Mining is primarily about knowledge of resource locations and not doing really stupid stuff.
The question is, does my mining the narrow strip of land between the Western Ocean and long lake West of Jelly Zone qualify as "really stupid stuff"?
Background: Mining is usually something I focus on when I have a relatively low bankroll, and my mining strategy is based on the goal of breaking even (with markup) over the course of my regular runs without the benefit of long tail events (like the XX that started this thread). When a big hit does come it's all profit. Eventually I get bored of mining as a primary activity and move on - hopefully funded by the returns from just such hits.
On Toulan my situation is a little different, as I do a lot of mining to obtain resources for use, not sale, but I still fall back into more mining when PED's are tight.
I have determined to my own satisfaction that hit rate is not affected by the amount of land your can actually drop a bomb on - and that claims located underwater or other areas where mining is not permitted are placed on the nearest viable mining land. I have mined near shores when doing very exact and closely tracked mining runs on Calypso and elsewhere, and I've never found it to make a difference.
My hit rate on that strip of land is no different, I contend, than in the middle the desert. I also drop bombs on the the little patches of land that poke through the Temple Grounds. If only those little spot of land were viable, I would (almost) never find a claim - but I find just as many claims as anywhere.
The only thing I am sure is bad is re-dropping where no claim was found. I believe too much overlap is bad, but I've done it unintentionally often enough - as long as you have moved at little you may well find claims, but I suspect the hit rate suffers a lot.
My personal list of "Stupid Mining Stuff"
Re-dropping same location after no find - usually as the result of user error
Re-dropping same location after finding a small claim
Amping in low hit/high pay locations like FOMA
Amping in areas with unknown resources or lots of TT food
Paying big MU on amps - many amps have super low MU now since the advent of cheap residue
All of the above is my opinion only - your mileage may vary.
Cheers, Miles