The Differences Between Surveying and Prospecting

We use mining as an interchangeable term that covers both prospecting and surveying. But one is not the same as the other. Prospecting is the search for ores, and mining is the extraction of them. Surveying is the search for enmatters, and drilling is the extraction of them.

But the main difference is... Unamped, surveying costs half as much, and while the average claim sizes tend to be greater than in previous version updates, they are still significantly smaller than the average ore claim.

Though, perhaps an equalizer to this is amping. It would seem now that if you amp, the amps decay the same amount for ores as they do for enmatters, meaning proportionately larger claim sizes from amping.

However, I tend to surmise that you have a greater chance at overall profit with surveying. You will have more probe drops for your gains to balance out your losses, losses will be slower and smaller than if looking for ores. And it doesn't take a very big claim to correct a 10 or 20 probe NRF streak.

And as unbelievable as it sounds... I have heard of people hitting unamped enmatter towers long before they ever hit their first unamped ore tower... But this is going to change depending on what you do the most I think.

If you drop 5 or 10 in a row and find nothing, move to another area, a cold streak in Entropia seldom will turn around by trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip.

Good luck!  And happy mining!