• Mining (1x): +5% ore mining yield per level.
• Astrogeology (3x): +5% ore mining yield per level; requires Mining IV.

These skills are the bread and butter of any miner and should be trained up to level IV reasonably quickly (primarily for the increased mining yield, but Mining IV in particular is a prerequisite to many other mining-related skills). However, note that these skills only increase the yield for ore mining!

• Ice Harvesting (1x): Required for Ice Mining. 5% reduction in cycle time per level.
• Gas Cloud Harvesting (1x): Required for Gas Cloud Mining. Allows use of one gas cloud harvester per level. Note that the skillbook is very expensive (about 20-30M ISK)!
• Deep Core Mining (6x): Required for mining Mercoxit (a very rare type of ore, only found in nullsec).

These skills are only relevant if you want to expand from basic ore mining to Mercoxit, ice, or gas cloud mining.

• Mining Frigate (2x): Needed for the Venture
• Expedition Frigates (4x): Needed for the Prospect and the Endurance
• Mining Barge (4x): Needed for the Procurer, Retriever, and Covetor
• Exhumers (5x): Needed for the Skiff, Mackinaw, and Hulk
• Industrial Command Ships (8x): Needed for the Orca
• Capital Industrial Ships (12x): Needed for the Rorqual

In addition to letting you fly the abovementioned ships (which only needs level I), training higher ranks of these skills greatly enhances their respective ships. For instance, the Venture gains +5% mining yield per level of the Mining Frigate skill - which is on top of the bonuses provided by Mining and Astrogeology! So if you've found a ship you like, train the corresponding spaceship command skill to make it even better.

• CPU Management (1x): +5% CPU output per level.
• Electronics Upgrades (2x): Required for fitting and using co-processors. Requires CPU Management II.
• Mining Upgrades (4x): Required for fitting and using Mining Upgrades. Requires Mining III.
• Jury Rigging (2x): Required for fitting rigs.
• Drones Rigging (3x): Required for fitting mining drone augmentor rigs (requires Jury Rigging III).

As mining lasers and mining upgrades are CPU-hungry, training CPU Management will make it easier to fit your ship. If you are still short on CPU, Electronics Upgrades allow you to fit co-processor modules (which increase your ship's CPU further). Mining upgrade modules increase your mining yield, while drone augmentor rigs increase the yield of mining drones.

• Power Grid Management (1x): +5% powergrid output per level.
• Shield Operation (1x): 5% reduction in shield recharge time. Requires Power Grid Management I.
• Shield Upgrades (2x): Required to fit shield upgrade modules (shield extenders and resistance amplifiers). Requires Power Grid Management II
• Tactical Shield Manipulation: Required to fit shield hardeners. Requires Power Grid Management III.
• Shield Management (3x): +5% shield capacity per level. Requires Power Grid Management III.
• Shield Rigging (3x): Required for fitting shield rigs. Requires Jury Rigging III.
• Hull Upgrades (2x): Required for fitting damage controls.

All the mining ships are shield tanked, so shield tanking skills are useful to make them less vulnerable to ganking. Power Grid Management is the foundation skill, and should be trained to at least level III to make fitting easier. Then, Shield Upgrades and Shield Management should be trained, to not only increase your ship's shield strength, but also to allow you to fit shield upgrade modules. Hull Upgrades is needed for the always-useful damage control module. The other skills on this list have a lower priority, but come in handy as the higher-tier mining ships greatly benefit from a strong tank.

• Drones (1x): Increases number of drones in space by 1 per level, for a maximum of five drones in space at level V.
• Drone Interfacing (5x): Increases drone damage and mining drone yield by 10% per level. Requires Drones V.
• Mining Drone Operation (2x): Increases mining drone yield by 5% per level. Requires Drones I.
• Advanced Drone Avionics (5x): Allows use of electronic warfare drones. Requires Drones V.
• Light Drone Operation (1x) and Medium Drone Operation (2x). Allows for the operation of light and medium drones. Requires Drones I.
• Amarr Drone Specialization (5x), Caldari Drone Specialization (5x), Gallente Drone Specialization (5x), or Minmatar Drone Specialization (5x): Allows the use of Tech II drones. Requires Drones V.

Mining ships use drones both for defence and increased mining yield. The Drones skill is the foundation skill, and should be eventually trained up to V (once you start flying Exhumers it's highly recommended, and valuable even before). To use drones defensively, train up Light Drone Operation, whilst mining drones need Mining Drone Operation. Drone Interfacing is somewhat of a long train, but even getting it to level IV makes a big difference in how effective your drones are. Advanced Drone Avionics is only needed if you plan to use ECM drones, and the drone specialisation skills are needed when you start using Tech II drones. For more details on how drones work, see drones.

• Leadership (1x), Wing Command (8x), and Fleet Command (12x): Increases Command Burst area of effect.
• Mining Foreman (2x): Increases duration of Mining Foreman Command Bursts. Requires Leadership I.
• Mining Director: Increases the strength of Mining Foreman Command Bursts. Requires Mining Foreman V.
• Command Burst Specialist (6x): Reduces reload time for Command Burst modules. Requires Leadership V.

These skills become highly desirable once pilots start flying Orcas or Rorquals, and want to run mining fleets (and provide mining boosts to your fleet members). For more details on how fleets and Command Bursts work, see Command Bursts.