http://mapwow.com/ might be useful - you can get it to show all the ore spots of stuff you can mine and ignore the rest. The down side is that this site hasn't been updated since Cataclysm came out, so some of the stuff on it no longer applies, but it's pretty useful for finding high concentrations of particular ore.
(Probably stating the obvious, but have you set the mini map search dropdown to show ores/herbs?)
Regarding smelting, with the ridiculous sums that copper ore often goes for, it's quite viable to mine a few stacks of copper, sell it at the auction house, and use the proceeds to buy a stack of whatever you need to smelt now. I go on a copper run any time I feel a bit short of cash. Jeff the voidwalker kills the monsters for me while I get on with mining.
As you may have guessed, I absolutely love mining, and my dwarf has been known to run off into mountains with shouts of 'Sod your missing quest items, there's thorium about!' It's not just a profession, it's a raison d'etre.
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(Probably stating the obvious, but have you set the mini map search dropdown to show ores/herbs?)
Regarding smelting, with the ridiculous sums that copper ore often goes for, it's quite viable to mine a few stacks of copper, sell it at the auction house, and use the proceeds to buy a stack of whatever you need to smelt now. I go on a copper run any time I feel a bit short of cash. Jeff the voidwalker kills the monsters for me while I get on with mining.
As you may have guessed, I absolutely love mining, and my dwarf has been known to run off into mountains with shouts of 'Sod your missing quest items, there's thorium about!' It's not just a profession, it's a raison d'etre.