Originally posted by i have 2024 vision fear me:

You can use aboms to mine underground mud piles for iron. I can't believe i didn't realize that earlier, then again i didn't know they could mine ore.

Easy and early access to iron without needing to gamble by mining random spots.

Awesome idea thanks! If the iron does pop up to surface I will be trying that next playthrough. I usually use the stagbreaker for my first 2 pieces of Iron, but will try this method. Way better than the other options that have been suggested on this thread.