The grassroots of wealth creation.
A prospector is someone that scours the world searching for unexploited natural riches and upon finding them, exploits them. The direct route for someone that specializes in prospecting is to become a miner and gather riches from EVEs numerous asteroid fields, refine them and sell to the highest bidder. Learning about prospecting does not limit the pilot in any way, but rather opens up a path to easy double. Prospectors that strike it rich are usually quick at making enough double to be able to expand into whatever branch strikes their fancy. Moneymen can gab all they want, but their stocks and bonds are worth nothing without the hard-working individuals that actually create something through their labor. Money may grease the wheels of the economy, but it's the miners and manufacturers that keep them turning.