Guides/Plan

Refining

Set up refiners, compare who refines an ore best, record refine batches and what a contracted refiner returns.

Last updated 2026-11-07

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In this guide
  1. 1What Refining is for
  2. 2Setting up refiners
  3. 3What decides the yield
  4. 4Compare: who should refine this ore?
  5. 5Recording a refine batch
  6. 6Recording what comes back from a contracted refiner
  7. 7The Batches tab
  8. 8A batch's page
  9. 9Common questions

1. What Refining is for

Turning moon ore into reaction materials: who should refine it, and keeping the record straight.

Refining (EVE calls it reprocessing) breaks ore into the materials it contains. How much you get back, the yield, depends on the structure, its rigs, the refiner's skills and implant. You can refine with your own character, or send the ore to a contracted refiner, another player with better skills or a better structure who charges a fee. Refining answers “does their extra yield pay for the fee?” and records every refine so the materials carry the right cost.

Compare
Pick an ore and quantity; every refiner gets a card with yield, tax, fee and net value, best first.
Batches
Every refine you recorded, and the ore still out at a contracted refiner. The tab's badge counts batches at a refiner.
Refiners
Your own refining characters and the contracted refiners you use, with their skills and fees.

Record refine batch at the top right opens the refine form from any tab (it is also in the Record menu). Each batch has its own page; click a batch anywhere to open it.

Before you start
You need a registered facility with the Reprocessing service online (see Facilities) and at least one refiner on the Refiners tab. Compare shows No reprocessing facility or No active refiners until you have them.

2. Setting up refiners

Do this once: the app needs to know who can refine and what they charge.

  1. 1
    Open the Refiners tab
    Press Add refiner.
  2. 2
    Choose the kind
    Own character: one of your characters. Pick it under Character; its Reprocessing skills and implant are read from ESI and kept up to date, so you cannot type them. Each character can be a refiner once.
    Contracted refiner: someone else. Enter a Name and their skill levels from what they told you: Reprocessing, Reproc. Efficiency and Ore skill (the ore processing skill, applied to every ore), plus their Implant.
  3. 3
    Set the default fee
    Pick the Default fee type and its rate (see the table below). For your own characters leave it at 0. The fee can still be changed per batch.
  4. 4
    Press Add refiner
    It appears in the table and on the Compare tab.

Fee types

Flat ISK per batch
A fixed amount per batch, for example 15m.

3. What decides the yield

The same lines as EVE's reprocessing window, multiplied together.

Facility base yield
From the structure: 50% with no reprocessing rig, more with the best rig fitted for that ore, scaled by the system's security (rigs give more in low and null sec), then the structure type's own bonus (refineries refine better than citadels).
Reprocessing
+3% per skill level.
Reprocessing Efficiency
+2% per skill level.
Ore skill
The processing skill for that ore family (for example Ubiquitous Moon Ore Processing), +2% per level.
Implant
+1%, +2% or +4% for the Zainou 'Beancounter' Reprocessing RX-801, RX-802 and RX-804.
Total
All of the above multiplied. When a yield override is set, the calculated total is struck through and the override shows with override.

The facility's rigs, security and tax come from its page on Facilities, so keep that up to date. A batch keeps the yield it was recorded with; later skill or rig changes do not alter old batches.

Portions of 100 units
Ore is refined in portions, usually 100 units. Anything below a full portion is not refined and stays as ore. Each material's amount is rounded down. The structure's reprocessing tax is paid in ISK; it does not reduce the materials.

4. Compare: who should refine this ore?

  1. 1
    Choose the ore
    Type in Ore (the grade is in the name), or click one of the Quick pick from holdings chips: your most valuable ore holdings with their quantity and owner. A quick pick fills in the whole holding and compares at once.
  2. 2
    Enter the quantity
    Units of ore. Refined in 100-unit portions.
  3. 3
    Pick the facility
    Facility lists your active facilities with a reprocessing service.
  4. 4
    Choose the refiners (optional)
    Refiners compares All by default. Open it to untick any; Select all puts them all back.
  5. 5
    Press Compare
    One card per refiner appears, best first. The choices stay in the page address, so you can bookmark it.

Above the cards: the ore and how much is refined, the leftover ore (below one portion, stays as ore), and the ore's market value. Prices are from your valuation market in Settings→Costing.

A refiner card

5. Recording a refine batch

Tell the app the ore was refined, so the ore leaves your stock and the materials arrive with its cost.

EVE does not report refining to apps, so every refine must be recorded. Open the form with Record with this refiner, Record refine batch, the Record menu, or Record refine on Stock → Reconciliation.

  1. 1
    Owner (receives the minerals)
    The character whose ore it is. The materials go to this character.
  2. 2
    Refiner
    Who refines it, marked (own) or (contracted). Picking one fills in its default fee.
  3. 3
    Ore, Quantity, Facility
    What, how much, and where. Leftover below a full portion stays as ore.
  4. 4
    Refined at / Sent at
    When you refined it (own refiner), or when you sent the ore (contracted refiner). EVE time; defaults to now.
  5. 5
    Check the fee
    Fee type and the rate: Fee (ISK) for a flat fee, Fee (ISK per m³), or for the two percentage types Fee (fraction, e.g. 0.03), where 0.03 means 3%.

6. Recording what comes back from a contracted refiner

Ore still out appears in Ore at refiners at the top of the Batches tab: Refiner, Ore, Owner, Sent, Out for (how long it has been away), Out contract, Book cost, Ore value and Expected output value (before tax and fee). The at refiner count in the header strip links here.

  1. 1
    Press Record return
    On the batch's row, or at the top of its page. The Record return · batch #N panel opens.
  2. 2
    Enter what you actually received
    Each material starts at the expected quantity; correct any that differ. The Check column shows Matches, Differs or Missing (left empty, counts as 0).
  3. 3
    Returned at
    When the materials came back. It cannot be before the ore was sent.
  4. 4
    Optional fields
    Return contract id (optional), Fee override (ISK, optional) (default: the fee worked out from what came back) and (default: the tax recorded when sent).

7. The Batches tab

Every refine, those at a refiner first, then newest first. Filter with the Status chips, Owner and Refiner; Clear removes the filters. Click a row to open the batch.

Status
At refiner (waiting for the return), Done, or Planned (not created by the current forms; you will normally see only the first two).
Refined / sent
When it was refined, or sent to the refiner.
Ore, Owner, Refiner, Facility
What, whose, by whom (with an own or contracted icon) and where.
Tax, Fee
In ISK.
Net value
Output market value − tax − fee. For a batch at a refiner it is empty (Known once the return is recorded).
Returned
When the materials came back.

The batch number column is hidden; show it from the table's column menu.

8. A batch's page

The header shows the batch number, ore, quantity and status, the refiner, facility and owner, and Record return while it is at a refiner. A warning appears when materials came back different, with a link to the Inbox.

Value
Ore cash cost (what the ore cost you), Ore market value (what selling it would have given), Output market value (or Expected output value while at a refiner), Tax (with the estimate if you entered a different amount), Fee, Net output value, and Refine gain: net output value minus ore market value, what refining earned over selling the ore.
Yield snapshot
The structure's yield and bonus, skill levels, implant, tax rate and total yield as they were when the batch was recorded.
Timeline and contracts
Refined at or Sent at, Returned at, Out contract, Return contract, Fee agreed and your notes.
Inputs
The ore refined (leftover excluded), how many portions, the ore skill level and the yield.
Outputs
Expected, Actual (as expected when nothing different was entered), Difference, and Check: Matches, or .

9. Common questions

Click a question to open it.

Refining

Should I refine myself or use a contracted refiner?

Open Refining → Compare, pick the ore, quantity and facility, and press Compare. The card marked Best leaves you the most after tax and fee. Then press Record with this refiner.

How do I record minerals coming back from a contracted refiner?

On Refining → Batches, press Record return on the batch under Ore at refiners and enter what you actually received. Or review the return contract with the direction Refine return.

Nothing was refined from my ore.

Ore is refined in portions of 100 units. Less than one portion stays as ore; the form refuses it with quantity must cover at least one portion of 100.

The form says the owner doesn't hold that much ore.

The app has fewer units of that ore on record for the owner at that facility. Record how you got it (purchase or mined ore), or record the haul to the refining facility, then try again. See Recording what ESI cannot see.

Why are my own character's skills greyed out?

An own-character refiner uses the skills and implant ESI reports, so they are always current. If they look wrong, check the character's last skills sync on Sync. Use Yield override only if you know the exact yield.

The yield differs from the in-game reprocessing window.

Check the facility's structure type and reprocessing rigs on Facilities, and for a contracted refiner the skill levels and implant. Press Check yield on the refiner to see each line. If you know the exact figure, set a Yield override.

What does a Refine item in the Inbox mean?

The batch came back with different quantities from those expected. The materials are recorded as you entered them. Press View batch to see which differ, then once you have checked.

Can I delete a refiner?
How do I enter a 3% fee in the refine form?
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% of output value
A share of the value of the materials you get back, for example 3%.
ISK per m³ of ore
A rate per cubic metre of ore refined.
% of minerals retained
The refiner keeps a share of the materials instead of charging ISK. The fee then shows as smaller quantities coming back, not as ISK.

Other fields

Yield override (optional)
A yield you know for certain (for example from the in-game window, 90.628), used instead of the calculated one. Leave empty to calculate it from skills.
Notes (optional)
Anything to remember, such as how to contact them. A · note mark shows in the table; hover the name to read it.

The refiners table

Name, Kind
The refiner and Own or Contracted.
Reproc / Eff / Ore skill
Reprocessing, Reprocessing Efficiency and ore skill levels. from ESI for your own characters; their ore skill shows per ore because it depends on which ore you refine.
Implant
Their reprocessing implant (RX-801, -802 or -804), or None.
Yield override
The override, or – when the yield is calculated.
Default fee
The fee and rate used unless you change it on a batch.
Active
Active, or Inactive: kept for past batches but no longer offered.

Row buttons: Check yield (pick a facility and an ore to see the yield line by line, like the in-game reprocessing window), Edit, and Deactivate / Reactivate. Refiners are never deleted, because past batches refer to them. Switch on Show inactive to see deactivated ones.

#1, name, kind
Rank, the refiner, and Own or Contracted. The winner has a Best chip and a highlighted border.
Net value
Output market value − estimated tax − fee: what you end up with. Cards are ranked by it. The figure in brackets is how far below the best it is.
Yield
The total yield for this ore. Click breakdown to see each line. Override marks a refiner with a yield override.
Output market value
What the materials coming back are worth.
Est. tax
The structure's reprocessing tax, estimated from the facility's tax rate.
Fee
The refiner's default fee in ISK, with its type and rate. A % of minerals retained fee shows here as 0, and the quantities below are marked net.
Material, Qty, Unit, Net/unit
The top 4 materials by value (Show all N outputs for the rest), quantity back, market price per unit, and Net/unit: what each unit really costs you, the ore's market value plus tax and fee spread over the outputs by value. Compare it with buying the material.

Under the cards, Output comparison puts every refiner's quantities side by side, with the unit value and the net cost per unit for the best refiner.

Notes you may see: Below one portion; nothing would be refined. (enter more ore), … has no market price at the valuation market; valued at 0 (the net value is understated), Only one refiner. (add a contracted refiner to compare), and Can't compare: followed by the reason.

When you have decided, press Record with this refiner on the card. The refine form opens with the ore, quantity, facility and refiner filled in (and the owner, if you used a quick pick).

  • 6
    Optional details
    Structure tax paid (ISK, optional): the tax the game charged, if you know it; empty uses the estimate. Out contract id (optional): the contract you sent the ore with (it must already have arrived from the contracts sync). Notes (optional).
  • 7
    Check the preview
    Preview shows each material's Expected quantity and value, the yield breakdown, the estimated tax and Refined / leftover. For your own refiner an Actual (optional) column lets you type what the in-game window really gave, where it differs.
  • 8
    Press Record
    A message Refine batch #N recorded · View links to the batch.

    • Own refiner or contracted refiner

    Own character
    The batch is done at once: the ore is used up and the materials arrive in your stock straight away, with the expected quantities unless you typed actual ones.
    Contracted refiner
    The ore leaves your stock now, and the batch is marked At refiner. No materials arrive yet. When they come back, record the return (next section).

    The materials' cost is the book cost of the ore used, plus the tax and the fee, split over the materials by market value. Self-mined ore is used first. See How costs and profit work.

    The ore must be at the refining facility
    The app takes the ore from lots at that facility, or lots with no recorded location. Ore you bought in a trade hub must be recorded as hauled to the facility first (see Recording a haul), or the form says the owner does not hold that much ore.
    Tax override (ISK, optional)
  • 5
    Press Record return
    The materials arrive in your stock with their cost and the batch becomes Done. The message says matches expected or how many mismatches there are.

    • Instead of the form you can review the return contract on Contracts with the direction Refine return and pick the batch: the contract's items become the actual quantities. Likewise Refine out links the contract you sent the ore with. See the Contracts guide.

    Mismatches

    When any material differs from what was expected (including materials missing from the return), the app raises a Refine item in the Inbox. The stock is recorded as you entered it either way. Open it with View batch: mismatched rows are highlighted in the batch's Outputs. Once you have checked (or settled it with the refiner), press Mark resolved, or dismiss it.

    Mismatch
    Awaiting return
    Lots created
    The stock lots the materials became, with quantity left, cost and market value per unit, and Self-sourced (made from ore you mined) or Bought. Empty with No lots yet until a contracted refiner's return is recorded.

    Refine gain per batch over time is on Reports → Refines; see Profit reports.

    Mark resolved

    No, because past batches refer to it. Press Deactivate: it stays in history but is no longer offered. Reactivate brings it back.

    In the refine form, percentage fees are entered as a fraction: type 0.03 for 3%. (On the Refiners tab the default rate is entered as a percentage.)