Ores - Space Engineers Wiki (2024)

Ore is a basic resource item, usually obtained by mining Asteroids. Using a Hand Drill or ship-mounted Drill will destroy the rock and release the Ores as objects in the world to be collected. While useless on its own, Ore can be processed in a Refinery, Basic Refinery, or Survival Kit to be turned into a useful Material.

Contents

  • 1 Appearance and Identification
  • 2 Ore Information
    • 2.1 Stone
    • 2.2 Iron Ore (Fe)
    • 2.3 Nickel Ore (Ni)
    • 2.4 Cobalt Ore (Co)
    • 2.5 Magnesium Ore (Mg)
    • 2.6 Silicon Ore (Si)
    • 2.7 Silver Ore (Ag)
    • 2.8 Gold Ore (Au)
    • 2.9 Platinum Ore (Pt)
    • 2.10 Uranium Ore (U)
    • 2.11 Ice
    • 2.12 Scrap Metal
  • 3 Refining
  • 4 References

Appearance and Identification

Identifying ore patches purely by sight can be frustrating, especially if there are two similar ores next to one another (such as Platinum and Silicon). It is for this reason that an Ore Detector is always highly recommended for the initial identification process. The Hand Drill has a small Ore Detector built in, whereas a ship-based Ore Detector has a larger detection radius. This will put the name of the ore on the HUD in approximately the center of the ore patch. However, once you have identified the vein you wish to obtain, it can often be more effective to rely on sight to guide your mining, and so a Spotlight is almost always useful for this purpose, to more easily see where one vein ends and another begins.

See the images and descriptions in the table below for more information on each ore.

Ore Information

Stone

Raw Material
Stone

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass50.4g

0.0504kg
50,400mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

A sample of Stone

Color varies slightly. Typically a matte midtone grey, the appearance of stone can vary a bit between brown and black.

Rarity: 31% [1]

Iron Ore (Fe)

Raw Material
Iron Ore

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass700g

0.7kg
700,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

A sample of Iron Ore

Red and Grey. Iron is fairly easy to identify due to being so common and in such contrast to the grey of the surrounding stone. Focus on looking for reddish, rust-colored areas if Iron is a priority.

Rarity: 50% [1]

Nickel Ore (Ni)

Raw Material
Nickel Ore

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass400g

0.4kg
400,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

Brown. Nickel is a straight, flat, brown, which when it spawns next to Iron shows strikingly enough to be discernable.

Rarity: 2% [1]

Cobalt Ore (Co)

Raw Material
Cobalt Ore

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass300g

0.3kg
300,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

A sample of Cobalt Ore

Blue. The blue streaks are relatively easy to see, but it could be mistaken for Magnesium and vice-versa. The best way to distinguish between them is that cobalt ore has a much lighter blue and has more bluish color than grayish base.

Rarity: 2.2% [1]

Magnesium Ore (Mg)

Raw Material
Magnesium Ore

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass7g

0.007kg
7,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

A sample of Magnesium Ore

Blue. Rather distinct, Magnesium is not very hard to identify, but is fairly rare, so always keep a look out for the bluish hue!

Rarity: 2.4% [1]

Silicon Ore (Si)

Raw Material
Silicon Ore

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass700g

0.7kg
700,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

A sample of Silicon Ore

Grey. One of three greyish ores, Silicon can be the most difficult to spot due to how close its color and texture are to base stone. Its color will often vary to a light grey, almost white sheen, so look for uncharacteristically light patches.

Rarity: 2% [1]

Silver Ore (Ag)

Raw Material
Silver Ore

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass100g

0.1kg
100,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

A sample of Silver Ore

Bluish-Silver. Another grey ore, Silver can be differentiated between Platinum most by its contrast: dark areas are jet black, while highlights are bright white. "Shiny" is an apt description.

Rarity: 2% [1]

Gold Ore (Au)

Raw Material
Gold Ore

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass10g

0.01kg
10,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

A sample of Gold Ore

Gold. Very distinct. Can vary more to a grey-yellow in small patches or where it starts to mix with stone or iron.

Rarity: 2% [1]

Platinum Ore (Pt)

Raw Material
Platinum Ore

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass5g

0.005kg
5,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

A sample of Platinum Ore

Grey. Can be hard to differentiate between this and stone or silicon. The most reliable distinction is the texture rather than color: stone and silicon have a rough look, while platinum is smooth.

Rarity: 2% [1]

Uranium Ore (U)

Raw Material
Uranium Ore

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass10g

0.01kg
10,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-24

A sample of Uranium Ore

Black. Jet black, very shiny. Hard to miss, even in shadow (unless your server's Skybox has low light).

Rarity: 4.4% [1]

Ice

Raw Material
Ice

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.37L

3.7e-4m³
2.368e-5Large-Blocks
0.00296Small-Blocks
0.037hL
370mL

Refined Mass100g

0.1kg
100,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-12

A sample of Ice

Blue. Blue and White, Shiny.

Scrap Metal

Raw Material
Scrap Metal

Mass1kg

1,000g
1,000,000mg
1.0e-3t

Volume0.254L

2.54e-4m³
1.6256e-5Large-Blocks
0.00203Small-Blocks
0.0254hL
254mL

Refined Mass800g

0.8kg
800,000mg

BrowseLast edit: 2020-04-04

A sample of Scrap Metal

While technically not a mineral, it behaves just like the other ores. Scrap is acquired by drilling Blocks or grinding damaged blocks.

Refining

Each Ore (including Stone) yields some sort of usable Material once it has been refined within a Refinery or Basic Refinery. Each Ore (except for Stone) has exactly one type of Material that it produces, at various rates of efficiency; e.g. 1000 kg of Uranium Ore will not produce 1000 kg of Uranium Ingots. See each type of refiner (Refinery, Basic Refinery, Survival Kit) for their conversion tables.

Raw Materials

Cobalt Ore

Gold Ore

Ice

Iron Ore

Magnesium Ore

Nickel Ore

32px Organic

Platinum Ore

Scrap Metal

Silicon Ore

Silver Ore

Stone

Uranium Ore

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 File:Ore Rarity Test.xlsx Space Engineers v01.047 - New World Generator, Asteroids Scenario, Extreme Asteroid Amount (16 large, 80 small)
Ores - Space Engineers Wiki (2024)

FAQs

What is the rarest ore in Space Engineers? ›

Uranium Ore is the rarest naturally-occurring ore. The ore has a dark gray and deep black appearance which is well visible against a sunlit asteroid. As of version 1.189, Uranium ore cannot be found on planets. Instead it is only found in asteroids.

What do ore deposits look like in Space Engineers? ›

Ore patches on planets are generally visible from jetpacking height as groups of discolored spots on the ground. Ore patches are best visible on plains, under ice and sand. Ore patches are least visible on mountains or under snow or grass.

Does every asteroid have ore Space Engineers? ›

Each asteroid may contain two or more types of ore, with ice also included as an "ore". In unmodded games ("vanilla"), they can contain all types of ore that are available in the game, and especially Uranium Ore is found only in asteroids.

What is the most rare ore on Earth? ›

The rarest mineral on Earth is kyawthuite. Only one crystal, found in the Mogok region of Myanmar, is known to exist. Caltech's mineral database describes it as a small (1.61-karat) deep orange gemstone that the International Mineralogical Association officially recognized in 2015.

Can you find gold on the moon Space Engineers? ›

Gold Ingots. It is found in deep veins on planets, moons, and asteroids and it has a shiny metallic yellowish appearance.

Can you spawn in ore in Space Engineers? ›

Select an asteroid from the list and then choose to either keep its original material, or choose another option. Then click Spawn. To add ores to custom asteroids, use Voxel Hands.

Is Stone considered an ore in Space Engineers? ›

When dropped into the world, Stone looks and behaves like an ore with the size and mass of a chunk representing the value of the resource contained. Drilling surface soil produces a lesser amount of Stone from the same volume compared to deeper rock. Asteroids and celestial bodies with no soil layer have uniform yield.

How to defend against meteor showers in Space Engineers? ›

Defenses. Meteors spawn on the side of the sector nearest the sun and sweep across the map. Positioning ships and stations on the dark side of the natural asteroids will shield them from any meteor strikes.

What is the largest asteroid in Space Engineers? ›

Largest asteroid without mods is hopebase512, which as the name suggests is 512 meters wide and high. In-game its a little bigger than the large asteroid you spawn next to in easy start 2 with 4 asteroids. hopebase512 is a dead rock for ores, but it's a true beauty of an asteroid. Lunar landscape.

How deep are ores in Space Engineers? ›

All ore veins are moved deeper into the planets. How deep depends on the type of ore - "starter" ores like iron, silicon and nickel are located 50m below ground. Cobalt and magnesium can be found 100 and 200m below ground respectively. Silver and gold are located at 300m, platinum and uranium at 400m below ground.

What is the heaviest item in Space Engineers? ›

Gravity Component are the largest and heaviest items in the game.

How rare is uranium in Space Engineers? ›

Uranium ore is the rarest of the naturally occurring ore and the only place to find them is in asteroids, making it one of the hardest resources to mine.

What is the rarest thing found in space? ›

Almost every galaxy can be classified as a spiral, elliptical, or irregular galaxy. Only 1-in-10,000 galaxies fall into the rarest category of all: ring galaxies. Astatine is the rarest naturally occurring element.

What is the rarest stone in space? ›

Space Peridot

Extraterrestrial peridot is rare, and most peridot used in fine jewelry is naturally from Earth. The Esquel meteorite that crashed into Earth is the most notable source of the unearthly variety gemstones.

What is the rarest metal ore? ›

Here we'll discuss a few actual rare metals, present in the earth in miniscule amounts but which have important applications nonetheless. The rarest stable metal is tantalum. The rarest metal on earth is actually francium, but because this unstable element has a half life of a mere 22 minutes, it has no practical use.

What is the most useful rare earth element? ›

In the light REEs category, neodymium has the highest number of uses. For one, you can use it on mobile phones, medical equipment, and electric cars. It's the best rare metal for making permanent magnets. Neodymium magnets are strong and highly useful when weight and space are limiting factors.

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