Set Up Your First Raw Ore Block Smelting Operation

Prepare Your Raw Materials

Start by collecting raw copper, iron, or gold from mining. You'll need at least 9 raw ores of the same type to craft one raw ore block. Open your crafting table and arrange 9 raw ores in a 3×3 pattern to create a single raw ore block. Repeat this for each batch you want to smelt.

Load and Smelt

Place your raw ore block into the top input slot of a furnace or blast furnace. Add fuel—coal works well—into the bottom fuel slot. The smelting process begins immediately. Unlike smelting individual ores, a raw ore block cooks in the time it normally takes to smelt 8 single raw ores, making this significantly faster for large batches.

Once complete, collect your finished metal block from the output slot on the right. You'll receive the same experience points as if you'd smelted 9 individual ores, so you never lose progression.

Scale Up Efficiently

For mining hauls, craft multiple raw ore blocks and queue them in furnaces. Since each block only consumes one piece of coal, your fuel efficiency improves dramatically compared to smelting stacks of single items.