When I have been mining Niobium I have made about 30m per hour - not fantastic. But look at it this way, why should someone who has just come onto the game be able to get up as fast as someone who has played for ages and ages? Sure there is a bit of inequity between people who engaged under the old economy (I'm not one of them I'm sorry to say!) but the dedication required is part of what makes that battleship so enjoyable to have. Hard work and toil!
I forgot who said this but it went something along the lines of this:
Wealth is like the gravy in life. It is that little bit extra that gives the great taste to a meal. But hard work and toil is like the bread. Without it the gravy is nowhere near as enjoyable. You need the bread with a little gravy on the side for a truly enjoyable meal.