better way to find resources?

[Expanding Man]

I feel like I'm missing something. Finding some basic resources on the surface such as compound and resin is fairly easy, but finding mineral resources such as latterite and quartz is extremely difficult, and seems totally dependent on sheer dumb luck. I have yet to ever lay eyes on malachite and I am running out of things I can do without it.

I definitely feel like I'm missing something, since otherwise it seems like it'll take ages and ages everytime I decide I want to build something (such as a replacement tractor after mine fell off a cliff). Is there some device for finding resources? It's so difficult to find resources right now that it sort of feels like game over.

[indiv]

Here's the wiki breakdown of resources by planetoid: https://astroneer.gamepedia.com/Resources
There's also the (less specific) in-game Astropedia available from the menu (Rocket Ship icon) which gives a little help.

For the home planet at least (Sylva) you get:
Compound, Resin, Organic. Clay & Graphite anywhere.
Ammonium & Malachite/Copper are generally up in the mountains and foothills.
Sphalerite/Zinc, Laterite/Aluminium & Quartz are underground (shallow).
And Astronium is also underground but only at the lowest levels.

Having a way to locate/find resource patches would be a nice addition but as of right now the only way is to explore.

[1SlimShaney]

Rarer resources are found underground. Finding a cave is generally the easiest, but digging down usually finds a cave eventually

[Expanding Man]

I had spent hour and hours wandering through caves and never laid eyes on malachite at all. Laterite was also pretty hard to find.

I eventually found that strip mining is essential. So far it seems to be a much more efficient way of finding resources. I believe the color of the terrain is somehow indicative of the resources which can be found (I found large deposits of malachite pretty quickly in some of the bluish-grey terrain with sparse foliage on it).

Still, I do find the resource gathering in this game can become quite tedious. Beacons are helpful, but I find the lack of a map infuriating. Because of the sheer quantity of many of the resources that's needed to build much of a base (and build them on multiple planets), resource hunting can be exhausting. You may feel you've gotten lucky and finally found a substantial deposit of something, but usually you'll find that quickly runs dry and you need to spend another 2 or 3 hours hunting for more.

[1SlimShaney]

I honestly cant say I feel the same. I have had trouble finding resources but never anything more than a little exploration to find it.

[Expanding Man]

Perhaps I'll feel differently as I do more extensive strip mining, but I definitely have an extremely hard time with what I find lying around in caves. I almost never find any of the metal ores at all. Like I said, copper and aluminum have been extremely difficult (though I did finally get lucky and find a substantial aluminum deposit).

So, either I'm missing something about how exploration works, or my seed is just a lot worse than yours.

[1SlimShaney]

It may just be something to do with your planet seed. I know malachite and laterite are rarer since release, but it's not excrutiating like you are describing for myself

[ANGH3LL1C]

Something I suggest you try is getting a scrapper and trading post online. It's the fastestand easiest way to get resources, as Compound and Resin are abundant, and those can be turned into a man-made object which can be scrapped for free There's also the option of digging up the ground and using a Soil Centrifuge to turn that into Resin/Compound, and it's easily able to turn that into something scrappable. If you really badly need Malachite, the Trading Outpost is the best way to go, although the exchange rate is a bit oddball.