[Alneyan]

Mines are also supposed to be hidden (prevents active level 5 scanning and so on), so they should be cloacked devices deployed in an area and programmed to target any incoming hostile ship. It would make more sense than having stationary mines which could not possibly hit a ship in space. (Or it would be so unlikely that you would need the Heart of Gold) On the other hand, drones are more autonomous devices, I would picture drones as being dirigible missiles.

As for the gameplay, I would not advice you to allow the automatic "destruction" of mines for the player (after a certain number of ships). Wouldn't it actually weaken the AI? Or rather, why would you want to give this ability to the player? (I didn't see the reason in your previous Posts, but since there are so much Posts in this thread, I might have overlook it)