Processing mined ore into usable ore dust is a simple process that can be made much quicker when you expand through the ages. This page will go over how Sluices work, and how to set the up properly, Querns, and it will also show you other ways of processing ore using the Create mod, but that will be it's own section.
Before you're able to mine and process ore, you'll need to pan gravel first. This is because you will need to make a Pickaxe, Saw, and Chisel before you can start processing ore, as they are required to make a Sluice, a Quern, and to mine the ore. To pan for ores, you'll need an Empty Pan made of clay, gravel, and water. Using the empty pan, right click gravel, then while standing in at least one block of water, hold right click. After a few seconds, the gravel will be gone, and you'll be left with ores, nuggets, and other items. Keep doing this until you get enough dust to make your first three tools. Instead of making Copper tools, you can instead make Black Bronze tools using the Copper Dust, and the Silver and Gold Nuggets, more information on alloys here(link this to alloys)
Processing ore in the pre-industrial age is slow but very simple, requiring only any type of hammer, a Sluice, and a Quern. You can easily make a stone hammer by knapping some rocks, making a Sluice and Quern will require more effort, requiring Lumber for the Sluice, and Raw and Polished Stone for the Quern.
This section will be very brief, and only give the steps to doing the process, instead of explaining the individual Create blocks used, those will be instead explained on the Create(link here) page. This section isn't fully automatic.
Coming Soon.