There are options. The main thing you want to do is educate yourself on the mistakes others have made. That's where EntropiaForum comes into play. Seeing as how they are not moderated by Mindark, a lot of information is placed there.

I'm not a miner, so I'm not fully qualified to answer your question here, but from what I'm understanding, mining as a whole right now is down. With high skills and high end equipment, it's easier to break even because you're pulling harder to get--therefore more sought after by crafters--minerals and enmatter.

When it comes to mining, technique is *KEY*. I've found that minerals travel in veins and double bombing usually leads to higher finds. Also mining on Neverdie's asteroid adds a completely different dynamic to the system; higher concentrations, further apart, but bigger overall finds.

A one time deposit of 1000 PED (100USD) has allowed me to profit enough to enjoy my high end longblades for indefinite amounts of time because I found a method that works *for me*. It's possible to work the game so you can play, but it's often not the same for everyone.

Sweating starts off slow but the higher the skilltree progresses, the bigger the mob you can sweat, yielding more of it. Not to mention the skills you gain...that you can then sell off, but it takes time.

:)