilly <>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 17:30:28 -0700 (PDT)
To: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

 

Points ... I thought it better from a technical viewpoint, and I liked the idea of the captain keeping his ears open for better prospects for him and his ship and crew. 
 
Your idea of a mining company owning the rights to an entire asteroid belt has some validity, particularly if they are out in the (wilds, frontiers)  indeed if they find a particularly rich region they would likely try to harvest/mine/ claim as much as possible before their success eventually and inevitably leaks out and the rush starts.  (Just because they have title, at the moment, doesn't mean someone else won't try to move in on them) In more settled areas, portions of the belts might be considered imperial/crown property to be given over in some portion to a "deserving" individual or company that has curried or otherwise attracted favor.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, <> wrote:

From: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 5:43 PM

 

Thanks. My basic idea was that a mining coorporation would own the mineral rights for entire asteroid belts. They wouldn't want to absorb the risk of mining so they would just provide an ore processing plant near the area of operations and contract out the mining to individual belters. Kind of like how lumber companies contract lumber jacks for the more dangerous areas today. I figured, right or wrong it's probably how things would develop.

I liked the idea of 'shooting' asteroids back to the home world for processing, but there were just too many variables. Plus, why expend that amount of energy when, thanks to jump drives, you can place a processing plant closer to the source?

Chances are this might take on a different form when mining in the same system as the homeworld, perhaps, but I was trying for a system of mining that was a little bit more mobile.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

From: Tim O'Reilly <>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:05 -0700 (PDT)
To: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

 

very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <> wrote:

From: Daryl Frewing <>
Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM

 

In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations" section with the following:
 
Regular Operations
 
Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself.  It does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near the area of operation.  The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids and each belter is assigned their own grid.  It is the belters job to survey their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.  Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'.  (This is the only element that the belters do not get paid for directly.)
 
Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the Frankenstein by the crew).  Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore processor.  Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and, ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for the 'big strike'.  If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it knows where to go to refuel.
 
If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation.  Once these are known the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid, and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant.  Other factors, like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either too risky or not profitable enough.  The rotation of the asteroid in question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting ships at the plant.
 
Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need to head back.  For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.
 
Solo Operations
 
As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the jump-net coated ACT.  In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich asteroid with minimal rotation).  If one is not found, there is no point continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so the ship can move to another location.
 
Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning for valuable ore.  Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming, and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected.  Asteroids containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so that the lesser chunks can be discarded.  The pieces of valuable ore are often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable intentions.
 
Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of rock.  They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that hostiles are no where to be seen.  This is because they are about to enter the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.  (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.)  They then wrap the minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves) discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
 
Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo on a regular basis.  However, it's captain has calculated how rich an asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the mining company he normally contracts himself out to.  He is keeping this information to himself.

thoughts on the social status inclinations then. start off 'small' in
stellar terms, say the Lagrange points around a planet, every planet has at
least 3 i believe larger planets will have larger accumulations of "stuff"
at these points, each satellite around a world will have its own lagrange
points. however, more than one and the math for predicting lagrange point
stability might go out the window unless they were "unaturally" stable and
synchronous orbits. so lagrange points at the bottom of 'landed' belters.
gas giant belts are a step up for sure just due to the huge volume of
gaseous asteroids that would be present along with giga tons of raw rocky
material. and the occasional rare earth elements that might be found. so,
small GG and then Large GG THEN we get to the real belts. but an even
heftier chunk of real estate would be the actual mineral rights to a small
moon, would it not? By the way, i think i remember a sean connery sci fi
film about mining on a moon of jupiter from the 80's?
so,
SOC B = lagrange points for a world.
SOC C = belts around a small gas giant
SOC C = belts around a large gas giant
SOC D = any asteroid belt
SOC E = an otherwise uninhabitable moon, either around a mainworld or a gas
giant.
SOC F = have no idea but it might be mineral rights to a small but developed
piece of land on an inhabited world.

Ha found it, outland is the name, and mining IO around jupiter. actually a
great adventure for a team in a mining scenario environment where the
corporation hires the mercs to solve the murder might offer some mineral
rights as a supplement to the players in place of hard cash. you never can
tell if the residuals from a grant like that will pay off, and if they did,
would the corp be honest about it and give em fair interest on the shares?

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 11:13 PM, Tim O'Reilly <> wrote:

>
>
> If a captain, or several were able to 'disappear' for awhile on some
> place either not yet opened formally, on a private reserve (per our earlier
> discussion) or out back of beyond that showed signs of promise hmmm, that
> could turn into a large adventure indeed ... and when they show back up in
> "civilization" again there would be quite a bit of interest in various
> quarters ... the preperations to disappear might be hidden if done over a
> long enough time but once they disappeared (I'm thinking several ships
> involved, one or two probably wouldn't attract too much notice but a whole
> belt or even a significant fraction of one? Well ... questions and
> speculation indeed)
>
>
> --- On *Mon, 5/24/10, <>* wrote:
>
>
> From: <>
> Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
> To:
> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 8:49 PM
>
>
>
> That brings up an interesting thought...if a belter had his soc stat
> increased to the point that he owned 'land' ... Maybe that would be mineral
> rights to an asteroid belt?
>
> There's an adventure in there somewhere. A wild west adventure at that.
> Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
> ------------------------------
> *From: *Tim O'Reilly <>
> *Date: *Mon, 24 May 2010 17:30:28 -0700 (PDT)
> *To: *<>
> *Subject: *Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
>
>
> Points ... I thought it better from a technical viewpoint, and I liked
> the idea of the captain keeping his ears open for better prospects for him
> and his ship and crew.
>
> Your idea of a mining company owning the rights to an entire asteroid belt
> has some validity, particularly if they are out in the (wilds, frontiers)
> indeed if they find a particularly rich region they would likely try to
> harvest/mine/ claim as much as possible before their success eventually and
> inevitably leaks out and the rush starts. (Just because they have title, at
> the moment, doesn't mean someone else won't try to move in on them) In more
> settled areas, portions of the belts might be considered imperial/crown
> property to be given over in some portion to a "deserving" individual or
> company that has curried or otherwise attracted favor.
> T
>
> --- On *Mon, 5/24/10, <>* wrote:
>
>
> From: <>
> Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
> To:
> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 5:43 PM
>
>
> Thanks. My basic idea was that a mining coorporation would own the mineral
> rights for entire asteroid belts. They wouldn't want to absorb the risk of
> mining so they would just provide an ore processing plant near the area of
> operations and contract out the mining to individual belters. Kind of like
> how lumber companies contract lumber jacks for the more dangerous areas
> today. I figured, right or wrong it's probably how things would develop.
>
> I liked the idea of 'shooting' asteroids back to the home world for
> processing, but there were just too many variables. Plus, why expend that
> amount of energy when, thanks to jump drives, you can place a processing
> plant closer to the source?
>
> Chances are this might take on a different form when mining in the same
> system as the homeworld, perhaps, but I was trying for a system of mining
> that was a little bit more mobile.
> Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
> ------------------------------
> *From: *Tim O'Reilly <>
> *Date: *Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:05 -0700 (PDT)
> *To: *<>
> *Subject: *Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
>
>
> very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
> T
>
> --- On *Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Daryl Frewing <>
> Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
> To:
> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM
>
>
> In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations"
> section with the following:
>
> Regular Operations
>
> Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself. It
> does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near
> the area of operation. The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids
> and each belter is assigned their own grid. It is the belters job to survey
> their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them
> to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which
> belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.
> Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount
> extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'. (This is the only element that
> the belters do not get paid for directly.)
>
> Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the
> Frankenstein by the crew). Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore
> processor. Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and,
> ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for
> the 'big strike'. If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the
> first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it
> knows where to go to refuel.
>
> If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the
> mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation. Once these are known
> the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid,
> and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant. Other factors,
> like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either
> too risky or not profitable enough. The rotation of the asteroid in
> question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a
> minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting
> ships at the plant.
>
> Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed
> to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the
> remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need
> to head back. For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple
> trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards
> the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against
> the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.
>
> Solo Operations
>
> As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not
> nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the
> jump-net coated ACT. In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible
> location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich
> asteroid with minimal rotation). If one is not found, there is no point
> continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so
> the ship can move to another location.
>
> Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning
> for valuable ore. Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming,
> and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected. Asteroids
> containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so
> that the lesser chunks can be discarded. The pieces of valuable ore are
> often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest
> of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable
> intentions.
>
> Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the
> refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of
> rock. They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that
> hostiles are no where to be seen. This is because they are about to enter
> the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.
> (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.) They then wrap the
> minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks
> (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to
> refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves)
> discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore
> using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
>
> Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo
> on a regular basis. However, it's captain has calculated how rich an
> asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to
> collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the
> mining company he normally contracts himself out to. He is keeping this
> information to himself.
>
>
>
>
>
>

--
The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to
think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.
Nikola Tesla

>There's an adventure in there somewhere. A wild west adventure at that.
daryl, I like your train of thought. 8-)

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 9:49 PM, <> wrote:

>
>
> That brings up an interesting thought...if a belter had his soc stat
> increased to the point that he owned 'land' ... Maybe that would be mineral
> rights to an asteroid belt?
>
> There's an adventure in there somewhere. A wild west adventure at that.
>
> Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
> ------------------------------
> *From: *Tim O'Reilly <>
> *Date: *Mon, 24 May 2010 17:30:28 -0700 (PDT)
> *To: *<>
> *Subject: *Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
>
>
>
> Points ... I thought it better from a technical viewpoint, and I liked
> the idea of the captain keeping his ears open for better prospects for him
> and his ship and crew.
>
> Your idea of a mining company owning the rights to an entire asteroid belt
> has some validity, particularly if they are out in the (wilds, frontiers)
> indeed if they find a particularly rich region they would likely try to
> harvest/mine/claim as much as possible before their success eventually and
> inevitably leaks out and the rush starts. (Just because they have title, at
> the moment, doesn't mean someone else won't try to move in on them) In more
> settled areas, portions of the belts might be considered imperial/crown
> property to be given over in some portion to a "deserving" individual or
> company that has curried or otherwise attracted favor.
> T
>
> --- On *Mon, 5/24/10, <>* wrote:
>
>
> From: <>
> Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
> To:
> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 5:43 PM
>
>
> Thanks. My basic idea was that a mining coorporation would own the mineral
> rights for entire asteroid belts. They wouldn't want to absorb the risk of
> mining so they would just provide an ore processing plant near the area of
> operations and contract out the mining to individual belters. Kind of like
> how lumber companies contract lumber jacks for the more dangerous areas
> today. I figured, right or wrong it's probably how things would develop.
>
> I liked the idea of 'shooting' asteroids back to the home world for
> processing, but there were just too many variables. Plus, why expend that
> amount of energy when, thanks to jump drives, you can place a processing
> plant closer to the source?
>
> Chances are this might take on a different form when mining in the same
> system as the homeworld, perhaps, but I was trying for a system of mining
> that was a little bit more mobile.
> Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
> ------------------------------
> *From: *Tim O'Reilly <>
> *Date: *Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:05 -0700 (PDT)
> *To: *<>
> *Subject: *Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
>
>
> very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
> T
>
> --- On *Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Daryl Frewing <>
> Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
> To:
> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM
>
>
> In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations"
> section with the following:
>
> Regular Operations
>
> Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself. It
> does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near
> the area of operation. The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids
> and each belter is assigned their own grid. It is the belters job to survey
> their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them
> to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which
> belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.
> Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount
> extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'. (This is the only element that
> the belters do not get paid for directly.)
>
> Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the
> Frankenstein by the crew). Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore
> processor. Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and,
> ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for
> the 'big strike'. If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the
> first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it
> knows where to go to refuel.
>
> If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the
> mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation. Once these are known
> the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid,
> and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant. Other factors,
> like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either
> too risky or not profitable enough. The rotation of the asteroid in
> question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a
> minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting
> ships at the plant.
>
> Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed
> to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the
> remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need
> to head back. For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple
> trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards
> the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against
> the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.
>
> Solo Operations
>
> As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not
> nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the
> jump-net coated ACT. In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible
> location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich
> asteroid with minimal rotation). If one is not found, there is no point
> continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so
> the ship can move to another location.
>
> Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning
> for valuable ore. Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming,
> and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected. Asteroids
> containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so
> that the lesser chunks can be discarded. The pieces of valuable ore are
> often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest
> of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable
> intentions.
>
> Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the
> refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of
> rock. They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that
> hostiles are no where to be seen. This is because they are about to enter
> the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.
> (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.) They then wrap the
> minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks
> (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to
> refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves)
> discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore
> using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
>
> Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo
> on a regular basis. However, it's captain has calculated how rich an
> asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to
> collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the
> mining company he normally contracts himself out to. He is keeping this
> information to himself.
>
>
>
>
>

--
The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to
think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.
Nikola Tesla

interesting ... and on old movies there was one where they had a fellow with a tug(?) looked like 2 lunar landers stacked together ... mission was to hook some engines onto an asteroid and crash it onto the moon, whereupon the rich guy could claim it ... involved claim jumping on the moon aswell ... IIRC the asteroid was supposed to be some crystaline form of sapphire, multiple tons worth(?) it had industrial applications worth far more than mere gems.

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, allen carpenter <> wrote:

From: allen carpenter <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 11:03 PM

 

thoughts on the social status inclinations then. start off 'small' in stellar terms, say the Lagrange points around a planet, every planet has at least 3 i believe larger planets will have larger accumulations of "stuff" at these points, each satellite around a world will have its own lagrange points. however, more than one and the math for predicting lagrange point stability might go out the window unless they were "unaturally" stable and synchronous orbits. so lagrange points at the bottom of 'landed' belters. gas giant belts are a step up for sure just due to the huge volume of gaseous asteroids that would be present along with giga tons of raw rocky material. and the occasional rare earth elements that might be found. so, small GG and then Large GG THEN we get to the real belts. but an even heftier chunk of real estate would be the actual mineral rights to a small moon, would it not? By the way, i think i remember a sean connery sci fi film about
mining on a moon of jupiter from the 80's?
so,
SOC B = lagrange points for a world.
SOC C = belts around a small gas giant
SOC C = belts around a large gas giant
SOC D = any asteroid belt
SOC E = an otherwise uninhabitable moon, either around a mainworld or a gas giant.
SOC F = have no idea but it might be mineral rights to a small but developed piece of land on an inhabited world.
 

Ha found it, outland is the name, and mining IO around jupiter. actually a great adventure for a team in a mining scenario environment where the corporation hires the mercs to solve the murder might offer some mineral rights as a supplement to the players in place of hard cash. you never can tell if the residuals from a grant like that will pay off, and if they did, would the corp be honest about it and give em fair interest on the shares?

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 11:13 PM, Tim O'Reilly <> wrote:

 

If a captain, or several were able to 'disappear' for awhile on some place either not yet opened formally, on a private reserve (per our earlier discussion) or out back of beyond that showed signs of promise hmmm, that could turn into a large adventure indeed ... and when they show back up in "civilization" again there would be quite a bit of interest in various quarters ... the preperations to disappear might be hidden if done over a long enough time but once they disappeared (I'm thinking several ships involved, one or two probably wouldn't attract too much notice but a whole belt or even a significant fraction of one?  Well ... questions and speculation indeed)

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, <> wrote:

From: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 8:49 PM

 

That brings up an interesting thought...if a belter had his soc stat increased to the point that he owned 'land' ... Maybe that would be mineral rights to an asteroid belt?

There's an adventure in there somewhere. A wild west adventure at that.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

From: Tim O'Reilly <>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 17:30:28 -0700 (PDT)
To: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

 

Points ... I thought it better from a technical viewpoint, and I liked the idea of the captain keeping his ears open for better prospects for him and his ship and crew. 
 
Your idea of a mining company owning the rights to an entire asteroid belt has some validity, particularly if they are out in the (wilds, frontiers)  indeed if they find a particularly rich region they would likely try to harvest/mine/ claim as much as possible before their success eventually and inevitably leaks out and the rush starts.  (Just because they have title, at the moment, doesn't mean someone else won't try to move in on them) In more settled areas, portions of the belts might be considered imperial/crown property to be given over in some portion to a "deserving" individual or company that has curried or otherwise attracted favor.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, <> wrote:

From: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 5:43 PM

 

Thanks. My basic idea was that a mining coorporation would own the mineral rights for entire asteroid belts. They wouldn't want to absorb the risk of mining so they would just provide an ore processing plant near the area of operations and contract out the mining to individual belters. Kind of like how lumber companies contract lumber jacks for the more dangerous areas today. I figured, right or wrong it's probably how things would develop.

I liked the idea of 'shooting' asteroids back to the home world for processing, but there were just too many variables. Plus, why expend that amount of energy when, thanks to jump drives, you can place a processing plant closer to the source?

Chances are this might take on a different form when mining in the same system as the homeworld, perhaps, but I was trying for a system of mining that was a little bit more mobile.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

From: Tim O'Reilly <>
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:05 -0700 (PDT)
To: <>
Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations

 

very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
T

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <> wrote:

From: Daryl Frewing <>
Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
To:
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM

 

In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations" section with the following:
 
Regular Operations
 
Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself.  It does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near the area of operation.  The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids and each belter is assigned their own grid.  It is the belters job to survey their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.  Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'.  (This is the only element that the belters do not get paid for directly.)
 
Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the Frankenstein by the crew).  Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore processor.  Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and, ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for the 'big strike'.  If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it knows where to go to refuel.
 
If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine the mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation.  Once these are known the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the asteroid, and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant.  Other factors, like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make retrieval either too risky or not profitable enough.  The rotation of the asteroid in question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the plant with a minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by the waiting ships at the plant.
 
Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel needed to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from the remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they need to head back.  For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make multiple trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector towards the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed against the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth it.
 
Solo Operations
 
As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is not nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using the jump-net coated ACT.  In this case, the crew needs to establish a feasible location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large LyHd rich asteroid with minimal rotation).  If one is not found, there is no point continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to refuel so the ship can move to another location.
 
Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning for valuable ore.  Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming, and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected.  Asteroids containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so that the lesser chunks can be discarded.  The pieces of valuable ore are often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable intentions.
 
Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of rock.  They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that hostiles are no where to be seen.  This is because they are about to enter the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.  (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.)  They then wrap the minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves) discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
 
Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo on a regular basis.  However, it's captain has calculated how rich an asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the mining company he normally contracts himself out to.  He is keeping this information to himself.

--
The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.
Nikola Tesla

another old movie Idea that has virus written all over it Moontrap, it
starred walter koenig of star trek fame. (mr checkov) it might be worth
buying at a secondhand store or downloading it if it can be found. and hehe,
Bruce campbell of evil dead fame
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097911/

so, salvage that tech 15 scout cruiser off a lunar surface (wrecked of
course, as it cannot land), but wow, what are these high tech electronic
pods they are carrying in the cargo hold?????

On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 7:53 AM, Tim O'Reilly <> wrote:

>
>
> interesting ... and on old movies there was one where they had a fellow
> with a tug(?) looked like 2 lunar landers stacked together ... mission was
> to hook some engines onto an asteroid and crash it onto the moon, whereupon
> the rich guy could claim it ... involved claim jumping on the moon aswell
> ... IIRC the asteroid was supposed to be some crystaline form of sapphire,
> multiple tons worth(?) it had industrial applications worth far more than
> mere gems.
>
>
> --- On *Mon, 5/24/10, allen carpenter <>* wrote:
>
>
> From: allen carpenter <>
>
> Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
> To:
> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 11:03 PM
>
>
> thoughts on the social status inclinations then. start off 'small' in
> stellar terms, say the Lagrange points around a planet, every planet has at
> least 3 i believe larger planets will have larger accumulations of "stuff"
> at these points, each satellite around a world will have its own lagrange
> points. however, more than one and the math for predicting lagrange point
> stability might go out the window unless they were "unaturally" stable and
> synchronous orbits. so lagrange points at the bottom of 'landed' belters.
> gas giant belts are a step up for sure just due to the huge volume of
> gaseous asteroids that would be present along with giga tons of raw rocky
> material. and the occasional rare earth elements that might be found. so,
> small GG and then Large GG THEN we get to the real belts. but an even
> heftier chunk of real estate would be the actual mineral rights to a small
> moon, would it not? By the way, i think i remember a sean connery sci fi
> film about mining on a moon of jupiter from the 80's?
> so,
> SOC B = lagrange points for a world.
> SOC C = belts around a small gas giant
> SOC C = belts around a large gas giant
> SOC D = any asteroid belt
> SOC E = an otherwise uninhabitable moon, either around a mainworld or a gas
> giant.
> SOC F = have no idea but it might be mineral rights to a small but
> developed piece of land on an inhabited world.
>
> Ha found it, outland is the name, and mining IO around jupiter. actually
> a great adventure for a team in a mining scenario environment where the
> corporation hires the mercs to solve the murder might offer some mineral
> rights as a supplement to the players in place of hard cash. you never can
> tell if the residuals from a grant like that will pay off, and if they did,
> would the corp be honest about it and give em fair interest on the shares?
>
>
> On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 11:13 PM, Tim O'Reilly <<http://us.mc398.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=>
> > wrote:
>
>>
>> If a captain, or several were able to 'disappear' for awhile on some
>> place either not yet opened formally, on a private reserve (per our earlier
>> discussion) or out back of beyond that showed signs of promise hmmm, that
>> could turn into a large adventure indeed ... and when they show back up in
>> "civilization" again there would be quite a bit of interest in various
>> quarters ... the preperations to disappear might be hidden if done over a
>> long enough time but once they disappeared (I'm thinking several ships
>> involved, one or two probably wouldn't attract too much notice but a whole
>> belt or even a significant fraction of one? Well ... questions and
>> speculation indeed)
>>
>>
>> --- On *Mon, 5/24/10, <http://us.mc398.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=>
>> <<http://us.mc398.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=>
>> >* wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: <http://us.mc398.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=><daryl@frewing.
>> ca <http://us.mc398.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=>>
>> Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
>> To: <http://us.mc398.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=>
>> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 8:49 PM
>>
>>
>>
>> That brings up an interesting thought...if a belter had his soc stat
>> increased to the point that he owned 'land' ... Maybe that would be mineral
>> rights to an asteroid belt?
>>
>> There's an adventure in there somewhere. A wild west adventure at that.
>> Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
>> ------------------------------
>> *From: *Tim O'Reilly <>
>> *Date: *Mon, 24 May 2010 17:30:28 -0700 (PDT)
>> *To: *<>
>> *Subject: *Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New
>> Operations
>>
>>
>> Points ... I thought it better from a technical viewpoint, and I liked
>> the idea of the captain keeping his ears open for better prospects for him
>> and his ship and crew.
>>
>> Your idea of a mining company owning the rights to an entire asteroid belt
>> has some validity, particularly if they are out in the (wilds, frontiers)
>> indeed if they find a particularly rich region they would likely try to
>> harvest/mine/ claim as much as possible before their success eventually and
>> inevitably leaks out and the rush starts. (Just because they have title, at
>> the moment, doesn't mean someone else won't try to move in on them) In more
>> settled areas, portions of the belts might be considered imperial/crown
>> property to be given over in some portion to a "deserving" individual or
>> company that has curried or otherwise attracted favor.
>> T
>>
>> --- On *Mon, 5/24/10, <>* wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: <>
>> Subject: Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
>> To:
>> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 5:43 PM
>>
>>
>> Thanks. My basic idea was that a mining coorporation would own the mineral
>> rights for entire asteroid belts. They wouldn't want to absorb the risk of
>> mining so they would just provide an ore processing plant near the area of
>> operations and contract out the mining to individual belters. Kind of like
>> how lumber companies contract lumber jacks for the more dangerous areas
>> today. I figured, right or wrong it's probably how things would develop.
>>
>> I liked the idea of 'shooting' asteroids back to the home world for
>> processing, but there were just too many variables. Plus, why expend that
>> amount of energy when, thanks to jump drives, you can place a processing
>> plant closer to the source?
>>
>> Chances are this might take on a different form when mining in the same
>> system as the homeworld, perhaps, but I was trying for a system of mining
>> that was a little bit more mobile.
>> Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
>> ------------------------------
>> *From: *Tim O'Reilly <>
>> *Date: *Mon, 24 May 2010 15:29:05 -0700 (PDT)
>> *To: *<>
>> *Subject: *Re: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New
>> Operations
>>
>>
>> very nice write up, interesting concept of operations.
>> T
>>
>> --- On *Mon, 5/24/10, Daryl Frewing <>* wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: Daryl Frewing <>
>> Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Hector Class Mining Vessel - New Operations
>> To:
>> Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 1:33 PM
>>
>>
>> In light of recent discussion, please replace the "Regular Operations"
>> section with the following:
>>
>> Regular Operations
>>
>> Typically, the Hector does not operate in an asteroid field by itself. It
>> does so with several other belters present and an ore processing plant near
>> the area of operation. The area of the asteroid belt is divided into grids
>> and each belter is assigned their own grid. It is the belters job to survey
>> their grid and extract whatever rocks they want to be paid for, sending them
>> to the processing plant which will track what asteroid came from which
>> belter and add the value of the minerals extracted to the belter's account.
>> Liquid Hydrogen is by far the most common element extracted and the amount
>> extracted is added to a belters 'fuel card'. (This is the only element that
>> the belters do not get paid for directly.)
>>
>> Fuel is the biggest concern for the Balaam (often referred to as the
>> Frankenstein by the crew). Fortunately, they can always refuel at the ore
>> processor. Generally refined fuel is purchased as it takes time (and,
>> ironically, fuel) to refine fuel; time which could be spent searching for
>> the 'big strike'. If the Hector is ever operating on its own, then the
>> first thing it will scan the belt for is a large source of LyHd so that it
>> knows where to go to refuel.
>>
>> If a mineral rich asteroid is discovered, the next step is to determine
>> the mass of the asteroid, its vector, and its rotation. Once these are
>> known the crew can calculate how risky it will be to first attach to the
>> asteroid, and secondly alter its course towards the processor plant. Other
>> factors, like the vector and position of other asteroids, could make
>> retrieval either too risky or not profitable enough. The rotation of the
>> asteroid in question is also of concern as the rock needs to be sent to the
>> plant with a minimal rotation so its retrieval is not deemed to be a risk by
>> the waiting ships at the plant.
>>
>> Once a candidate is found, the crew then needs to calculate the fuel
>> needed to return to the processing plant to refuel and subtract that from
>> the remaining fuel to see how much fuel they have to work with before they
>> need to head back. For valuable finds, crews are often willing to make
>> multiple trips back and forth in order to see the asteroid sent on a vector
>> towards the processing plant, but the number of trips needs to be weighed
>> against the average find for a single trip to determine if it will be worth
>> it.
>>
>> Solo Operations
>>
>> As may be obvious by now, operating without a processor plant nearby is
>> not nearly as efficient as having one there, but it still is possible using
>> the jump-net coated ACT. In this case, the crew needs to establish a
>> feasible location that can serve as a refuelling point (typically a large
>> LyHd rich asteroid with minimal rotation). If one is not found, there is no
>> point continuing in that spot and whatever is available must be used to
>> refuel so the ship can move to another location.
>>
>> Once a 'base of operations' is established, the Hector can begin scanning
>> for valuable ore. Because solo operations are very risky, time consuming,
>> and costly only the most valuable of ore will be selected. Asteroids
>> containing valuable ores will often be broken up (using a TL 9 laser) so
>> that the lesser chunks can be discarded. The pieces of valuable ore are
>> often set aside in a manner that does not make them stand out from the rest
>> of the belt in case another vessel comes by with less then honourable
>> intentions.
>>
>> Once 6,000 m3 of minerals is retrieved the Hector's crew heads back to the
>> refuelling point and breaks off a large chunk of LyHd to add to the pile of
>> rock. They then need to do a thorough scan of the area to make sure that
>> hostiles are no where to be seen. This is because they are about to enter
>> the phase of the operation where they are the most vulnerable.
>> (Fortunately, an asteroid belt is a very big place.) They then wrap the
>> minerals (not the LyHd chunk) with the ACT, give the mass of rocks
>> (including the LyHd piece) a 'push' in the right direction, use the LyHd to
>> refuel (the push they gave will have used up most of their reserves)
>> discarding any remaining chunks, attach themselves to the mobile pile of ore
>> using the ACT, and then jump to their destination.
>>
>> Because of the risks and costs involved, the Hector does not operate solo
>> on a regular basis. However, it's captain has calculated how rich an
>> asteroid belt would need to be in order to justify this and slowly trying to
>> collect data about belts that are outside the area of operation of the
>> mining company he normally contracts himself out to. He is keeping this
>> information to himself.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane
> to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.
> Nikola Tesla
>
>
>
>

--
The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to
think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.
Nikola Tesla