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40d:Vein
Veins and Clusters:
Non-layer stone occurs in these forms:
- Large cluster - An oval that occupies nearly half of a 48x48 block, area-wise. Only one appears per block. These average 750 stones each.
- Vein - A sinuous line of the material crosses the block. These average 100 stones each.
- Small cluster - A sprinkle of 1 to 9 adjacent tiles. Multiple small clusters of different materials may be in the same block. These average 5 stones each and do not span more than three tiles in each direction.
Note that erosion (during world-gen, pre-embark), magma, pits and chasms may reduce exposed veins and clusters to a fraction of their original starting size, and/or cut through them, exposing two parts of a single vein in two nearby areas on the same z-level.
Rarely, two separate veins (of same or different stone/ore) can be found "doubled", two next to each other, or (also rarely) folded back on themselves. Unrelated veins and clusters can intersect or overlap with each other - only one type of stone/ore/gem will be found in any one tile, however.
It is common to find certain gemstones embedded only in certain veins or large clusters. For instance, to find rubies and saphires, explore bauxite clusters; for diamonds, one should follow any kimberlite veins they find, which in turn are found only in gabbro layers. Knowing what stone (or ore) contains what veins and clusters can be useful in exploratory mining or understanding the information given to you before you embark on a new game, and complete information for each can be found on the wiki page for that stone/ore/gem.
See also: