What used to be 15 different crystals for 15 different types of ores has been simplified to 4 crystal groups:
- Simple (Veldspar, Scordite, Pyroxeres, Plagioclase)
- Coherent (Omber, Kernite, Jaspet, Hemorphite, Hedbergite)
- Variegated (Gneiss, Dark Ochre, Crokite)
- Complex (Bistot, Arkanor, Spodumain)
In addition to the Abyssal ore crystals, Mercoxit crystals and 5 tiers of moon mining crystals that makes 11 different crystal groups.
Additionally each crystal has 3 types: A, B and C (and the old T1 and T2 versions of each). That means a lot of crystals.
Type A
Type A crystals II on a T2 miner has about 44% more yield than a T1 strip miner, which is really nice.
Downside is that you get some residue, which means you cannot get all ore out of an asteroid.
For Type A II your residue chance is 37.6%, which means about 27% of any rock is wasted and you can gain 73% of the ore in it if you mine it all.
Type B
Type B crystals cycle quicker than Type A, which results in 25% more yield.
Residue chance is higher at 64%, which means you can potentially mine 61% of a rock and 39% of the rock is lost.
This means type A crystals can get 20% more ore from a rock (but take longer to do so) and T1 miners can get 64% more ore from a rock (and take even longer).
Type C
Type C crystals are useful when you want to quickly destroy rocks. For example when you want to get rid of less valuable rocks to make Mercoxit respawn in an anomaly, or want to annoy your neighbours.
You destroy rocks 50% quicker than when using type B crystals, which is pretty insignificant, considering you have only 11% of the yield of type A crystals, or 8.8% of the yield of type B crystals, so if you even care about getting some ore at all, type C crystals are useless.
Only if you don’t want to get the ore you’re mining you should consider using type C.
End result
You will likely bring a few type B crystals and need to shuffle less as your crystal now covers multiple different ores.
In rare occasions you may want to bring type A crystals (such as for valuable moons or other situations with limited ore) and I don’t think anyone will use type C crystals at all at these rates, as you can use type B for two thirds of the asteroid destruction rate but with more than 11 times more yield.