The best way to mine is to use a technique called drift mining.
How to
First, find a location for your mine
Then, begin by digging in a stairlike fashion untill you reach bedrock
Next, dig up in a stairlike fashion until you reach a height of 14-16 blocks above the bedrock
Note: This is the ideal place for ores!
Dig a long 2x1 hallway as long as you want (you can always extend it later)
Note: This will be the base of your strip mine in witch everything else will branch off.
dig in this way
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Green is your main hallway it is 2x1, diamonds are branching halways they are also 2x1
This is to maximize ores
digging with 1 space in between is less effective because you will see that 1 space in two tunnels thus making it a waste because you only need to see it once to recognize if it has ores or not. Two spaces maximizes surface area. (THAT WAS IMPORTANT)
Hope this helps with those diamonds.
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Quote from MaxMutt3 »
I was wondering, how did all of you get into this game?
I am sorry guys but i have found this in multiple places the original idea source is unknown i didn't get this idea from that person ^^ but I got it from this guy: http://www.youtube.com/user/HuskyMUDKIPZ?blend=2&ob=1
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Quote from MaxMutt3 »
I was wondering, how did all of you get into this game?
Interesting idea. Gotta try it out now :smile.gif:.
If you have a large natural cave system, it would be good to explore that as well, as exploring will likely cover more area faster than digging, which can be slow.
If you're not going for the most valuable things like diamonds, then mining with can actually be effective if you can find enough creepers. A couple of can blow a good size crater. It tends to be destructive and doesn't seem to recover all of the blocks, though, so I wouldn't recommend it for the more valuable ores.
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When all is said and done, Will you have said more than you have done?
Seems pretty effective. Got some redstone and diamond already. Definitely much faster than trying to strip mine an area.
To make things a bit less claustrophobic and to ensure my tunnels go the same length, I've kinda modified it to have a larger primary tunnel and two service tunnels on the ends of my branches. But it still covers a lot of area quickly - I may start using this method to find coal and iron as well.
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When all is said and done, Will you have said more than you have done?
I've also taken up a tactic for managing lava - instead of digging diamond out directly, I bring a block of water with and place it above the diamond block and mine through the water. It extinguishes lava pretty much instantly, and at least in my tunnels lava seems to be a big problem. My first diamond find was cut short by lava - and I didn't want to repeat that again.
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When all is said and done, Will you have said more than you have done?
Well, to clarify you do not need to have all of the tunnels be the same length, but if you are the type of person who needs that to happen you could do a little something like this:
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Dig a tunnel as far as you want it then dig perpendicular for as far as the future tunnels will go wide.
Then if your next tunnel reaches the perpendicular tunnel you know it is even.
Remember this is not as efficient, but it will make the tunnels the same length
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Quote from MaxMutt3 »
I was wondering, how did all of you get into this game?
The service tunnel idea, when done properly, should save a lot of time running up and down long corridors, especially if you want to extend the tunnels later.
It will also make re-lighting torches easier once they become temporary. Again, less running up and down long corridors.
The idea actually came a bit from the chunnel, which has two primary tunnels and a service tunnel. Granted, Minecraft does not currently require tunnel maintenance, but temporary torches will add a level of maintenance.
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When all is said and done, Will you have said more than you have done?
The idea of a perpendicular tunnel is also good if you want mine cart tracks to line one of the main tunnels and then travel down it. After that you could choose any tunnel you want to extend and go from there. The perpendicular tunnel would decrease the amount of mine cart tracks needed. As for the above post, it is most likely that notch will add lanterns so that they are more permanent, thus depleting the need for a maintenance tunnel. However these thoughts are good and innovation upon this idea is good. You could also make drift mine webs however this would be more complicated and would take a lot of planing in order to maximize efficiency. As always you could start a new drift mine elsewhere.
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Quote from MaxMutt3 »
I was wondering, how did all of you get into this game?
My favorite way of mining is TNT mining. I think I'm the only one who does it, or at least does,it alot. The name says it all. You acquire a lot of TnT and (really far away from your house) plant it and blow up the ground. Once you get down far enough, you should start getting a lot of ores from it. I think it's really fun to try out. I usually do this in Creative mode though, due to the dangers.
How to
First, find a location for your mine
Then, begin by digging in a stairlike fashion untill you reach bedrock
Next, dig up in a stairlike fashion until you reach a height of 14-16 blocks above the bedrock
Note: This is the ideal place for ores!
Dig a long 2x1 hallway as long as you want (you can always extend it later)
Note: This will be the base of your strip mine in witch everything else will branch off.
dig in this way
[] [] [] []
[] [] [] []
[] [] [] []
[] [] [] []
Green is your main hallway it is 2x1, diamonds are branching halways they are also 2x1
This is to maximize ores
digging with 1 space in between is less effective because you will see that 1 space in two tunnels thus making it a waste because you only need to see it once to recognize if it has ores or not. Two spaces maximizes surface area. (THAT WAS IMPORTANT)
Hope this helps with those diamonds.
If you have a large natural cave system, it would be good to explore that as well, as exploring will likely cover more area faster than digging, which can be slow.
If you're not going for the most valuable things like diamonds, then mining with can actually be effective if you can find enough creepers. A couple of can blow a good size crater. It tends to be destructive and doesn't seem to recover all of the blocks, though, so I wouldn't recommend it for the more valuable ores.
To make things a bit less claustrophobic and to ensure my tunnels go the same length, I've kinda modified it to have a larger primary tunnel and two service tunnels on the ends of my branches. But it still covers a lot of area quickly - I may start using this method to find coal and iron as well.
[] [] [] []
[] [] [] []
[] [] [] []
[] [] [] []
Dig a tunnel as far as you want it then dig perpendicular for as far as the future tunnels will go wide.
Then if your next tunnel reaches the perpendicular tunnel you know it is even.
Remember this is not as efficient, but it will make the tunnels the same length
It will also make re-lighting torches easier once they become temporary. Again, less running up and down long corridors.
The idea actually came a bit from the chunnel, which has two primary tunnels and a service tunnel. Granted, Minecraft does not currently require tunnel maintenance, but temporary torches will add a level of maintenance.
That' cheating! :sleep.gif:
This is already in the forum, and give credits in your stolen idea!
Idea origin isn't unknown in the general sense ... >.>
Origins: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=28299
Credits: Featherblade
(yes, indeed ln(-1)*π^-1=sqrt(-1) from tweaking e^((sqrt(-1))*π)=-1 :))