Thanks for all the input, some very good points made. I have been considering either using the ore through portals mod or trying a new seed; I just really wanted to avoid 'cheesing' the game and triumph over its tricky aspects. I think the issue is I'm just not patient enough for that lol

I do make lots of outposts, I just dont fully build/upgrade all the workstations/forge/smithing stuff in each as it takes too long and I start to get bored. Due to this I'd still have to make looong manual journeys to smith any iron once I finally found it.
I know I could make it easier with more patience and efficient planning etc. I just dont get enough reward for progression to motivate me into investing the time.

Cheers for all the tips though. :) glad other people are still enjoying it.