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Ores are a type of stone that can be used to create bars of pure metals and alloys at the smelter. Many ores are quite valuable as mined, 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 z-stone menu. 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.

All ores are fire-safe material. Some are also magma-safe.

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 one-third the raw materials and significantly less processing.

Metal ores with two possible metals listed below always create the first metal when smelting, but have a chance of creating the second metal as well. Different rules apply to creating alloys.

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).

Ore	Found in	Metal created	Value	Metal value
Adamantine, raw *	The depths	Adamantine *	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)	Iron	8	10
Horn silver	Native silver(S)	Silver	10	10
Limonite	All Sedimentary(V)	Iron	8	10
Magnetite	All Sedimentary(L)	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) - occurs in individual tiles

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

[edit] See Also:

• Smelting
• Metals
• Clusters & Veins
• Exploratory mining
• The Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock
• stone
• gem