Publication and delivery
This course is published for study. Publication does not confirm an available class, appointed instructor or completed practical validation. Before booking, obtain a session brief naming the organiser, instructor and assessor, equipment access and any independent review arrangements.
Before live assessment, the organiser must record the current LIVE build, validation date, ship and equipment used, tasks checked and any known limitations. If a required mechanic is unavailable, defer the affected assessment rather than certify an unobserved outcome. A material game update calls for a check of affected tasks, not cancellation of earlier academic achievements.
Your brief
For mining operators and collection coordinators.
Applied Industry separates extracted material, processing and delivery. The next watch must be able to collect a processing job without reconstructing it from someone else’s memory.
A refinery job outlasts the watch
Practice case · IO 240 · 2956 teaching edition
- The instructor supplies deposit observations and the equipment’s tested limits for the session.
- The candidate must make a work or no-work decision before extraction.
- The case output enters a processing job that remains pending at session end.
Before you begin: entry and equipment
Complete these courses
Bring or arrange
Suitable tested mining equipment and a checked receiving or processing option.
The organizer must confirm equipment access before booking. No ship purchase, pledge tier or donation is required.
Technical knowledge and game skills
Practical instruction revision 1 · 9 October 2026
Mining: read the rock, control energy, recover the yield
Match equipment to the deposit
Use scanning to locate a deposit, then read mass, composition, resistance and instability. Mass affects the work required; resistance impedes energy transfer; instability makes the charge less predictable. Choose a deposit within the demonstrated tool or laser capability, not merely the most valuable composition. Hand-mining nodes, ROC deposits and ship-scale rocks require different equipment. A ship laser is not a substitute for careful hand-tool work on a small node.
Control rock energy, not just laser percentage
Establish a stable position in the working range, start with low input and watch the rate at which rock energy rises. Reduce input before it reaches the upper edge of the optimal window; waiting until overcharge appears may be too late for a rising trend. Hold energy in the optimal region to build fracture progress. If control is lost, reduce or stop input and follow the briefed separation action. With multiple beams, assign a caller and stagger changes so everyone does not increase power together. Modules and gadgets change the response; recheck after fitting them.
Rescan fragments and choose the processing route
After fracture, inspect the resulting pieces. Some require further fracture; extract only pieces the display identifies as extractable. Prioritise useful composition instead of filling the hold with inert material. Compare raw sale with a refinery job’s displayed cost, duration and yield, then arrange a compatible cargo ship for completed output. Record any volatile-material warning and its actual timer; do not copy an old guide’s universal deadline or postpone a necessary return to fill the hold.
Practical drill
Demonstrate a low-risk fracture, including reducing input before an instructor-nominated upper limit, then selectively extract and create a raw-sale or refinery account. Repeat with a different instability or tool setup and explain the changed control response.
Observed-skill checks
- The learner rejects a deposit beyond equipment capability with reasons from the scan.
- Rock energy is controlled through trend-aware adjustments, including a timely stop.
- Extracted, refining and collected quantities are supported by the relevant displays.
Use these checks to document the technical evidence supporting the course outcomes in your agreed role. Record what you personally performed, what assistance you needed and what remains unobserved. A discussion or simulated action does not certify live equipment handling; Crew Support evidence does not confer Pilot qualification.
Game references and build-sensitive details
The linked pages were read for this revision. Community references mix release eras; each source note identifies what is used and what is excluded. Technical explanations below are an Academy synthesis, and drills and performance checks are Academy-designed. Before practice, compare the named actions with the installed LIVE build and actual equipment. Bind actions by name rather than copying old default keys. Research is not an in-game validation.
- Star Citizen Wiki — Mining
Mass, resistance, instability, fracture, extraction and refinery workflow. Historical prices and proposed Orion specialist systems are excluded from the practical.
- Star Citizen Wiki — Cargo
SCU, container geometry, grids and ownership. The page also contains obsolete automatic-loading descriptions and future design intentions; these are not instructions for the present cargo interface.
Check the official LIVE release notes and record the session build, equipment and observed limitations before practical sign-off.
Learn the method
1. Match the deposit to the equipment
Read the deposit information available in the session and compare it with the equipment demonstrated by the instructor. State which observations support working it. If suitability cannot be established, choose another deposit rather than treating uncertainty as clearance.
Read the information the chosen mining system actually provides and explain how it bears on the decision. Compare the deposit with the demonstrated equipment and the operator’s ability to control the process. Do not carry a threshold from another tool or deposit into this assessment without verifying that it applies.
- Practise
- Explain a work or no-work decision.
- Ready when
- Your decision cites observed deposit information and the checked equipment limits.
2. Extract under agreed limits
Identify the controls, stopping instruction and recovery arrangement before use. Work only through the actions checked in the session. Report changing conditions early; a larger output does not excuse ignoring a stop instruction.
The instructor first demonstrates the relevant feedback and the action used to reduce or stop input. The learner then practises a controlled response before attempting the assessed extraction. A changing indicator is a reason to interpret and adjust, not to chase output while ignoring the limits agreed in the brief.
- Practise
- Complete a small supervised extraction.
- Ready when
- The observer sees your control use and response to the agreed operating limits.
3. Give the output a next destination
Record the extracted quantity, sale or processing destination and person collecting it. If processing is still pending, retain the job reference and next check. Do not claim completed delivery because a job was submitted.
Distinguish raw material, material committed to processing, completed output and proceeds. A submitted refinery job may tie up value without making cargo immediately available. Compare processing costs, collection access and transport capacity with the intended sale; preserve the job reference so the next operator can continue without guessing.
- Practise
- Prepare a sale receipt or processing handover.
- Ready when
- The record states the quantity, destination, collection owner and actual processing status.
A worked decision
A refinery job is pending when the session ends. The candidate records the job reference and collection owner, then hands over rather than claiming a sale.
- Compare the supplied observations with equipment limits. Explain the decision before touching the controls.
- Carry out the checked extraction and record the actual quantity and destination. Do not convert an estimate into a measured output.
- Retain the processing reference, current status, location and named collection owner. Record pending processing rather than received or sold.
Try it yourself
Make the deposit decision, perform the agreed extraction and hand the pending job to the collection role.
What changes during the exercise
The planned receiving or processing route becomes unavailable.
Keep this record
- Deposit observations / equipment limits / work decision
- Extracted quantity / measured or estimated / destination
- Job reference / current status / collection owner and next check
Plain-text worksheet with this case, your working fields and the assessment criteria. Fill it in privately; downloading does not submit work or record completion.
Check your reasoning
Processing finishes after the session. What must the next crew know?
Compare your reasoning
The job reference, recorded quantity, current status, collection location and responsible person. A clear collection plan matters; staying online for an entire timer does not demonstrate additional skill.
Answer first, then compare. In a later session, explain the decision using a changed case without referring to this answer.
How completion is judged
A deposit decision, extraction observation and sale or collection record.
The assessor checks your own work against all three “Ready when” criteria above. Use the observed-skill checks in the technical chapter to establish the applicable game-handling evidence in your agreed role. A successful team result does not replace an action they did not observe.
Findings, another attempt and review
- Demonstrated
- Your observed work meets the criterion in the agreed role.
- Further practice required
- The assessor identifies the observed gap and the specific practice needed.
- Interrupted
- Equipment, staffing or personal circumstances prevented a valid assessment. This is not a failure.
- Not assessed
- There is not yet enough evidence for this outcome.
A fresh attempt
Make the processing option unavailable and supply an alternative receiving offer. Require an explained change of route.
Reassess the missing outcome, plus any linked skill that needs new evidence. For prior learning, compare existing work with the same criteria and observe any missing practical action.
Ask for the reasons behind a finding. Reviews must be handled by someone independent of the original decision; defer the review if that person is not available.
Read the Academy Ordinance and review rulesFor instructors
Session setup and coaching
Prepare the session
Suitable tested mining equipment and a checked receiving or processing option.
Assign crew stations and tell each learner what they will practise. The instructor must be able to hear the calls and see the action being assessed. Brief the callsigns, channel, route and expected duration. Replace the example locations with the places you will actually use.
- Ask the learner to explain the relevant earlier procedure without notes; correct any gap before the practical.
- Teach and demonstrate the technical chapter using the actual game indications. Run its drill with feedback before connecting those skills to the three methods and worked decision. Use the observed-skill checks to identify missing handling evidence.
- Let the learner complete the normal procedure first, then introduce the change described in the exercise. Give them time to respond without coaching. Keep unrelated failures out of this attempt.
- Record the learner's action against each criterion. Give one specific next step for any gap and transfer unfinished operational work before closing.
What to watch for in IO 240
Ask the next learner to locate the job from the handover alone. If they need private messages from the departing operator, the record is missing something.
If another attempt is needed
Make the processing option unavailable and supply an alternative receiving offer. Require an explained change of route.
Running the exercise
Before the crew assembles, try the exercise in the ship you intend to use. Check station access, equipment and the route. Brief the crew on any faults that affect the task. If a bug prevents someone completing it, repeat that part once it works; do not record a failure for a broken mechanic.
Brief the command “Stop exercise” before starting. On that call, cease the drill and tell the instructor what needs attention. For weapons practice, identify the participating ships and crew; anyone else entering the area is a reason to hold fire.
Session administration: use player handles in your notes. Ask before recording voice or video, and agree when the recording will be deleted. Academy rules and review procedure.
Sources and edition
Lex Astra · School of Applied Industry
Course IO 240 · edition 2956.3 · 2956 teaching edition · revised course text.
Case IO–4: the incomplete delivery
Applied Industry case issued by CDR Tobias Wren in 2956, drawing on the 1968 Neuhaus freight record. The older waybill belongs to the family freight business, not to Lex Astra; the course quantities are new teaching examples.
Professional references and instructional revision
Instruction revised 9 October 2026. Lex Astra cases supply the teaching situations. Professional references inform communication, decision-making and instructional design; they do not confer external qualifications. LIVE capabilities remain subject to the recorded session check.
Editorial context and teaching basis
The lessons are current Academy teaching, not newly discovered historical records. Lex Astra opened in 2891. Historical sources keep their original issuer and date; all case callsigns, quantities, times and conditions are supplied for practice.
Your session brief names the instructor, the crew assignments and the equipment provided. Contact the teaching office above to arrange a place.
Course-text revision: 8 October 2026. Educational references were reviewed for the framework on 8 October 2026; they inform the teaching approach, not external accreditation or current game-capability claims.
Teaching research and its limitsWhere this leads
Industrial Operations requirementsCourses that use this work
Course records retain the edition and role assessed. New teaching text does not erase earlier achievements.