User:SimonTheGreat/Mine

A mine is where you get metals(gold and iron) and crystals(diamond and Lapis lasuli) you may get more coal than normal in the depths of the earth. You can also find redstone ore.

The definition of a mine in minecraft is not a cave its a deep hole you make in the ground and hopefully you find a cave. If you dont you can just make tunnels to the sides and hope you find cave(s). If you want to get diamond you should make a 3x3 tunnel in the layer of 13-15. Note you count layers from the end of bedrock (layer 0) then you just count up to layer 13 and 15 and make a long tunnel. You can find big spots of diamonds in these two layers. I`ll explain more to you.

What you will need to make a mine
I will put this in order by number. If you edit this because i forgot something youre welcome :-)

1. Some stone pickaxes or better (3-6 stone picks recommended)if the its diamond picks you may only need one. And a least one  Iron pick axe you can use diamond too (in case you meet gold or diamonds)

2. Shovels just like 2-4 shovels or so, in case when you dig you meet some dirt, gravel or even sand(you probably will meet some)

3. A sword is a good idea to have if youre in a cave (evil)mobs can spawn in all dark places thats why the mostly spawns on the surface in nightname. A stone sword or better is recommended. You can play on "peaceful" so mobs want spawn but thats boring :)

4.(only read this if you dont play peaceful) Any kind of food will be a good idea to have with you if youre in a cave. After a battle with a skeleton zombie spider or creeper you probably need some food to regain some of the lost hearts.

5. A bucket of water. "Lava" is the keyword here if you get in the lava layer(layer 10) you WILL encounter some lava. It can be huge lava lakes or little well sized holes. If you want to get rid of the lava place the water on something solid near the lava it will touch the lava(only still lava) and create obsidian that can be mined only with a diamonds pickaxe. Later the obsidian can be created into a portal.

6. To make the actual mine you will need ladder just make 32 ladders then you have enough(most places in the surface). You can see how to make ladders in the crafting recipe section on the front side(minepedia).

7. Very important is torches, made by sticks and coal. Even if you dont encounter a cave you will need it to light up tunnels, the mine and etc. You will need some torches in caves too(of course).

8. Dirt or Cobblestone and be importnant too if you encounter a lava lake you can make a road/bridge to the other side or where you want to make it.

9. Stuff you dont have to bring is stuff like Workbench, furnace and chest. Workbenches is still recommended to have with you. So you can build new pickaxes, shovels and stuff. A furnace is good too so you can smelt iron to make tools or weapons. But its not 100% needed for making a mine.

10. Wood, sticks and coal is a very good idea to have with you because you will need to make new torches, tools, workbench(es) and etc.

That is pretty much what you need if you want to add something youre welcome as I said before :-)

How to make simple a mine
The regular mine is builded like this. I`ll make it in steps as I did with the stuff you should bring.

1. First make a 1x2 hole 1 deep and you place a ladder in the place you want to climb down on the other side place torches so you have light. Then you just dig the whole way down to bedrock if you encounter a cave just dig down to the bedrock first. Then you can explore the cave(s) you found. You dont have to place a ladder for every block you dig you can place one for every second block. Here is the unwritten rule in minecraft "dont dig straight down" and that count here too. Because you can fall down in a cave and take fall damage and you are maybe not prepared for swarms of mobs. Or you can just fall down in lava and lose all your stuff.

2. If you are lucky to encounter a cave you should still read this. When you hit bed rock find the end of bedrock(layer 0). Then just start counting up to layer 13 and mark it. Now climb two more layers to layer 15 and mark that too. Now you make a 1x3 cave where the floor is layer 13 and the roof is layer 15. You will find some diamonds. But maybe first after a couple of block in or maybe many. You can be lucky to find diamonds the way down to bedrock. You can find diamonds longer down than layer 13. but that is kinda rare.

3. Now make tunnels where you want your tunnel in layer 13 to 15 it would be a good idea to expand it to like a 3x3 tunnel.

Thats pretty much how to make a simple mine it can be made other ways like making a stairway down to bedrock instead but that takes a lot more space.

Why would I make a mine what is the reason?
The reason to make a mine is to get supplies as coal, iron, gold, diamonds, redstone, and Lapis Lazuli. Thats the ores you you can find but you can finde such thing as water, lava, dungeons* and stone too


 * Dungeons can be found on the surface.

Tips and tricks
If you want to be sure to find a cave you use this trick(use the link) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhGiC9FmCnE

If you find alot of gravel in a tunnel falling you can rapidly delte the lowest gravel block and place a torch there and the gravel faall and breaks on the torch. If it just "stands" on the torch delte the gravel block right above the torch and it works. It may take some time to learn.

Now post some tips and tricks yourself about how to easyly make a mine :-)