Quick Reference
| Giant Secure Container | Jettisoned Canisters | |
| Capacity | 3900 m3 | 27000 m3 |
| Volume in Cargohold | 3000 m3 | 27000 m3 |
| Expiration | 30 days since last opened | 1-2 hours |
| Skills required | Anchoring | None |
Secure containers come in different sizes, Giant Secure Container used as an example
Jetcan mining is a great tool. You can mine the ore with your mining ship and jettison the ore into a container in the process. That lets you jam-pack a lot of ore (as much as 27500 m3) into one canister. Then you just take an industrial ship and bring it all back to station. Of course, you have to be able to fly an industrial ship for jetcan mining to be a worthwhile process.
The major problem with jetcan mining is theft. Anybody can open your canister and take all of your ore when the jetcan is left unattended or even while you're mining. The CONCORD doesn't retaliate against the "can flippers", but you are allowed to target the thief yourself. After the theft occurs, the thief's name will be highlighted in red and you can attack if you're willing. Be careful though, because a lot of times can flippers are just trying to bait you. Once you attack them, they are free to attack you as well.
One way to avoid theft of all of your hard-earned ore is to use secure containers. The anchoring skill must be trained beforehand. Containers of various sizes can be purchased on the market, with the giant secure container being the largest of them with a volume of 3900 m3. To use the container, you have to put it in your cargohold and then right click and "Launch for Self" or "Lauch for Corp" at the place where you will be mining. You must anchor the container first and then set a password. This restricts access to you only (or your corp if you selected that option).
If you don't anchor your secure container, then anybody with a large-enough cargohold can scoop your container up then reprocess it, accessing everything you've had stored inside. And forgetting to set a password lets everybody access your container. You also have to anchor first and then set the password, otherwise the password is reset.
The benefits of using a secure container are:
- Only you can access the contents
- The container can hold more cargo than the space it takes up (i.e. a giant secure container takes up 3000 m3 of cargohold space in the ship, but it can fit 3900 m3 of ore inside itself)
However, there are some disadvantages to using secure containers:
- The maximum size of secure containers is rather small in comparison to a jetcan (3900 m3 vs 27500 m3).
- The secure containers aren't cheap.
- You have to haul the containers in your cargohold. So unless you can fly an industrial ship with a large cargo capacity, you will still have to make many trips between the station and the asteroid belt.
- There are restrictions to placement of secure containers, depending on your anchoring skill level. For example, at anchoring skill level I, you cannot place your secure container 5000m within any structure (i.e. an asteroid, another secure container, etc). And since some asteroid belts are quite popular, it gets really crowded out there.
- You can only use secure containers in systems of less than 0.8 security rating.
If you are just starting out mining, then jetcan mining or secure containers is not something you need to worry about. But the moment you are able to pilot an industrial ship, you have to weigh the pros and cons of using jetcans vs secure containers. If you're still sticking to 1.0 - 0.8 security systems, then you have only one option - jetcans. But in 0.7 or lower systems, I would strongly encourage investing in secure containers, especially if you know that pirates are operating in the area. Even with their disadvantages, you can't argue with the security that the secure containers provide.