[79.6] Prospecting seems less useful - gravel layer?

[Waz 4]

I'm relatively new to the game and prospecting is of course no exact science, but I feel I'm getting a lot less positives from surface prospecting than in 0.78, and I'm wondering if this is the new gravel layer often putting the goodies out-of-range of the prospectors pick?

 

The gravel layer and new mining collapse mechanics are already making mining harder, so it being harder to find ores from the surface compounds the difficulty. Seems just as useful to just look in crevasses and forget digging elsewhere.

[Kittychanley 1,002]

It's entirely possible. However, being able to use the prospector's pick on just about any block and getting a good reading never really made much sense anyways, since it's supposed to be a tool used to get rock scrapings.

[Hector49er 31]

Why would you use the ProPick on the surface anyways? Just look until you find nuggets, dig down at the average center and prospect from there. Although I agree that Crevasses are great places to find ores that are already uncovered. I don't see the gravel layer as a problem since I always dig down to stone anyway.

[Thrainn 2]

What is the average center now?

I haven't really played since the new ore generation was introduced, and before that you could tell at which height in a layer the ore would generate.

But anyhow, wouldn't it be better to dig not too deep while searching, as digging down is always safer than digging up?

[Two 21]

The propick still works fine even with the new gravel layer, just the area you can find ore is much smaller now. On the other hand the world now has much more ravines than before, which will allow you to search underground often. You can as well scan around mountains, which will allow you to "peek" inside. And if everything else fails, you'll need to use a ladder and a hole to get down to the stone layer and prospect from there.

Nuggets on the surface are a dead give-away that there is ore around, and the amount of nuggets tell you how close it will be to the surface. The downside is that some "ores" do not produce nuggets, most importantly graphite, kaolinite and borax. But then you will usually find enough ore by prospecting on the surface.

[Kittychanley 1,002]

I never did quite understand people's fascination with Borax. All you have to do is go find one of the flux-stones (Chalk, Dolomite, Limestone, Marble), and you never ever have to worry about getting flux again. 

[Two 21]

I never did quite understand people's fascination with Borax. All you have to do is go find one of the flux-stones (Chalk, Dolomite, Limestone, Marble), and you never ever have to worry about getting flux again.

In my world I searched an area of about 8000x8000 blocks around my spawn and haven't found neither. I just got lucky and stumbled over some surface Borax, otherwise I would still be in the stone age.

[Terex 108]

In my world I searched an area of about 8000x8000 blocks around my spawn and haven't found neither. I just got lucky and stumbled over some surface Borax, otherwise I would still be in the stone age.

 

In my experience it is easier to find flux-stones than rock-salt (only 1 rock type).

[Two 21]

Well I got lucky then, I got 3 rock-salt spots, several andesite and gabbro and one quarzite area.