Search 5 ore of a base metal for precious gems. This will destroy the ore in the process.
Prospecting is a Jewelcrafting ability which allows the gathering of gems from raw ore that can be obtained via the Mining skill. Five ore of the same type are consumed per prospecting attempt and produces 1-3 gems, with the most common result being a single gem prospected. The gems acquired are of types which could be found by mining a mineral node of the type of ore consumed. For example, prospecting [Iron Ore] can produce [Jade] and [Citrine], which would normally be found on an iron node.
Only common ores can be prospected. [Dark Iron Ore] and quest ores that are not used in crafting cannot be prospected.
Prospecting, like disenchanting and milling, can be boiled down to a fairly simple set of rules. When ore is prospected the results fall into three probabilities:
Common gems - Each ore has a set of gems that result from the majority of attempts. Every gem in an ore's common results has the same probability of being found. Sometimes prospecting yields 2 of the gems in this group. Also, [Star Ruby] from [Thorium Ore] is an exception to the rule of equal probability as its drop rate is higher than the other common gems found in [Thorium Ore].
Uncommon gems - Each ore has a set of rare result gems. Like the common gems, each gem in this group shares the same probability of being found in the target ore.