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mclovingsfilms1

effective ways to mine?

29 posts in this topic

The only way I mined was to find a sample and dig left,right or forward and see if the sample got bigger or not. This time I found "Very large sample of sphalerite" and dug forward 12 blocks and noticed some ore sticking out, I kept minning and found even more, So I decided to dig around and finally noticed it was much larger than expected. I dug all around it in every possible directions, I found out it was 40 blocks high and 13 blocks wide. But it didn't prove to me if it was effective, I think i just got lucky.

As you can see there is one picture since the others were too big to upload.

excuse my grammer..this is my first horrible post.

post-988-0-41947700-1345196936_thumb.png

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I can't really answer your question very well as I am a begginer as well, but this seems effective for mining in the beginning. I'm curious, what kind of stone is that? Schist?

One thing I can say is in regards to mining, I can't seem to get surface readings. I recently found a area where there was a lot of stones that dropped sphalerite and when I Sluice it I get sphalerite. I also got one copper nugget, so I'm going to dig down into it and see if I can find some sphalerite or copper. Since it was a native copper nugget, the stone layer underneath must be either Diorite, gabbro, or granite. All of which are good rocks to mine in. So I will return with my results later today.

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I can't really answer your question very well as I am a begginer as well, but this seems effective for mining in the beginning. I'm curious, what kind of stone is that? Schist?

One thing I can say is in regards to mining, I can't seem to get surface readings. I recently found a area where there was a lot of stones that dropped sphalerite and when I Sluice it I get sphalerite. I also got one copper nugget, so I'm going to dig down into it and see if I can find some sphalerite or copper. Since it was a native copper nugget, the stone layer underneath must be either Diorite, gabbro, or granite. All of which are good rocks to mine in. So I will return with my results later today.

It is gabbro

I hope to see your findings! :P

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So I sliced down into the rock, tapping the rock every 12 blocks. On my second slice I found a "very large sample of sphalerite". I fiddled around with the propick for a while and found the deposit. After digging up almost a inventory full of it, I ran into this, which is just boggling my mind...

Posted Image

This doesn't do it even CLOSE to justice, but there is literaly a ravine made of Lignite (coal) and sphalerite. There is SIX "very large" individual samples of sphalerite in this ravine! no copper yet, I'll be looking for that next.

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So I sliced down into the rock, tapping the rock every 12 blocks. On my second slice I found a "very large sample of sphalerite". I fiddled around with the propick for a while and found the deposit. After digging up almost a inventory full of it, I ran into this, which is just boggling my mind...

(DARK PICTURE)

This doesn't do it even CLOSE to justice, but there is literaly a ravine made of Lignite (coal) and sphalerite. There is SIX "very large" individual samples of sphalerite in this ravine! no copper yet, I'll be looking for that next.

Needs light, can't see anything

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that look like chert. glad you found it. nice find, prob the copper is either deeper or you pro picker wrong location.

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Lol, is it really? here, hopefully this is better:

Posted Image

Yes, its chert :)

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Ho ho! Now I found a very large sample of native copper, Cassiterite, and Hemitite! from stone age to steel age baby :D

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I have watched a video about the prospectors pick and understand going every 12 blocks, but I don't understand how you like actually use it. The video had the guy already down at level 100 and just at the end of his stairs he had found like a huge sample with the pick and showed how to find it using a grid based search system, but how do you do something like that without already knowing about it? Is it just luck? I am trying a system like that right now, I just dug down to level 100 and started a grid mine and am prospecting at the junctions, but so far all I have found is saltpeter which is annoying because it is useless.

Is there a list of like what rock is under what rock (like chalk will have limestone under it and mudstone under that or something)? Some dude mentioned he found copper so he knew it was diorite, gabbro and something else - but I have found copper in surface places among basalt. I mean, I sort of understand the mechanics but not how you use them effectively and determine where to mine to get better results and would like to know about that.

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For a handy (though perhaps needing updating) list of ore locations, see this page: http://wiki.terrafirmacraft.com/Ores

First off, for pro-picking, make sure you right-click on more than one block in an area. In fact, I'd recommend doing 5-6 hits in an area. The pro-pick lies and lies often. It will give you false negatives but will never give false positives. With that in mind, if you're in the right rock type (see link above), the best you can do is keep looking. This isn't like vanilla minecraft. The ores are hard to find and you can get a string of bad luck that makes it take a long time to find anything. That's just part of the gameplay.

As for a lilst of "what rock is under what rock", that doesn't exist. The reason is because it's random. When a world is created as you know, there are certain biomes generated. There's your "base" biomes, such as taiga, desert, swamp, plains, etc., but whats important to note is that there's multiple types of those base biomes. So you could have plains1, plains2, plains3, ..., plains10, etc. Now this is important to note because each biome has a different rock formation under it. That is, each biome has 3 layers of stone and they are randomly generated when the map is. So plains1 could be diorite, basalt, shale and plains2 could be congolomerate, granite, and gabbro. This layering will only be correct for that world. If you created a new world, plains1 and plains2 could be something totally different still. Basically, the end result is when you create a new world, it's up to you to keep track of which biomes had which rocks so you know where to look or not to look when it comes time to look for a certian ore.

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I've been looking at videos and reading tutorials to try and understand the mechanics of the propick, and here's how I do it:

1. I assume that you have found a sample, of any kind, to start with. Traces, medium or large makes no difference as long as you have a location to start with.

2. Place a torch or any other marker where you start, and go in one direction, propicking until you find the place where it goes from the current(for example small sample) to a larger or smaller. I.e. Small to Traces, or Small to Medium.

3. Place a new marker at the point where it changes, and move 13 blocks towards the larger direction. I.e if your sample went from small to traces, turn back and count 13 blocks. If the sample went from small to medium, continue another 13 blocks. There is no point to propicking these 13 blocks.

4. Place a new marker at the 13th block, and move either left or right from that one, do not continue forward, it serves no purpose. Repeat steps 2 and 3, i.e. after turning either right or left, find a place where it goes from one concentration to another, and move in the direction of the larger one 13 blocks.

5. If you are on the surface, congratulations, you will have to dig down a maximum of 13 blocks and you will hit the vein of ore, unless you have multiple veins messing with the output from the propick. If you are in a tunnel underground, pray that the ore is below you and start to dig. If you haven't found it by 13 blocks down, it is either above you or you have been chasing multiple veins.

Admittedly, I haven't played much yet, but when I get a reading with the propick, this method has so far not failed to located the vein.

Good luck and happy mining to you all, and don't forget to bring torches, ladders and food. Beware cave-ins and dig two wide shafts when going down to prevent falling into an open cave or lava.(did I miss any of the obvious safety precautions? =P)

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I've been looking at videos and reading tutorials to try and understand the mechanics of the propick, and here's how I do it:

1. I assume that you have found a sample, of any kind, to start with. Traces, medium or large makes no difference as long as you have a location to start with.

2. Place a torch or any other marker where you start, and go in one direction, propicking until you find the place where it goes from the current(for example small sample) to a larger or smaller. I.e. Small to Traces, or Small to Medium.

3. Place a new marker at the point where it changes, and move 13 blocks towards the larger direction. I.e if your sample went from small to traces, turn back and count 13 blocks. If the sample went from small to medium, continue another 13 blocks. There is no point to propicking these 13 blocks.

4. Place a new marker at the 13th block, and move either left or right from that one, do not continue forward, it serves no purpose. Repeat steps 2 and 3, i.e. after turning either right or left, find a place where it goes from one concentration to another, and move in the direction of the larger one 13 blocks.

5. If you are on the surface, congratulations, you will have to dig down a maximum of 13 blocks and you will hit the vein of ore, unless you have multiple veins messing with the output from the propick. If you are in a tunnel underground, pray that the ore is below you and start to dig. If you haven't found it by 13 blocks down, it is either above you or you have been chasing multiple veins.

Admittedly, I haven't played much yet, but when I get a reading with the propick, this method has so far not failed to located the vein.

Good luck and happy mining to you all, and don't forget to bring torches, ladders and food. Beware cave-ins and dig two wide shafts when going down to prevent falling into an open cave or lava.(did I miss any of the obvious safety precautions? =P)

Wow, I thought I was the only one who had figured out that method. However you did get one thing wrong, when you're on the block where the sample size gets smaller, you count (not including that block) TWELVE blocks each way. Every time. The 13th block is not needed since you can already see it.

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Wow, I thought I was the only one who had figured out that method. However you did get one thing wrong, when you're on the block where the sample size gets smaller, you count (not including that block) TWELVE blocks each way. Every time. The 13th block is not needed since you can already see it.

Actually, I count thirteen blocks including the one I marked, with the marked block being the smaller of the two sample sizes. Though I just realized I never said as much in the post above. This is because it is the center of the propicks radius(obviously =P)

Since the propick looks through an area that is 25x25x25, counting thirteen blocks in one direction, including the marked block, will take you to the very edge if the scan radius. Since the size of the sample changed, we can then be certain that there are ore somewhere along the x-axis if we counted along the z-axis, or vice versa.

And there is really no need to count in all directions, as soon as you do find the place where the samplle size differs, you only need to count thirteen including, or twelve excluding the center. Granted, if you look in all four directions at first, you are very likely to be able to weed out any veins that interfere, but to save durability on the propick I tend to try my way first. So far I've not had any issues, though that may be just luck as I've not yet had any veins close to each other.

Additional note regarding the sample sizes: If the change of the sample size is going from traces to small or small to medium at both the x-, and z-axis, the majority of the vein is in front of you if you have both the markings behind you. Likewise, if the samples go from medium to large, you will be approximately in the middle of it all.

Prospecting for ore is an art, and sadly I'm not yet as proficient as I would like. I'm getting the hang of it though, hopefully. =P

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Actually, I count thirteen blocks including the one I marked, with the marked block being the smaller of the two sample sizes. Though I just realized I never said as much in the post above. This is because it is the center of the propicks radius(obviously =P)

Since the propick looks through an area that is 25x25x25, counting thirteen blocks in one direction, including the marked block, will take you to the very edge if the scan radius. Since the size of the sample changed, we can then be certain that there are ore somewhere along the x-axis if we counted along the z-axis, or vice versa.

And there is really no need to count in all directions, as soon as you do find the place where the samplle size differs, you only need to count thirteen including, or twelve excluding the center. Granted, if you look in all four directions at first, you are very likely to be able to weed out any veins that interfere, but to save durability on the propick I tend to try my way first. So far I've not had any issues, though that may be just luck as I've not yet had any veins close to each other.

Additional note regarding the sample sizes: If the change of the sample size is going from traces to small or small to medium at both the x-, and z-axis, the majority of the vein is in front of you if you have both the markings behind you. Likewise, if the samples go from medium to large, you will be approximately in the middle of it all.

Prospecting for ore is an art, and sadly I'm not yet as proficient as I would like. I'm getting the hang of it though, hopefully. =P

Ah, well the 13/12 count just depends on which blocks you count :). And you're certainly using it as more of a art form then me haha. I just make sure I can find my ore deposit. Which I always do. I consider that; Achevment get! Propick MASTERED.

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Ah, well the 13/12 count just depends on which blocks you count :). And you're certainly using it as more of a art form then me haha. I just make sure I can find my ore deposit. Which I always do. I consider that; Achevment get! Propick MASTERED.

Well, I tend to spend more time researching and learning about game-mechanics than what is really needed. I'm of the lazy type, which means that I always try to figure out the fastest and easiest way to go from point a to point b, in this case from found sample to ore in my inventory.

And indeed, as long as it works, it is enough. Early game it may be an issue to conserve durability on the tools, but once you find a large ore vein or two, that is no longer a real issue. =D I am a little over half way on the durability on my first propick, and I've got around 10-15 bars of tin to make more tools with, and that is only from one vein of casserite, which isn't completely dug up yet. =P

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Well, I tend to spend more time researching and learning about game-mechanics than what is really needed. I'm of the lazy type, which means that I always try to figure out the fastest and easiest way to go from point a to point b, in this case from found sample to ore in my inventory.

And indeed, as long as it works, it is enough. Early game it may be an issue to conserve durability on the tools, but once you find a large ore vein or two, that is no longer a real issue. =D I am a little over half way on the durability on my first propick, and I've got around 10-15 bars of tin to make more tools with, and that is only from one vein of casserite, which isn't completely dug up yet. =P

I have noticed that garniterite seems to form in small clumps scattered over a area. It makes the normal method of square sample size triangulati g useless. I have resorted to digging around blindly in my nickel mine... I am trying to figure out a way to locate individual clusters without copious amounts of lick or cave ins... Any ideas?

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At least (the worst-case), you can use latter scanning.

I will show you some grids, and you should be able to make them by yourself then.

This grid (1 dig, 17 pass, next row shifts 4) catches all objects which are 3x3 in ortogonal projection. You can see that you dug only ~5% of stone mass:

------0--0#0--0--------0

--0--0#0--0--------0--0#

-0#0--0--------0--0#0--0

--0--------0--0#0--0----

-------0--0#0--0--------

---0--0#Xzz0--------0--0

--0#0--0zzz-----0--0#0--

0--0----zzz-0--0#0--0---

--------0--0#0--0-------

----0--0#0--0--------0--

0--0#0--0--------0--0#0-

#0--0--------0--0#0--0--

The helper ladder is shaped like this:

------000000000/-------0

--000000000/-------00000

0000000/-------000000000

000/-------000000000/---

-------000000000/-------

---000000000/-------0000

00000000/-------00000000

0000/-------000000000/--

/-------000000000/------

----000000000/-------000

000000000/-------0000000

00000/-------000000000/-

The second grid is less effective at first glance (1-dig-11-pass, shift 4), but the ore must be a really slippy snake:

---------#----------

-----#----------#---

-#------0---#-------

----0--0#0---------#

---0#0--0--0---#----

#---0--0--0#0-------

------0#0--0------#-

---#---0------#-----

----------#---------

------#----------#--

--#----------#------

The other good lattice is 1-13-5.

One oth the most sharp-sighting is next:

--#---#---#---#---#-

--------0-----------

#---#--0#0--#---#---

------0-0-0---------

--#--0#0-0#0--#---#-

------0-0-0---------

#---#--0#0--#---#---

--------0-----------

--#---#---#---#---#-

--------------------

#---#---#---#---#---

Only 2/7 of one-block ore chunks stay hidden (who needs that 1-ore piece of goo?). But, you need to dig 10.5% instead of 10.3% (OMG, just look at the difference)

If I remember right, you can dig up to 5 blocks in depth. So, we have an area 11 x length x depth to search ore in.

The overall efficiency is 1 / (6/10 [ladder] + rate * 10)

For the all methods efficiency is about 1/10 blocks dug - the 9.9% in 1st, 10.2% in 2nd and 10.5% the 3rd - as you see, almost no diff.

With last grid you dig 500 blocks and uncover all ore with projection > 1 m2 in volume of 4600+ blocks.

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I've been looking at videos and reading tutorials to try and understand the mechanics of the propick, and here's how I do it:

1. I assume that you have found a sample, of any kind, to start with. Traces, medium or large makes no difference as long as you have a location to start with.

2. Place a torch or any other marker where you start, and go in one direction, propicking until you find the place where it goes from the current(for example small sample) to a larger or smaller. I.e. Small to Traces, or Small to Medium.

3. Place a new marker at the point where it changes, and move 13 blocks towards the larger direction. I.e if your sample went from small to traces, turn back and count 13 blocks. If the sample went from small to medium, continue another 13 blocks. There is no point to propicking these 13 blocks.

4. Place a new marker at the 13th block, and move either left or right from that one, do not continue forward, it serves no purpose. Repeat steps 2 and 3, i.e. after turning either right or left, find a place where it goes from one concentration to another, and move in the direction of the larger one 13 blocks.

5. If you are on the surface, congratulations, you will have to dig down a maximum of 13 blocks and you will hit the vein of ore, unless you have multiple veins messing with the output from the propick. If you are in a tunnel underground, pray that the ore is below you and start to dig. If you haven't found it by 13 blocks down, it is either above you or you have been chasing multiple veins.

Admittedly, I haven't played much yet, but when I get a reading with the propick, this method has so far not failed to located the vein.

Good luck and happy mining to you all, and don't forget to bring torches, ladders and food. Beware cave-ins and dig two wide shafts when going down to prevent falling into an open cave or lava.(did I miss any of the obvious safety precautions? =P)

Supports. Lots of supports. Or if you have waaaay too much metal and feel like wasting a whole lot of it you can just quarry out the whole chunk. I wouldn't reccommend that, though.

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if you want to build an large tunnel, one of hotspots is the use of "puzzle" diging, to obtain lots of dropable rocks and speed up the mineration

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I just tested this in 49j. I started a new world on peaceful, and had enough metal nuggets to make a pick and propick after about a day and a half. The time was hour 14 on March 2 (right before it turned dark), and here's what I had:

360 Rhyolite Rock

61 Diorite

4 Gabbro

40 copper nuggets

11 Sphalerite

32 Cassiterite

0 Bismuthirite

Clearly this won't work so well if you aren't playing on peaceful, but it is still better than making sluices to get started. I never found nearly this much ore while exploring in version 47 or 48.

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I just tested this in 49j. I started a new world on peaceful, and had enough metal nuggets to make a pick and propick after about a day and a half. The time was hour 14 on March 2 (right before it turned dark), and here's what I had:

360 Rhyolite Rock

61 Diorite

4 Gabbro

40 copper nuggets

11 Sphalerite

32 Cassiterite

0 Bismuthirite

Clearly this won't work so well if you aren't playing on peaceful, but it is still better than making sluices to get started. I never found nearly this much ore while exploring in version 47 or 48.

I have to agree that surface rocks have become a lot more helpful. Usually, I get half a stack of sticks, a stack of rocks and two stacks of small ore(usually Casserite for some reason, despite everyone being very adamant about Sphalerite being the most common metal by far). So basically, if I find some clay the first day, I'll have my first bar some time during the night for most worlds I've played in since 49 was released. Copper have only been showing up to me on two world though, but I haven't done too much exploring, only picked up rocks around my house.

And I usually don't play on peaceful, so I can imagine things being a whole lot quicker then, if you don't have to stay indoors at night. xD

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(usually Casserite for some reason, despite everyone being very adamant about Sphalerite being the most common metal by far)

In my current world I've found only a single lump of sphalerite. Found it yesterday after I went Sand Shopping to follow up on a suggestion from a friend.

On my way back after collecting some four stacks of sand, I punched small rocks.

Don't remember the exact values, but it was close to this:

12 copper

3 gold

1 garnierite

5 cassiterite

3 malachite

1 magnetite

1 sphalerite

That isn't the first gold I've punched up, but it is the second area where it's happened in the same world. Third time I've seen magnetite (although the other two lumps I didn't mark in a special way, as I didn't realize I'd popped magnetite; thought it was cassiterite at the time). Not the first instance of garnerite in my world either, although the the other instance is in a sluice some 25 blocks underground.

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