Day 8 and beyond, the Mining Session

Once you have the Wood and you have created the “entrance” to your mine that protects your shelter, and thus secures a safe zone for you to retreat to, begin the process of creating your mine.

There are several schools of thought on this, but the best way seems to be to determine what you are seeking as far as Resources, and then targeting the most appropriate level as your goal... FYI the following obtains as your guide:

• Coal Ore: Appears pretty much everywhere.

• Diamond: Appears in the bottom 16 layers of the map.

• Gold Ore: The Bottom 32 Layers of the Earth

• Iron Ore: Occurs from bedrock to slightly above sea level.

• Lapis Lazuli Ore: Found at a depth of 31 and below.

If you have played other Versions of the game you are familiar with Redstone and how it is used as an element of devices and circuits and to power things. At this point in the game Redstone has not been implemented as a user-active element, so while you will encounter it as you mine, you cannot actually mine Redstone as when you try no matter what level of tool you use, the ore is destroyed in the process.

If that annoys you then you should consider that it is only a matter of time before they add that part of the game in. There is a well-established tradition in Minecraft that each version starts out as simple as possible, with just the very basic build elements in it, and then slowly gets more and more complex features added in as time passes. It is a sound approach to game development, just saying.

Heading for the Bottom of the World

One of the most efficient tactics in the PE is to start your mine as a continuously dropping drift tunnel, heading constantly down until you reach the edge of the world, where you may be shocked to discover the sky(!), and then drifting sideways for a bit before resuming the journey down. The reason for this approach is that it will allow you to set up strategic side drifts at the levels you want to target a lot easier than shaft-mining can, since it does not require the use of ladders and the constant risk of falling if you make your shafts too long.

You will know you have reached the bottom level when you find blocks you cannot destroy or harvest there, at which point you can start creating large open drifts -- but be sure that they are well lit!

At the bottom level you can expect to encounter regular seams of Coal, Iron Ore, Diamond, and Gold, which makes this a particularly attractive destination.

Establishing a Work Area

Once you reach the very bottom of the world and thus the bottom of your mine, returning to your Shelter each time you need to renew supplies is generally a waste of time, so at the head-end of your mine at the bottom, you should deploy a Crafting Table, Stonecutter, and Furnace as well as ample storage in the form of Chests you can put the Resources you mine that you do not necessarily need at the moment. Remember that the Stone you have mined (Cobblestone) has uses, so don't just chuck it into a hole to get rid if it! You are going to want to build a proper home or even castle eventually, and you can turn that stone into useful materials later.

One tactic that better uses your time is to set up a number of Furnaces and then drop in stacks of Cobblestone and Coal to process the Cobblestone into Stone Blocks. Using Stone Blocks is a good idea for constructing both your home and defensive walls, since it is harder than Cobblestone and thus will take less extensive damage if a Creeper blows near it.

Dealing with Frustration

Here is the thing mates, once you get to the bottom and start your drift, finding either Gold, Diamond or Lapis Ore is really (REALLY) a matter of Luck.

You will find plenty of Iron Ore, plenty of Coal, and even plenty of Redstone, but not so much plenty of what you are really looking for unless you are wicked lucky. That being the case what you really have to do is resolve that you will find it, and then keep extending your drift shaft until you DO.

The important thing to remember is that if you mine long enough you will eventually find all of the ore types. The rumors online is that Lapis is rarer than Diamond and Gold Ore, but that is not true in my experiences with numerous seeds. It seems like Lapis is about as common as Gold, while Diamond is a lot rarer. Digging deep and being persistent are the two best methods to success.