Ore Vein

Ore veins are large boulders that contain a significant amount of ore. By Mining an ore vein till it breaks, players can receive between two and three ore. Different ore veins contain different types of ore and can be identified by visual cues or by their drops.

Sandstone
Sandstone is one of the two ore veins that can be found in the Overworld (along with coal), but can also be found in the Mines. The ore vein has a light tan appearance and appears in large clusters. As of 0.9.1 (May 30th 2018), sandstone's main use is for beginner practice and working out the mechanics of mining. Due to it's presence in the Overworld, it can also be used to gauge the relative effectiveness of different pickaxes without needing to face the dangers in the mines. Otherwise, sandstone has no uses in crafting.
 * [*[Image:filename.extention|thumb|A clay ore vein found in the overworld]]

Coal
Coal is one of the two ore veins found in the Overworld (along with Sandstone), but can also be found in the Mines. The ore vein has a distinct black and rounded appearance, and can be overlooked without good lighting. Almost all mining expeditions, regardless of progress, mine coal since it is heavily used in Smithy and Lantern. As such, coal is regularly depleted in the upper levels of the Mines.

Copper
Found in the upper levels of the mines, copper is the best choice for beginner weapons/tools. Every ore vein has a large silver spike extruding from the top, and is the only ore vein to have this distinct feature. Upon breaking with a pickaxe, Copper ore veins typically drop three Copper ore.

Gold
Gold is found in the upper levels of the mines, although it typically starts to spawn between one and two levels lower than copper. Beware! This is about the same level that Wyrm begin to appear, so gold is mined with some degree of risk. A well balanced party can mitigate this risk with an assigned miner and warrior. See Professions for more information. Overall, gold has an overall round shape with small polygonal extrusions coming from the surface. As of 0.9.1 (May 30th 2018), although gold spawns at lower depths than copper, it is less effective than copper when used to make weapons/tools. When mined, gold ore veins drop three Gold Ore.

Iron
Iron ore veins begin to spawn near the crystal layer, so players typically begin to gather the two ores at the same time. Because of this, Iron and Crystal are both intermediate level ores. When spawned, iron ore veins have a scratched surface and dark, matte extrusions, and drop three Iron Ore when broken.

Crystal
First and and foremost, there are two different types of crystal ore veins: Small and Large

Small crystal ore vein
Small crystal ore veins come in three colors: blue, purple and green. Despite the many colors, only blue crystal ore veins can be mined. Furthermore, small crystal ore veins may spawn in clusters, so mining them can be a very efficient way of gathering crystal. Upon breaking. small crystal ore veins drop two Crystal Ore and two Crystal Shards.

Large crystal ore veins
Huge, towering and usually in the middle of an open space, Large crystal ore veins are a huge risk for huge reward. Upon breaking, these ore veins drop four crystal ore, four crystal shards and one (randomly selected) crystal weapon. However, Crystal Wyrm frequently spawn near these ore veins. Since the ore vein is in the open, players are easy targets, so it is heavily recommend that players have a plan (see Professions) before attempting to mine this ore vein.

Silver
Silver ore veins begin to spawn in the crystal layer and continue to spawn in lower floors. It has a distinct layered appearance with small extrusions. As of 0.9.1 (May 30th 2018), a bug exist that prevents ore from dropping. It is expected (hoped) that this will be patched soon.

Mithril
Mithril ore veins begins to spawn far below the surface. Some recorded sightings are around the second crystal layer. The ore veins has medium sized, dark-green extrusions and a rounded body. Typically, mithril ore is found in loot crates far earlier than it is found as an ore vein.

Unmineable items
Some distinguishing features of the Mines are unmineable. This includes, Purple/Green crystals, Large grey boulders, and marble pillars. Try if you want to, but they will not break and drop loot.

Tips for mining

 * Any ore vein can be mined with any pickaxe. The only difference is the number of swings needed till the ore vein breaks.
 * The breaking animation typically shows the boulder splitting into several smaller pieces. These pieces cannot be mined further and will eventually disappear.
 * Order of spawn: Sandstone>Coal>Copper>Gold>Iron>Crystal>Silver>Mithril
 * The rarity of the ore can be determined by the outline color when it is in a player's inventory

Other

 * Although crystal is very strong and spawns early, it will have low durability once durability is reimplemented
 * (Bug) Silver ore veins do not drop ore currently
 * It is assumed, but not proven (please add picture if you have one), that Mithril has an ore vein