Sure, you can fly a Barge relatively fast, but apart from the Hold you are probably better off mining in your venture? Speed wise that is… If you want to mine it ‘as bare as is’ you are probably better off just putting a T2 laser on an industrial with cargo expanders, just needs Mining 4 for the T2 lazer ?
Would also want to add here that the regular general player will also want to spend skill points on just regular skills (just think of all the other categories of skills you might want). This adds even more time to having access to a decent Barge…