Ore/black rock node sizes

[strawman]

Can anyone give me a rough idea about how large are the black rock nodes in mines? It seems like ore veins I am finding are fitting in roughly a 5x5 area. So they are rather small. Are black rock nodes similar? Or are they bigger/smaller?

I ask because I'd like to know how far apart to dig my exploratory tunnels so I dont miss the closest black rock from my ladder

[Reviresco]

Seems to vary a lot. Some are fairly small patches that are less than the area contained within a single mine support. Some are much larger*.

I don't think I've ever come across one that was less than, say, 9x9. I'm only halfway down the levels, though.

http://i.imgur.com/Fn2cfkG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8n2o0G7.jpg

Edit: I do this upon reaching a new level: http://i.imgur.com/BC92W6m.jpg

[strawman]

Here's what I am dealing with... still stuck on level 1, no black rock to be found. It's so damn frustrating.

[Reviresco]

Yeah, that stinks. There was a pre-built mine outside of my base that I claimed just to keep from having a neighbor and the cave-down happened on the third tile I mined.

This is level one of the mine that was in my base, and I had lousy luck finding the first cave-down: http://i.imgur.com/2iQHGVd.jpg

I pretty much did what you did at first, then I said screw it and I went and line-mined far away from the entrance and found the cave-down pretty quickly: http://i.imgur.com/6HWj3wp.jpg

Just hang in there. The first cave-down is usually easy to find, but not always. When I hit the 2nd level I immediately found silver ore and dark tile that led to the cave-down in the same day: http://i.imgur.com/OBixbUM.jpg

But yeah. Now I just line-mine in the four cardinal directions when I hit a new level. Another good thing about that is you can click the ladder and then switch to a browser tab or something and then come back and you're on the previous level again, and can drop the boulder in the huge empty space created by the cave-down.

Edit: Also, when you line-mine, and you place a support when you hit a dark tile patch, and then you start mining it out beyond the radius of the mine support, you can then go farther back in the long line you mined and make an L-shaped tunnel around to the back of where the dark tile you are mining is. Then, you can see if the dark tile extends far enough to warrant using another mine support. Alternatively, you can just spam mine supports.

[strawman]

Edit: Also, when you line-mine, and you place a support when you hit a dark tile patch, and then you start mining it out beyond the radius of the mine support, you can then go farther back in the long line you mined and make an L-shaped tunnel around to the back of where the dark tile you are mining is. Then, you can see if the dark tile extends far enough to warrant using another mine support. Alternatively, you can just spam mine supports.

Hey I'm not sure I understand this part - why do I want to place a mine support when i find black tiles? Isnt mining the black tile supposed to cause a cave in to spawn the cave down entrance?

[TotalyMeow]

Cave ins and cave downs are different things. You'll still get a cave down when you add supports.

[strawman]

oh ok, so the idea is place a support so you dont cause a cave in while you are digging out black tiles in hopes of one of them causing the cave down?

[Reviresco]

oh ok, so the idea is place a support so you dont cause a cave in while you are digging out black tiles in hopes of one of them causing the cave down?

Exactly.

Edit: Are you using a client that shows you the radius of a mine support? Alt+r on Latikai. It's very helpful when mining.

[strawman]

I swear this game hates me. I am convinced it forgot to generate black rock for my mine.

Check this out now:

[strawman]

Question:

As you go deeper in levels I know purity increases, but:

a) does copper or silver become more common?
b) does black rock become more common?
c) does iron become more common?
d) do any of the above resources get larger node sizes?