The ore distribution in ultimate has been modified. Like the Direwolf pack not all ores can be found by just mining the lower 16 levels.
All these configs can be ajusted in the Thermal expansion config file btw if you choose. You can adjust amount that spawns and at what levels.
But short answer to your question is no, not like vanilla. It has been modified, much in the same way as the Direwolf pack as you stated.