The smashers are not really needed here, since - as you noticed - you only have a chance to get 2 smashed-ores from an ore-block. So the pieces you find in spires/meteors can be put into the smeltery for making ingots.
(It's pretty much a little %-chance of doubling your ore from flaxbeard vs 100% chance for doubling from tinker's construct)
Botania has a flower that turns cleanstone around it into random ores. Pretty much that is one of the "earlier" ways to get ores. Though you need to get enough mana-producing flowers for this, since it takes really alot of mana to work.
The next step may be going to the underdark (that means alot of prework with getting the devision sigil and crafting the portal) and if possible an ender-quarry.
Besides that: Dungeon-Loot (so you need luck), Meteors (best with an Fortune 3 hammer since fortune works on them... but before you get the ender-io enchantment table this is pretty much luck too, to get this enchant), Spire-hunting.