Trouble finding ores

[Lor]

I picked an Embark that had Copper ore, but im three years in and yet to find any. I've found no metals so far, I've mined down about 40 z levels, and found one cavern, but I can't see any exposed metal ores at all throughout the whole cavern.

I do have ♥♥♥♥ loads of gems though, I find Opals, Jades, Tourmalines, etc. Just no ore

Rock layers i'm digging through are as follows going from the top, Siltstone, Diorite/Pyrolusite, Marble, Quartzite, granite, Shist/Mica and finally a ♥♥♥♥ load of Diorite, about 10 z levels. Furthest i've got. -15. Surface is 41.

TY for advice.

[Other]

Do you remember what setting you used for mineral abundance when the world was generated? The fact that you have lots of gems suggests a fairly high setting for minerals, but if you set it to a low value and the RNG is playing games with you, you might need to keep looking.

Most metal ores have real-world mineral names, so if you are looking for something with copper in the name, you might have missed some ores. As a check, if you have built a smelter and have fuel for it, if you have any available ore for a metal, the job to smelt that metal in the workshop will turn white.

Copper Nuggets (which is the boulder; the solid tile is called Native Copper) do exist - that is one of the only metal ores with the metal actually in the name - but they are probably the least common ore of copper. The other ores are Malachite and Tetrahedrite. Native Copper is found in Igneous Extrusive layers and Sandstone as veins (both found just under the surface), so probably don't have any on your map, since your top few layers are not either. Malachite is found as veins in Marble and Limestone, so it may be worth exploring the Marble layers you found for that one. Tetrahedrite can be found as veins in any type of stone, so it is the most common copper ore, and since it also produces a small amount of silver when smelted, it is also the most valuable.

I would recommend exploring the marble layers first, since marble is also one of the flux stones you need to turn iron into steel. Even if you have no iron ore on your map, you can normally get small amounts from caravans, and you can also get iron by killing any goblin invaders and melting down their gear (they also have copper gear, so you can get copper that way as well, but normally the iron is more useful). It is also probably worth it to keep digging down, since there are three cavern layers in a standard world generation setup, and since Magma (found below the third cavern) is very useful as an eternal fuel source for smelters and forges. Magma is also useful for setting things on fire, if you can find a way to get it near your enemies.

[Lor]

Originally posted by Other:

Do you remember what setting you used for mineral abundance when the world was generated? The fact that you have lots of gems suggests a fairly high setting for minerals, but if you set it to a low value and the RNG is playing games with you, you might need to keep looking.

Most metal ores have real-world mineral names, so if you are looking for something with copper in the name, you might have missed some ores. As a check, if you have built a smelter and have fuel for it, if you have any available ore for a metal, the job to smelt that metal in the workshop will turn white.

Copper Nuggets (which is the boulder; the solid tile is called Native Copper) do exist - that is one of the only metal ores with the metal actually in the name - but they are probably the least common ore of copper. The other ores are Malachite and Tetrahedrite. Native Copper is found in Igneous Extrusive layers and Sandstone as veins (both found just under the surface), so probably don't have any on your map, since your top few layers are not either. Malachite is found as veins in Marble and Limestone, so it may be worth exploring the Marble layers you found for that one. Tetrahedrite can be found as veins in any type of stone, so it is the most common copper ore, and since it also produces a small amount of silver when smelted, it is also the most valuable.

I would recommend exploring the marble layers first, since marble is also one of the flux stones you need to turn iron into steel. Even if you have no iron ore on your map, you can normally get small amounts from caravans, and you can also get iron by killing any goblin invaders and melting down their gear (they also have copper gear, so you can get copper that way as well, but normally the iron is more useful). It is also probably worth it to keep digging down, since there are three cavern layers in a standard world generation setup, and since Magma (found below the third cavern) is very useful as an eternal fuel source for smelters and forges. Magma is also useful for setting things on fire, if you can find a way to get it near your enemies.

I'm pretty certain i set it to frequent. Is there any way to check after I've already embarked? I'm going to keep looking. Thanks for the detailed response.

[Quack]

you could try excavating a grid every 5 z layers or so, I don't think they're abundant in caverns

[TPark]

The frequency determines the frequency of veins and clusters. Large clusters occur up to once per world square (48 x 48 area on the fortress screen). If you set the mineral frequency high, almost every world square on almost every level will have a large mineral cluster. Clusters include non-ore stone. Magnetite (an ore of iron) occurs in large clusters but so does jet and bauxite (both non-economic stones). So, if you have lots of large clusters of non-economic stone (orthoclase and mica for marble layers) within the layer stone, then your mineral frequency is high.

Magnetite (iron ore, small clusters), Hematite (iron ore, small clusters), Galena (lead ore, veins) and Sphalerite (zinc ore, veins) all occur in marble. So if you set minerals to frequent and you haven't found any of those in the marble, that's weird.