Engineer Strategies
Here are some commonly used strategies. This is not a comprehensive list and combinations of the listed tactics are possible.
Mining Patterns
Strip Mining
A very common way to mine is known strip mining. It consists of a main shaft right below the dome, sometimes 2 or 3 blocks wide for easier resource carrying. From both sides of said main shaft, a horizontal branch every 2-3 blocks is made. This allows peace of mind that the player hasn't missed anything.
Variations include bigger branches, sometimes accompanied by mining out every 2nd block of the branch, to allow resources to "peek" through the corners.
However, this method is very slow.
Follow Rock Hardness
Following the easier to mine rock allows for later drill upgrades.
This doesn't guarantee the discovery of all resources.
Probe
Using the probe to discover hidden resources and chambers in a radius around the player, allows for higher efficiency than pure strip mining.
This requires rolling the probe as a gadget, which is not guaranteed.
Prospection Meter
Using the prospection meter allows to leave more rock unmined, speeding up the mining process. In comparison to the probe, the meter doesn't require a gadget slot, nor recharging in the cellar.
Game Sense
After playing enough games, a player can correctly predict the place of the next iron cluster. This is due to the way maps are generated. In combination with the prospection meter and other tricks, this builds up the optimal strategy.
Tricks
Resource Push
When in tunnel with more resources than the keeper can carry, the player can grab the "back" resources and use them to push the rest.
A more advanced version of this trick is when carrying resources. Additionally, pushing gadgets instead of directly carrying them allows the player to not be slowed down by it.