#Expanse is an #altcoin which is growing constantly by it's quality an good reputation. 
For that reason and for it's good price on the market it is a smart decisiton to start #mining it. 

https://i.imgsafe.org/c6da80cdc8.png

In this series of posts I will explain you the following:
1. How to set up your solo mining 
2. How to set up a proxy for solo mining
3. How to set up a proxy for pool mining 
4. The meaning of some arguments in the console 

The first thing you have to do to start mining is sync the blockchain on your computer, this will be like the "mountains" where you will mine the "gold". The blockchain contains all the transactions to be confirmed. And last but not least, you have to confirm that you are conected to the main chain of expanse, otherwise, you won't be able to  mine exp (expanse abbreviation). 

`gexp` : put this command in a command prompt. This command prompt should be opened in the location where you have stored the #gexp client, i.e ,  open your files and find the location of gexp (ex. Downloads folder) and with `ctrl + shift + right click`choose  `open command prompt` to open the command prompt in the right location. I assumed you download the last version of gexp from here http://www.expanse.tech/index.php#downloads.

https://i.imgsafe.org/c4fcb1e3be.png

The first time that you sync the blockchain you will have to create your "console wallet". To do this you have to open an other command prompt in the same folder location and you will start gexp like this: `gexp attach`this is starting a console based on the gexp client. There you have to put this command: `personal.newAccount("mypasswd")`
*you should replace mypassw with your personal password.  

https://i.imgsafe.org/c4fc8c94ab.png

You can see that an hexadecimal address was generated. This is your wallet address. 

Now, in the same console, let's assure that we are in the right "mountain" to start mining. 
We have to put `exp.Blocknumber` and then collate that the number is the same as the last block number of the expanse #network. You can find this out in http://stats.expanse.tech/ at the upper left corner, it says "Best block".

https://i.imgsafe.org/c59a8a5d84.png

Then you have to put this in the console: `net`and in the peerCount you should see a number greater than 3 or 4. This indicates you that you are connected to other nodes in the main chain. 

https://i.imgsafe.org/c4fc973bfd.png

With this done. You are ready to give support to your mining rig. I will explain this later...

Now let's get the right equipment to break some rocks and find out some gold. We have to download "Ethminer", which contains the algorithm and the program that compute the mining. You can download the last version here:
https://build.ethdev.com/builds/Windows%20C%2B%2B%20develop%20branch/

With #ethminer downloaded, we have to open an other command prompt, but in the folder called Release within the Ethminer folder.

https://i.imgsafe.org/c640f9a246.png

In this new command prompt we will start mining with this command: 

`ethminer -G  -F http://127.0.0.1:9656`

It is very important to never forget the right port where you are pointing your mining rig:  `-F http://127.0.0.1:9656`  and also: `-G` to enable GPU mining. 

*If you get an error like this

https://i.imgsafe.org/c634053da2.png

You have to wait until the blockchain reach the last block.

If everything goes well you should see a command prompt like this. 

https://i.imgsafe.org/c6341b3146.png

I would like to know your experience mining exp (: follow me and read the next parts of this series!