I found an error and have a fix:

The error trap throws the issue:
SAND_OBSIDIAN:Unrecognized Inorganic Material Definition Token: USE_MATERIAL

In the entity_patch_powerder file, the line for obsidian sand was:
[USE_MATERIAL:OBSIDIAN] instead of
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:OBSIDIAN]

@hog_jockey thanks you for the quick fix!

@Stale coocie You can go into the Stone Use submenu of the Labor menu and mark specific economic stones to be okay for non-economic use.

This mod turns a whole bunch or rocks into economic, which in turn really messes up manager orders. You can have hundreds of stones, but since they don't count as non-economic anymore, manager orders won't trigger. But if you change the condition from 'non-economic hard rock' into just 'hard rock', it will count all the ores as well which will results in situations when the order is triggered but can't be fulfilled because all the rock you have is prohibited from non-economic usage.

Some of the powders are usable as dyes but it's primarily to set up materials for use in other mods. Check some of your dwarves with this installed and you might notice they have socks dyed with malachite or similar. It correctly colors the clothing.

What does grinding ore into powder actually do? Does it generate more Bars to smelt powder rather then bars?

my dwarves refuse to smelt hematite powder the job cancels saying theres no ore

I really wish that mods like this said what the various uses are for.

In-game, this mod says Dwarven Chemistry is a requirement, while this workshop page doesn't mention it. Also, having issues creating a new world with some of your mods - errors showing up in the errorlog (weapons/chemistry/trees). Not complaining though, just mentioning it - I've read about your tricky situation (I'll be in my own tricky situation soon unfortunately). I'll look forward to trying your mods in the future.

All of your comments are appreciated! I'm sorry I haven't been able to update this in a while, I'm kinda homeless irl for the time being. When I can I will update with your suggestions in mind. Thank you all!

Where would I find the pulverized minerals in the stockpile menu,for the sake of sorting?

Hey the millstones aren't working at all for me, nothing appears when I try to make a new task, no dwarfs do work orders associated with it, and I'm not sure whats wrong.

Also could the millstone job names be in the form "grind x into y" please?

e.g. "Grind Cinnabar into Vermilion Powder"? It would make things a little easier to understand.

Excellent mod! Love seeing migrants turn up with all the different coloured clothing!

Is it possible to increase the amount of powder stacks in the output? It feels a bit rough grinding one limonite to powder to colour one clothing item when I could use that limonite to make 4 steel bars instead.

Do dyes actually colour clothing in the steam version?

As long as you don't add anything that alters millstones, dyes, or ores, then you'll be fine. Modularity is a glorious thing! just remember to add the custom crafting recipes from this mod into the document which defines your civ, otherwise the new civ will be unable to perform those actions.

How would I make this compatible with a custom race mod?

Yes I would much rather you simply list this mod as a dependency. Its easy enough to do when you upload your mod to the workshop. Just look for "Add/Remove Required Items" on the owner controls on the right side of the screen when you are on your mods page.

ok. I know there is some way to tell the game that one mod requires another, maybe I'll do that in this case. Thanks.

@TriggerHippie
I said a similar thing to the creator, and he seems to be more in the favour of keeping his stuff separate, but still compatible with other mods, rather than have them integrated into other mods.

Hey I was hoping I could include this mod and the glassworks mod you made in my "playable halflings" mod. Would that be ok with you, and is there a licence I should use?

Fascinating! That makes a lot more sense now, thank you very much!

It's clever, imo. I never actually had to edit the vanilla raws at all.
I simply defined a new inorganic in powder form, gave it all the tokens necessary for it to work in both kinds of reactions, and custom defined new reactions for grind the vanilla stone into its powder form.

Hi, first-time modder here. I'd really like to know how you were able to put the info about dyes into the inorganic_stone_mineral folder, specifically "ore of mercury, powdered gives vermilion dye" above [INORGANIC:CINNABAR]. I didn't know it was possible to edit the default raws like that

Hey, this is a really creative idea! I'm actually kind of surprised it doesn't exist in vanilla yet!

sounds good

its called 'mineral' powders, so its going to just be minerals, no vegetables. however, i have a mod called "Fantastic Dyes" on the backburner. It has more plant/fungus based dyes.

Yes yes yesss! Please add more pigments, this is such a great idea. I'd love a mod for using these in production of books as well - if you are looking for inspiration lol ;)

this is excellent and something I had been wanting for a while, any chance for plant based dyes later?

used real-life sources. i might add ochre in the future also.
cinnabar = vermillion red dye
cobaltite = cobalt blue dye
ilmenite = titanium white dye
etc

That's a really cool idea. Mineral dyes are a thing after all. Does it match real-life dye sources? Or did you just match stones/ores by colors?

Neat idea! I'm mad I didn't come up with something like this, really. Maybe I'll find another resource to mess with...