Minecraft wiki entry for Mining, associated text: This involves basic quarry technique but in small squares. First, the player decide how large they want the mine to be. For example, a make a 3 by 3 hole then go over 1 block and repeat for a 2 by 2 square quarry. Also this allows for maximum ore exposure. But they would need at least a 3 by 3 squares, going all the way to the bedrock layer.