Mining: I did a load a day in a Python outfitted for mining and made Elite Trader and a billion credits in just over a week. Ignore 90% of the "Look how awesome I am at everything" bullshit you see on Youtube and prepare to grind and, potentially, die a lot for a while.
Many thanks to CMDR Ithallius, btw, for teaching me the Plentiful Painite Procurement Procedure as detailed below. And for making me richer than I really wanted to be. Which meant I ran out of excuses for avoiding buying a fucking buttplug Anaconda, which is fine as he still can't get me to fly that fucking thing.
Ha.
Anyway. I digress. Painite mining is easy, repetitive and effective.
Here's how:
Ship: The biggest ship you can afford; go here to theory-build your load-out:
https://coriolis.io (post here which ship you're looking at and someone will help build and link it for you)
2 lots of collector limpets (for rapid pick-up. Two lots of 3Ds depending on your ship will do you fine)
1 prospector limpet (small is fine)
1 refinery (smallest size)
1 decent sized fuel scoop (you don't want to be hanging around for long. Try to get a scoop that allows a full refuel in less than 2 mins)
1 DSS (discovery surface scanner. You can fit this in any 1-size slot. Ditch your docking computer bullshit if you need the space)
Cargo everything else.
2 mining beams. Fixed.
Pulse lasers on gimbals, if you have spare hardpoints.
If you're gutsy, run without shields and be prepared to jump into SC if you have trouble and no police around. Put cargo in every other optional internal slot.
At the top of the Coriolis page is a "Stations that sell this build" link. Click it and then, in "Minor Factions" choose "Li Yon-Rui" (You'll get everything at a discount).
Mining:BUY LIMPETS BEFORE YOU LEAVE. Fill 90% of your hold with them: you can always dump them if you fill up - they're super-cheap.
HIP 21991 works well. Drop into Analysis mode, fly to the ringed planet nearest the sun, scan the innermost ring. When you see patches of red light up, you're done. Target one of the two painite spots in the innermost ring and faceplant into it. Turn on Night Vision and your ship's lights.
Put your prospector limpets on number 1 on column A fire group and your collectors AND mining lasers on 2A. Open your cargo scoop. Look at a rock, fire a prospector. Wait for the little "beep" sound and then cut your speed (usually X) until the limpet is safely away. Target it, wait for it to report its findings. Approach the painite rock, get close enough that your ships lights are reflected, cut speed (X), mine it.
In your #1 panel, go to contacts and start adding everything that isn't painite to your ignore list. You can leave materials (nickel, sulfur etc) as they won't clog up your refinery. You might have to unfuck your refinery and inventory as they will jam up and collect everything not on your ignore list. You only have to populate your ignore list once.
Mine until your cargo hold is full. Jettison limpets in batches if required as you go. You are aiming for a full hold of painite.
Make The SaleGo to this site:
https://eddb.io/commodity/83Put in your current system (HIP 21991), look for best price. Bear in mind:
1. Longer the supercruise, the more chance you have of pirates, and if you are ballsy, you will not be running any shields.
2. You might have to scoop for fuel.
3. Those prices update frequently - refresh your page often.
4. Landing pad size
Profit.Buy a bigger ship as soon as you can - the more cargo space the more money. My python - used as a miner because I had no other use for it - will clear 150+ mil credits a run (with a 136 ton cargo hold). The build itself cost 94 mil. I'll link you to my Inara, but bear in mind, I'm primarily combat-focused, so I don't get worried about entering a dogfight with 150 mil in my hold: you might feel differently. Running from pirates is also a perfectly feasible option, too.
Mining Python:
https://inara.cz/cmdr-fleet/89456/384020/ (very basically engineered. The only thing you'll lose is jump range, which isn't a deal breaker and you should be working on that at least by now)
How To Not Be A Complete AssholeSign up for Inara and then download "ED: Market Connector". Run it every time you're in-game. The reason we know the best prices for selling our shit is because other people do this, too. Links below.
https://inara.czhttp://edcodex.info/?m=tools&entry=150Welcome to the game. Happy Getting Rich Quick.
https://youtu.be/htt_UuYwm3U(*Disclaimer: I am not actually this cool.)