Mining Kernite: the most profitable high-sec ore

Of all the common ores, kernite is the most lucrative one to mine. It is partly due to the level 4 storyline mission "Materials for War" which requires 8000 units of kernite. As a result, it is generally more profitable to sell the normal kernite ore (not its fiery or luminous variants) directly on the market, but it depends on the regional prices of the ore and its corresponding minerals. Regardless of whether you sell the ore directly or refine it into minerals, it is still the most profitable ore that is found in high-sec systems.

The trick of course is finding kernite asteroids, as they tend to be quickly depleted. The only high-sec places to find kernite are the systems under the sovereignty of the Amarr Empire. Just about any 0.7 or lower system in Amarr space will have kernite.

Unlike other common ore asteroids, kernite asteroids will only contain on average 5000 units of ore, rarely exceeding the 10000 units per asteroid. So it is a good idea to find a system with no stations. Those systems generally have bigger asteroids and less competition from other miners. Of course, in this case your traveling time to offload the ore will increase, especially due to the fact that kernite is very bulky, taking up 1.2 cubic meters per unit in your cargohold.

It is possible to find kernite in Caldari and Minmatar space if you don't want to travel to the Amarr space, but then you have to run the risk of mining in systems with 0.4 security rating and lower. Unless you have a Hulk and low-sec doesn't bother you, I would recommend mining in the safety of high-sec. In my opinion the profit margin of kernite is not enough to support the costs associated with mining in low-sec. There are other more profitable ores (for example, hedgergite) in there.