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[detsuo04]

so using df hack and a fresh install of dwarf fortress i have created 3 worlds and embarked on over 25 sites.    i have found layers of : siltstone limestone shale dolomite and chalk as well as several layers of marble slate diorite and granite.  and out of all that i have not found a single vein of any iron ore on any of the sites.....

all three worlds had different mineral scarcity between normal and frequent.  i'm so confused what is wrong here.

also i use standard world gen and not the advanced worldgen

[Vox]

When I embark I usually look for sites that have Shallow Metal(s) or Deep Metal(s).
Usually have no problem, Only answer is to dig deeper.

[Necrisha]

did you pay attention to the sidebar? you probably want shallow metals only as sometimes the iron ores can show up between the first and second "features". also if you don't want to do a lot of exploratory mining it's worth using the prospect/reveal tools to locate the ores or embark on steep cliffs as those will usually have visible ore for you to look upon embark.

[detsuo04]

I did use reveal tool.  also i found sites with shallow metals but there was no iron at all in the sedimentary layer.  actually there was no ore of any kind in any sedimentary layer among the 25+ sites i revealed.  i checked from surface to lowest possible point

lower points had other metals.   also all non sedimentary layers in the shallow metals region had metals just not sedimentary

[Raphite1]

In my experience, if I embark on a site with "Shallow Metals" (plural), I have at least 1/3 or 1/2 chance of finding iron.

No idea what the problem could be for you, unless you're not embarking on "Shallow Metals" sites every time.

[Necrisha]

Might be better off running a few medium sized worlds with 900 in the advanced parameters section. I find that somewhere between 1000 and 800 provides the most variety between ore types and locations. oh, were you using prospect while choosing a site? It can't give reliable details but if you use prospect all on the site choosing screen it should tell you if there's iron ore before you embark

You could always check out the world building cookbook too. I don't think I have any guaranteed build parameters kicking around right now I'm afraid.

[detsuo04]

i ended up editing the raws so that magnetite ends up in pretty much all layers.  still not in sedimentary but its in the others.  sedimentary layers are ore barren.... odd

[Lida_Brainbroken]

I'm presently on an embark with both Deep Metals and Shallow Metals, and so far I've found ores containing silver, copper, tin, lead, bismuth, native silver, native gold, native platinum, but no iron.  Yet, I have no idea how anyone could embark 25 times on 3 worlds and NOT hit iron, as I find iron 1/3 of the time regardless of site.
Not having iron doesn't wreck an embark, it only brings a few challenges.
If iron goods are appearing on the caravans, then there must be iron somewhere, no?

[fractalman]

I never got iron ore untill I increased mineral frequency during worldgen.

[detsuo04]

like i said even with adding magnetite to all layers its in all layers accept the sedimentary layer where its actually supposed to be.. something has to be wrong here.

[thrush_titan]

iron ore isn't that big a deal, after every gob siege there will be veins of goblinite just sitting on the grass outside of your fort.

flux is the bigger problem because if you don't have any you'll be lucky to get 5 stones of it per year from trading

[Larix]

I find that the vast majority of sites have flux stone, usually marble. The site finder has trouble spotting it (to the point that on very mineral-rich worlds it often won't display flux _anywhere_), but on most of my sites, it's there.

The dwarf caravan usually has access to three or four types of flux, and if you order each at maximum, that's 12 to 16 boulders per year. Definitely more than five, but still close to useless.

[rawrcakes]

In my experience, if I embark on a site with "Shallow Metals" (plural), I have at least 1/3 or 1/2 chance of finding iron.

No idea what the problem could be for you, unless you're not embarking on "Shallow Metals" sites every time.

"Shallow metals" doesn't define wether or not the layer contains a sedimentary layer of stone, which is what iron requires. "Shallow metal/s" only states that there are metal/s in the stone layer connected to the soil / surface, which could very much be ignious or metamorphic instead of sedimentary.

A good start is to filter the embark search to find "Shallow metals - multiple" and "Flux stone - yes". The reason for this, is that dolomite and limestone both are sedimentary level flux stones and thus can contain irons. You will, of course, get a handful of false hits, where the upper layers are other stone layers than sedimentary, with a flux stone (marble) in the lower layers, but without DFHack, this is your best bet.

With DF hack, do as I suggested above, but be sure to prospect the area first. If the top layers consist of sedimentary stone, go for it. 

[weenog]

'm so confused what is wrong here.

You place too much faith in steel, and haven't embraced the dwarven way of destroying your enemies with anything that happens to be lying around?

[Orange Wizard]

Wait... doesn't iron only ever appear in shallow stone layers?