Meteorite

350px|left A Meteorite is an unnatural Biome that can appear on the surface of the world during the night (50% chance) after destroying a Shadow Orb, or rarely on a random night, which can only be mined with a Gold Pickaxe or better, Dynamite, or Bombs. There will be an announcement at the bottom-left of the screen when a new meteor has fallen that says: 'A meteorite has landed! ' Meteorites crash-land into the ground (though this event always occurs off-screen), causing a crater lined with Meteorite (Stone Walls and a Door may also appear if the impact occurs on a Sky Bridge) [Meteorites that hit sky Bridges give extremely few ores]. A single Meteorite can yield a little over 300 Meteorite Ore (enough for about 75 bars), though this number can vary. Meteor can be found in Gold Chest rarely. In abundance, this can be used to make Meteor Armor, tools, and Phaseblades.

Meteorite blocks cause damage to the player when touched, but the meteorite itself is safe to pick up once mined. Meteorite block damage is eliminated by wearing an Obsidian Skull, Obsidian Shield, Obsidian Horseshoe or using Obsidian Skin Potion. With care, it can be mined without these defenses by placing other block types for the player to stand on as they mine.

When approaching a Meteorite crash site, Meteor Heads will spawn in an attempt to hinder your excavation of the Meteorite, and the game's music will change to a unique theme. Upon mining away the vast majority of the meteor (when the number of Meteorite is below 50), the Meteor Heads will stop spawning, indicated by the music returning to the general overworld theme. Strangely enough, Meteor Heads never spawn in the actual meteorite when you're close to it, but come from east, west, above and below, where there isn't usually a meteor.

Tips

 * Dynamite is a very useful mining tool as it is quite powerful and can help excavate the meteor with a couple of simple explosions. Sticky Bombs can also be used to mine Meteorite, as they stick to blocks, letting you position explosions.
 * A strategy for dealing with Meteor Heads early to mid game: If you have 10 of the same kind of gem, try to mine 80 pieces of Meteorite (enough for 20 bars), and craft a Phaseblade. With a Phaseblade, dealing with the Meteor Heads becomes much easier and should allow you to mine the entire area with few problems.
 * With proper positioning, Meteor Heads can be repelled by your Pickaxe as you mine.
 * If you wish to spawn Meteor Heads to gain their drops, place 50 blocks of Meteorite in close proximity, such as in a 7x7 box with one additional block extended (so you can quickly end the spawning when needed).

Trivia

 * The amount of meteorite needed to spawn Meteor Heads, 50 blocks, sells for exactly one gold.