Resource Extraction¶

Stage 1 focuses on gathering raw materials and setting up basic Create automation.

Key mods¶

Create — mechanical power, shafts, cogwheels, deployers, mechanical drill
Create Ore Excavation — drill veins for renewable ore output
Almost Unified — ore item unification

Getting iron¶

Iron is the first bottleneck. You need it for:

Create shafts, cogwheels, and gearboxes
Mechanical drill (5 iron ingots)
Anvil repairs

Mining¶

Standard mining works. Iron ore generates in the standard ore veins at Y=-64 to Y=320, with the best underground distribution around Y=16 and a secondary mountain peak at Y=232.

Drilling (renewable)¶

Once you have a Drilling Machine and rotational power, follow these steps:

Find an ore vein (underground deposits)
Build a Drilling Machine facing the vein
Install the correct ore-excavation drill into the machine
Supply rotational power (water wheel, windmill)
The vein produces raw iron continuously

Drill tiers

The basic drill handles coal, copper, iron, lead, sulfur, zinc, gold, redstone, and lapis. Diamond, emerald, and netherite ores need upgraded drills. See Steel Industry for drill upgrades.

Rotational power¶

Create machines need rotational power to work. The simplest power source is a water wheel.

Water wheel¶

Place a water wheel next to a shaft. Flowing water turns the wheel. The shaft spins and transfers power to connected machines.

Build a water wheel with:

8 wooden planks
1 shaft
Water source blocks above and below the wheel

Windmill¶

A windmill produces more power than a water wheel. Build a windmill with:

A Windmill Bearing
Sail blocks attached to the bearing (at least 8)
Open space around the windmill for wind

Each eight sail blocks add one RPM to the windmill.

Stress¶

Stress is the load placed on your power system. Each Create component consumes a certain amount of stress. If total stress exceeds the power source capacity, machines slow down or stop.

Check stress levels by hovering over a shaft or gearbox with a Create wrench. The tooltip shows current stress usage versus maximum capacity.

Ore vein tiers¶

Basic drill (`createoreexcavation:drill`)¶

Ore	Stress	Ticks per item
Coal	512	40
Copper	512	60
Iron	512	60
Lead	512	90
Sulfur	512	60
Zinc	512	90
Gold	1024	180
Redstone	1024	80
Lapis	1024	100

Diamond drill (`createoreexcavation:diamond_drill`)¶

Ore	Stress	Ticks per item
Diamond	2048	600
Emerald	1024	900

Netherite drill (`createoreexcavation:netherite_drill`)¶

Ore	Stress	Ticks	Notes
Netherite	2048	4000	Needs lava (1000 mB). Outputs ancient debris (20%), gold nuggets (80%), netherrack (80%), magma blocks (50%)

Zinc¶

Zinc is essential for Create brass. Zinc plus copper in a Create mixer produces brass. Zinc ore generates in the standard ore veins and is extracted with the basic drill.

Charcoal dust¶

Charcoal dust is made by processing charcoal. It is a key ingredient for steel. To make charcoal dust, follow these steps:

Grow trees (oak, birch, spruce — any tree works)
Smelt logs into charcoal
Crush charcoal into charcoal dust using a Create crushing wheel or millstone

Mechanical drill recipe¶

Build a Mechanical Drill with:

3 andesite alloy
1 iron ingot
1 andesite casing

Build a Drilling Machine to extract ores. The Drilling Machine needs a Mechanical Drill as one ingredient.

Practical setup¶

Water Wheel → Shaft → Mechanical Bearing → Mechanical Drill
                                              ↓
                                         Ore Vein

Force-load the chunk containing your drill so it runs while you are away.