# \[NaB\] \[Alpha 12 - Dev 2609 (x64)\] No visible ore veins
**URL:** https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566
**Category:** Other Reports
**Created:** [September 25, 2015, 10:19am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566 "2015-09-25T10:19:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Foxfire](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Foxfire)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 10:19am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/1 "2015-09-25T10:19:03Z")
I’m not sure if it’s my fault or something I did (tried reinstalling the game several times with no luck as to this issue’s resolution), but I opted into the unstable branch of Alpha 11 about two months ago, and when I got back into playing the game, I was unable to locate any ore veins whatsoever. In my first few plays, I was able to locate ore veins on the surface/mountain walls, but after the updates, I have been unable to find _any_ ore veins to speak of.
I’ve even resorted to using console commands to mine out large parts of the mountains, but I’ve had no luck with that either. I’m inclined to believe I’ve done something wrong, but I’m out of ideas as to what could be causing this. Any help that could be offered to me (through the community or devs, I’m happy either way) would be much appreciated.
I love the game so far, but it’s just too hard to progress without being able to mine anything. Thanks guys!
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### Author:  [@8BitCrab](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/8BitCrab)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/2 "2015-09-25T15:01:04Z")
hey there @Foxfire, welcome to the discourse 😄
here’s a few things about ore veins,
- ore veins are randomly generated as you explore the world, not as with the world generation itself. so you _have_ explored the area you mined out, right?
- ore veins can only spawn in stone, and very rarely stretch into the dirt/grass. so you _were_ mining in the mountains, correct?
hope that helps
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### Author:  [@Boulderboy](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Boulderboy)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/3 "2015-09-25T20:13:51Z")
I hadn’t really thought about this until I read this thread. I don’t target ore veins specifically when I mine so I don’t really explore for them. Now that I’ve read this I realize that out of the 4 or 5 games I’ve started on this build, I only saw my first vien last night and it was the only one in the area. Is there possibly a problem with how/when/where they are spawning when the town is started?
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### Author:  [@phector2004](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/phector2004)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/4 "2015-09-25T22:04:16Z")
To add to @8BitCrab’s post, when I modded in a custom ore with veins, I spent a lot of time scratching my head trying to figure out why it wasn’t working.
You need to start a settlement and explore the ‘fog of war’ areas before any veins become apparent. Preferably, place your flag near a mountain and have a trapper reveal the cliffside by placing zones a short distance away. I can _guarantee_ you’ll see a vein peeking out from somewhere.
Ore veins have a core, or ‘mother lode’ that is a 4 x 4 x 4 block of the resource from which the veins extend. These become thinner as they move away from the mother lode. There’s also the possibility that they don’t get exposed at all and lie within the stone. I don’t know how much tweaking has been done over the past few months, but the frequency of veins might have decreased - it used to be that there would be 2-3 mother lodes within a 100m square of stone. This was a bit too much, to be honest.
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### Author:  [@Boulderboy](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Boulderboy)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/5 "2015-09-25T22:08:37Z")
Yup, I usually place the flag, pause the game and do some scouting with the camera. The game I have on the currently only has a single gold vein visibe and nothing else visible on the outside of the mountains. Is it possible the ore veins are hidden inside the mountains with no surface exposure?
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### Author:  [@8BitCrab](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/8BitCrab)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/6 "2015-09-25T22:09:47Z")
> [@Boulderboy](#):
>
> Yup, I usually place the flag, pause the game and do some scouting with the camera.
do you “dissipate” the fog o’ war, or just scout around whilst its still there?
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### Author:  [@Boulderboy](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Boulderboy)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/7 "2015-09-25T22:15:44Z")
I dissipate the fog later on in the game but for the first couple of weeks I only explore within about a 30second walk from camp, I scout with the camera just see if I missed a potentially cool feature fo the town
…basicaly assign a hearthling worker to a party and send them on walkabout for better visability. I’m going to start a few fresh games later this evening and investigate more thoroughly…I’m betting I’ve missed something
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### Author:  [@8BitCrab](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/8BitCrab)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/8 "2015-09-25T22:19:08Z")
> [@Boulderboy](#):
>
> I dissipate the fog later on in the game but for the first couple of weeks I only explore within about a 30second walk from camp, I scout with the camera just see if I missed a potentially cool feature fo the town…basicaly assign a hearthling worker to a party and send them on walkabout for better visability. I’m going to start a few fresh games later this evening and investigate more thoroughly…I’m betting I’ve missed something
i only asked because until you dissipate the fog, the ore veins dont generate as i said earlier,
> [@8BitCrab](#):
>
> ore veins are randomly generated as you explore the world, not as with the world generation itself. so you have explored the area you mined out, right?
and i wasnt sure if you understood that or not…
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### Author:  [@Boulderboy](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Boulderboy)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/9 "2015-09-25T22:23:05Z")
I get the vast majority of my ore from regular mining so usually the only veins I mine are ones I happen to come across while mining. If I do mine an ore vein it will always be in or near the town. I get that they generate as you expand the explored areas, there just seems to be a very greatly reduced amount of visible ore. I’ll be doing some exploring and tracking of ore veins that show up just to see if it’s more a matter of me not seeing them or if they are just generated a lot less frequently
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### Author:  [@phector2004](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/phector2004)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/10 "2015-09-25T22:27:18Z")
> [@Boulderboy](#):
>
> Is it possible the ore veins are hidden inside the mountains with no surface exposure?
Yup!
I’d say they rebalanced veins. It would get a bit cheap to mine out the iron vein on the left mountain and then the gold vein to the right. No real point in mining elsewhere when you’ve got most of what you want concentrated in a small area.
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### Author:  [@Boulderboy](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Boulderboy)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/11 "2015-09-25T23:24:55Z")
I just 3 quick starts and there are definitely enough veins. I just wasn’t seeing them or got stuck in a barren patch of mountains. 😄
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### Author:  [@Avairian](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Avairian)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/12 "2015-09-26T14:52:55Z")
> [@8BitCrab](#):
>
> ore veins are randomly generated as you explore the world, not as with the world generation itself. so you have explored the area you mined out, right?
> ore veins can only spawn in stone, and very rarely stretch into the dirt/grass. so you were mining in the mountains, correct?
> [@Boulderboy](#):
>
> I just 3 quick starts and there are definitely enough veins. I just wasn’t seeing them or got stuck in a barren patch of mountains. 😄
@Foxfire With this information, any luck on finding your ore veins?
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### Author:  [@Foxfire](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Foxfire)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/13 "2015-09-26T17:32:54Z")
As of yet, no, but I am starting a new save to see if I can find anything. Thank you all for your suggestions, and I’ll update as I can! 😄
Thanks again, guys. \<3
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### Author:  [@Foxfire](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Foxfire)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/nab-alpha-12-dev-2609-x64-no-visible-ore-veins/16566/14 "2015-09-26T17:54:46Z")
Yep! So it turns out I was giving up too easily and instead of exploring to see if I could find any ore that way (I hadn’t needed to prior to these updates as far as I remember), I just assumed they’d be visible from the start. I suppose it makes more sense to have it appear as you explore, to keep up immersion and stuff.
I’ll mark the original post as resolved or with some other notation to let everyone else know to not bother with it. 😊
Thank you guys and your help, I’m glad I’m able to play again! I missed it.