Watch your step!
I did a little open-pit mining out at the "ite" mining area. There is a death-hole there, now, that will kill you dead no matter what armor you're wearing. And, since it is a long trek (even by Nether Hub) and the bottom of the pit is a jumble of bedrock and stone, you may never get your loot back. The pit is surrounded by a 2-block high wall to keep out the baddies and the blind. If you want to have a peek, be my guest. There is an entrance at the SE corner into which you can test your falling skills.
And, if you want to jump from a really high place, the mountain to the north has also been carved up and presents quite the view into the pit.
Of note: the pit is roughly 40x40 (not exact, but I wasn't trying to be) and yielded up about 14 large chests of must-haves. I dug the pit as an experiment to determine whether open-pit mining or vein-following had a better overall yield for the "ites". Honestly, I'm not sure. The open pit took several hours and 1.2 demon picks (repaired) to accomplish. Comparing this to my first foray to the "ite" mines where I followed surface veins which yielded about 2.5 large chests and took maybe 1/4 the time. Doing the math, I think a deep, 40x40 open pit has the best overall yield, especially with a demon pick which is super fast and lasts forever—and which also yields other goodies such as diamonds and emeralds (see below).
The "ites" don't spawn above ground level, so don't waste too much time hunting in the high mountains for the stuff. The corner of the mountain I cut out yielded exactly zero "ite" blocks. However, as with mining rules in other locations, please don't leave overhanging crap.
As far as diamonds and emeralds go, I was quite surprised at the ratio between the two. When I went hunting for emeralds in 1.7, I found 4 stacks of diamond ore for 1 stack of emeralds (Extreme Hills bio). That's a 4-1 ratio and what I expected to find at the "ite" mine. However, what I actually found was 59 emeralds to 56 diamonds. That's almost 1-1, and in the emerald's favor.
I can only come up with two possible reasons for this: 1) 1.8 changed the ratio of diamonds to emeralds; or 2) The "ites" are so prolific that they actually disperse blocks of diamonds that would otherwise have spawned. Take this into account if you are hunting diamonds in Extreme Hills biomes.
If anyone wants to dig in/on/around the pit, please beware: there are a number of "ite" veins that have been emptied along the walls and they are unlit/unfilled, so plenty of death traps await. I would suggest moving at least 20 blocks to the side of the pit if you plan to follow me down into the depths of anguish! I remove my torches on the way out of of veins. Some may argue this tactic, but I found it gives the monsters more places to spawn that are
not where I am working.
