Ore

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Ores are left behind after mining certain varieties of stone. Ore can be smelted to create bars of pure metal or combined to create alloys. Many ores are quite valuable as mined without being refined, and a mason or stone crafter can work them the same as any stone. However, ores fall into the economic stone category, and so must be designated for non-restricted use in the Stone use tab of the Labor menu y. Others can be combined when initially smelted into alloys, while others must first be made into bars of pure metal and then those combined to create the desired alloy - see the alloy article for details.

Most ores are fire-safe material; some are also magma-safe.

Each normal metal ore "stone" produces four bars of refined metal when smelted. Metal ores with two possible metals listed below always produce 4 bars of the first metal, and have a chance of creating 0-4 bars of the second metal as well. Adamantine ore cannot be smelted directly; it must be processed at a craftsdwarf's workshop first. Different rules apply to creating alloys.

Note that, in some cases, ore value (given below) and metal value are not the same (bismuth, iron ores). Alloys, too, often have a higher value than the ores/metals they are made of. In most cases, furniture made from the ore is as valuable as furniture made from a pure (non-alloy) metal, while requiring significantly less processing. However, furniture produced directly from ore cannot be recycled, and refining the ore will generally produce an additional metal bar.

In ASCII mode, nearly all unmined ores are represented by the £ symbol. Exceptions are native aluminum, bismuthinite, and magnetite (which appear as ^, %, and ~, respectively), as well as cinnabar and cobaltite (which appear as £ but cannot be refined into mercury or cobalt as they would be in real life).

Appearance*	Ore	Found in	Metal created	Value	Metal value
/ £	Adamantine, raw1	The depths	Adamantine1	250	300
/ ^	Aluminum, native	All Igneous Extrusive(S)	Aluminum	40	40
/ %	Bismuthinite	Granite(S)	Bismuth	1	2
/ £	Cassiterite	All Alluvial(S), Granite(V)	Tin	2	2
/ £	Copper, native	All Igneous Extrusive(V), Sandstone(V)	Copper	2	2
/ £	Galena	All Igneous Extrusive(V), All Metamorphic(V), Granite(V), Limestone(V)	Lead, Silver (50%)	5	2 (10)
/ £	Garnierite	Gabbro(V)	Nickel	2	2
/ £	Gold, native	All Igneous(V), All Alluvial(S)	Gold	30	30
/ £	Hematite	All Sedimentary(V), All Igneous Extrusive(V), All Metamorphic(S), All Igneous Intrusive(S)	Iron	8	10
/ £	Horn silver	Native silver(S)	Silver	10	10
/ £	Limonite	All Sedimentary(V)	Iron	8	10
/ ~	Magnetite	All Sedimentary(L), All Metamorphic(S), All Igneous(S)	Iron	8	10
/ £	Malachite	Limestone(V), Marble(V)	Copper	2	2
/ £	Platinum, native	All Alluvial(S), Olivine(V), Magnetite(V), Chromite(S)	Platinum	40	40
/ £	Silver, native	Granite(V), Gneiss(V)	Silver	10	10
/ £	Sphalerite	All Metamorphic(V)	Zinc	2	2
/ £	Tetrahedrite	All Stone(V)	Copper, Silver (20%)	3	2 (10)

(L) - occurs in large clusters

(V) - occurs in veins

(S) - occurs in small clusters

1 - Note that raw adamantine/adamantine does not follow all the usual rules for an ore/metal in several respects - see article for full discussion.

See Also:

• Smelting
• Metals
• Clusters and veins
• Exploratory mining
• The Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock
• Stones
• Gems
• Diagram to digging, finding and alloying

V · T · E Materials
More: Gems • Metals • Stones
Creature	Blood • Bone • Cartilage • Cheese • Chitin • Egg • Fat • Feather • Hair (Wool • Yarn) • Hoof • Horn • Ichor • Leather • Milk • Meat • Nail • Nervous tissue • Organs • Parchment • Pearl • Scale • Shell • Silk • Skin • Spit • Sweat • Tallow • Tears • Teeth • Wax
Plant	Fiber (Paper • Slurry) • Flower • Fruit • Leaf • Oil • Plant powders (Dye • Flour • Sugar) • Seed (Press cake) • Wood
Creature/Plant	Alcohol • Cloth/Thread • Extract (Golden salve • Gnomeblight • Honey • Royal jelly • Syrup • Venom) • Glob • Liquids • Soap
Inorganic	Metal • Milk of lime • Soil (Clay • Sand) • Stone (Ash glaze • Earthenware • Gem • Gypsum plaster • Porcelain • Quicklime • Stoneware • Tin glaze)
Hardcoded	Amber • Ash • Coral • Filth • Fuel • Glass • Grime • Ice • Lye • Magma • Mud • Pearlash • Potash • Salt • Unknown substance • Vomit • Water
See also: Material science

V · T · E Stones
Sedimentary	Calcite · Chalk · Chert · Claystone · Conglomerate · Dolomite · Limestone · Mudstone · Rock salt · Sandstone · Shale · Siltstone
Igneous	Intrusive Diorite · Gabbro · Granite Extrusive Andesite · Basalt · Dacite · Obsidian · Rhyolite
Metamorphic	Gneiss · Marble  · Phyllite · Quartzite · Schist · Slate
Ore	Adamantine, raw · Aluminum, native · Bismuthinite · Cassiterite · Copper, native · Galena · Garnierite · Gold, native · Hematite · Horn silver · Limonite · Magnetite · Malachite · Platinum, native · Silver, native · Sphalerite · Tetrahedrite
Economic	Alabaster · Bituminous coal · Calcite · Gypsum · Kaolinite · Lignite · Satinspar · Selenite
Other	Alunite · Anhydrite · Bauxite · Borax · Brimstone · Chromite · Cinnabar · Cobaltite · Cryolite · Graphite · Hornblende · Ilmenite · Jet · Kimberlite · Marcasite · Mica · Microcline · Olivine · Orpiment · Orthoclase · Periclase · Petrified wood · Pitchblende · Puddingstone · Pyrolusite · Realgar · Rutile · Saltpeter · Serpentine · Slade · Stibnite · Sylvite · Talc