For those of you curious as to the fastest route or the exact number of blocks required to upgrade your drill, here is a guide for you.
The tier separation indicates the furthest one can get along the drill path without having to upgrade the current drill. The Sub-Total indicates the total mining requirement for the current tier, while the Grand Total indicates the total mining requirement for the current tier and all previous tiers.
This guide is intended for DarthNox's mod, Chef Anonymous' mod, and DN+ mod. The Vanilla item set doesn't let you progress past Tier 3.
Tier 1[]
Mine 16 Iron Ore > Refine into Iron Ingots Upgrade to Enhanced Iron Drill Mine 5 Iron Ore > Refine into Iron Ingots Mine 40 Cobalite > Refine into Cobalt Dust > Refine into Cobalt Ingots > Refine into Cobalt Diamonds Upgrade to Powerful Iron Drill
Grand Total: 16 Iron Ore, 40 Cobalite
Tier 2[]
Make 3 Powerful Iron Drills Mine 15 Titanium Ore >Refine into Titanium Ingots Upgrade to Triple Iron Drill
Sub-Total: 15 Titanium Ore
Grand Total: 48 Iron Ore, 120 Cobalite, 15 Titanium Ore
Tier 3[]
Make 1 Triple Iron Drill Mine 3 Thulium Ore >Refine Thulium Ore into Thulium Shards (Keep 1 Thulium Shard Remander) Upgrade to Thulium Drill Mine 30 Titanium Ore >Refine into Titanium Ingots Mine 7 Thulium Ore >Refine Thulium Ore into Thulium Shards Upgrade to Enhanced Thulium Drill
Sub-Total Total: 10 Thulium Ore, 30 Titanium Ore
Grand Total: 48 Iron Ore, 120 Cobalite, 10 Thulium Ore, 45 Titanium Ore
Tier 4[]
Make 1 Enhanced Thulium Drill Mine 50 Titanium Ore >Refine ONLY 30 into Titanium Ingots (Keep 20 Titanium Ore Remainder) Mine 20 Ponium Ore >Refine into Ponium Ingots Upgrade to Ponium Drill
Sub-Total: 50 Titanium Ore, 20 Ponium Ore
Grand Total: 48 Iron Ore, 120 Cobalite, 10 Thulium Ore, 95 Titanium Ore, 20 Ponium Ore
Tier 5[]
Make 1 Ponium Drill Mine 10 Titanium Ore Mine 10 Ponium Ore >Refine into Ponium Ingots Mine 14 Redium Ore >Refine into Redium Shards >Refine ONLY 16 into Redium Lenses Upgrade to Redium Powered Drill
Sub-Total: 10 Titanium Ore, 10 Ponium Ore, 14 Redium Ore
Grand Total: 48 Iron Ore, 120 Cobalite, 10 Thulium Ore, 105 Titanium Ore, 30 Ponium Ore, 14 Redium Ore