Lapis Lazuli Ore

Lapis lazuli ore is the ore block from which lapis lazuli is obtained.

Obtaining
A stone pickaxe or better is required to obtain a drop from lapis lazuli ore. If mined with a Silk Touch enchanted pickaxe, it will drop itself, otherwise it will drop 4-8 lapis lazuli and 2-5 experience.

When mined with a Fortune enchanted pickaxe, there is a chance the drops will be multiplied by between 2 and the level plus 1, up to a maximum of 2 to 4 at level III (for a maximum of 32 lapis lazuli dropped).

Natural generation
Lapis lazuli ore is found at a depth of 31 and below. Unlike other ores, lapis lazuli utilises periodic gaussian generation. The highest concentration of lapis lazuli ore is found between levels 13 and 16. At this level the concentration is about 0.083% of all blocks (0.1013% of stone). The concentration drops linearly as one gets farther from these rows. Overall, lapis lazuli is around 1.1 times as common as diamond ore with an average of 3.43 lapis lazuli per chunk.

Usage
The primary use of lapis lazuli ore is to be mined to obtain its drops of lapis lazuli.

Trivia

 * Lapis lazuli is based on the real stone for which it is named and has historically been a prized and rare stone used in jewelry and as a dye.