1 Nephi 17:15-16
15 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence.
16 And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did molten out of the rock.
Nephi did not have to ask the Lord for instructions about how to smelt ore or how to form it into the appropriate tools. It is apparent that he already understood those techniques. What he did not know was where to find the iron ore. The fact that he reports that he simply smelted “the rock” indicates that he did, in fact, simply pick up the iron ore off the ground, just as one would pick up other rocks.
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