Mining. It is such a ubiquitous element of Minecraft that it's easy to forget how important it is. Nearly everything in the game revolves around mining at some point, and for just about every non-Creative game, it remains an important element throughout the lifetime of a world. Terraforming is part of it, but the single greatest drive to mine is resources: sweet, sweet ores!
Ever since ores were introduced, there have been countless methods attempted to find the most ideal mining methods. Do you mine in rows, with two blocks between each shaft? Fractal tunneling? Strip mining? The list goes on and on, ranging from amazing to insane theories on the best ways of going about it. Naturally, this opens up some debate on what, exactly, becomes the best method for it.
So, how do you mine? What secrets, tricks, and tips help keep your ores flowing? Do you have a preferred method, or do you just dig wherever the mood strikes?