WoW Forever Mining Guide 1 to 300: Ore Routes, Smelting and New Ores

Mining levels on veins. A vein stops giving skill points 100 points above the skill it needs, so every step of the route moves you on before the last vein turns grey. The table lists the 10 veins, the Mining skill each one needs and the skill where it stops counting.

Vein and ore	Needs	Counts to
Copper Vein Copper Ore	1	100
Tin Vein Tin Ore	65	165
Silver Vein Silver Ore	75	175
Iron Deposit Iron Ore	125	225
Gold Vein Gold Ore	155	255
Mithril Deposit Mithril Ore	175	275
Truesilver Deposit Truesilver Ore	230	300
Dark Iron Deposit Dark Iron Ore	230	300
Small Thorium Vein Thorium Ore	245	300
Rich Thorium Vein Thorium Ore, Arcane Crystal	275	300

The route by zone follows in 2 sections, from 1 to 175 and from 175 to 300.

• Apprentice trains up to 75, Journeyman to 150, Expert to 225 and Artisan to 300.
• Mining feeds Blacksmithing and Engineering. Herbalism is the usual gathering partner, because you pass herb nodes as you mine.
• The gold economy guide covers what ore and bars sell for, and the professions guide covers the rest of the profession list.

Mining starts at level 1. Starter areas have Poor Copper Vein nodes that need Mining 1, and the checklist covers the rest.

• A Mining Pick in your bags, bought from a trade vendor.
• Find Minerals switched on, so veins show on the minimap.
• Apprentice from the Junior Mining Trainer in your starter area. Each of the 6 original starting areas has 1.
• Journeyman, Expert and Artisan from a city trainer or 1 of the 4 neutral trainers.
• A vein gives at most 1 skill point, however many times you mine it, so the route is about reaching more veins.

Mining for Dummies is a reward from starter-zone quests. It teaches Mining if you know fewer than 2 professions, then adds 2 skill, up to 15.

4 items add Mining skill. A bonus lets you mine a vein before you reach its normal requirement: with +5 you mine a Silver Vein at 70 instead of 75.

Item	Mining bonus
Miner's Cape	+2
Enchant Gloves - Mining	+2
Goblin Mining Helmet	+5
Enchant Gloves - Advanced Mining	+5

Rockslicer mines Copper, Tin, Silver and Iron veins without any Mining skill, with 30 charges. It drops from Rhahk'Zor in the Deadmines.

Follow the table from top to bottom. Each row is a skill range with the rank to hold, the veins to mine and the zones.

Skill and rank	Veins and zones
1 to 65 Apprentice	Copper Vein Alliance: Dun Morogh, Elwynn Forest, Darkshore, then Westfall or Loch Modan Horde: Durotar, Mulgore, Tirisfal Glades, then The Barrens or Silverpine Forest
65 to 125 Journeyman from 75	Tin Vein from 65, Silver Vein from 75 Redridge Mountains, The Barrens, Hillsbrad Foothills, Ashenvale
125 to 175 Expert from 150	Iron Deposit from 125, Gold Vein from 155 Arathi Highlands, Stranglethorn Vale, Thousand Needles, Alterac Mountains

Skyborne characters mine Copper Veins on Zephras Isle. Gold Veins from 155 spawn in the same zones as Iron Deposits, so 1 pass through Arathi Highlands or Stranglethorn Vale covers both. The smelting section below covers the shortcut for 1 to 185.

Skill and rank	Veins and zones
175 to 245 Artisan from 225	Mithril Deposit from 175, Truesilver Deposit from 230 Tanaris, The Hinterlands, Badlands
245 to 275 Artisan	Small Thorium Vein Un'Goro Crater, Silithus, Winterspring, Eastern Plaguelands
275 to 300 Artisan	Small Thorium Vein, Rich Thorium Vein Winterspring, Un'Goro Crater, Eastern Plaguelands, Burning Steppes

Mithril Deposits give points up to 275, so keep mining them while you move between zones. Dark Iron Deposits sit in Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes. 8 Dark Iron Ore smelt into 1 Dark Iron Bar at the Black Forge.

Azshara and Western Plaguelands hold Rich Thorium Veins as well.

The beta stops at level 30, so nobody has mined the thorium zones at level yet. We mine 245 to 300 on live realms in the week of 4 November and update this table.

Smelting gives Mining skill up to 185, at a forge. Keep the Copper Bars and Tin Bars from the Smelt Copper and Smelt Tin steps, because Smelt Bronze uses them.

Mining skill	Smelt	Uses
1 to 65	Smelt Copper	Copper Ore
65 to 75	Smelt Tin	Tin Ore
75 to 100	Smelt Bronze	1 Copper Bar and 1 Tin Bar make 2 Bronze Bars
100 to 125	Smelt Silver	Silver Ore
125 to 140	Smelt Iron	Iron Ore
140 to 155	No smelt gives points	Mine Iron Deposits
155 to 185	Smelt Gold	Gold Ore

Smelt Steel unlocks at Mining 165 and uses 1 Iron Bar and 1 Coal. Smelt Mithril unlocks at 175, Smelt Truesilver and Smelt Dark Iron at 230 and Smelt Thorium at 250. They turn ore into bars to sell or craft with and give no skill points.

Smelting Pants cut the craft time of Smelt Copper, Smelt Tin, Smelt Bronze and Smelt Silver by 25%. Bars also fill the Ingots crates in the next section.

Mining adds 2 smelts at the top of the ladder, both from the Mining trainer. Smelt Azerothium needs Mining 275 and turns 2 Pitchblende and 1 Coal into 1 Azerothium Bar. Smelt Heavy Thorium needs Mining 300 and turns 1 Heavy Thorium Ore into 1 Heavy Thorium Bar at a Molten Foundry.

Heavy Thorium Ore is a new ore, and its veins have no zone in the beta data yet. We find them on live realms in launch week and put the zones and the Mining skill the veins need into this section.

3 new Scarce minerals drop with the ore: Pyrite, Bauxite and Pitchblende. Which vein gives which, and how often, comes from the same launch week check. Bountiful Harvest, a Legacy perk in the Professions tree, adds 20% more Scarce materials from Mining, Herbalism and Skinning. The Legacy guide has its ranks and costs.

Azerothium Bars go into new Blacksmithing, Enchanting and Engineering recipes, and Heavy Thorium Bars into new Alchemy, Blacksmithing and Engineering recipes. Alchemists turn a Heavy Thorium Bar into a Legionite Bar with a transmute at Alchemy 275.

Miners also get 8 Waylaid Crates, 4 for Ore and 4 for Ingots. Fill a crate with any 1 bundle from its row and hand it in sealed for Merchant's Favor. The level in the table is the character level a crate needs. Alliance players turn them in at the Azeroth Commerce Authority camp in Redridge Mountains and Horde players at the Durotar Supply and Logistics camp by the Crossroads in The Barrens.

Crate and level	Fill with
Apprentice Ore Level 10	20 Copper Ore, or 20 Tin Ore
Journeyman Ore Level 10	10 Silver Ore, or 20 Iron Ore
Expert Ore Level 20	10 Gold Ore, or 20 Mithril Ore
Artisan Ore Level 35	10 Truesilver Ore, or 20 Thorium Ore, or 20 Dark Iron Ore
Apprentice Ingots Level 10	20 Copper Bar, or 20 Tin Bar, or 10 Bronze Bar
Journeyman Ingots Level 10	10 Silver Bar, or 20 Iron Bar
Expert Ingots Level 20	20 Mithril Bar, or 15 Steel Bar, or 10 Gold Bar
Artisan Ingots Level 35	2 Dark Iron Bar, or 10 Truesilver Bar, or 20 Thorium Bar

Mining adds 3 camp objects. They need a Campfire nearby and share the 1-hour camping cooldown, and the buff lasts 1 hour. The camping guide has the full rules, and the Cooking guide covers the Cooking kits.

Object and skill	Learned from	Materials
Lodestone Mining 20	Mining trainer	1 Rough Stone, 1 Copper Bar
Rock Garden Mining 140	Blueprint	2 Heavy Stone, 1 Iron Ore, 1 Silver Bar
Molten Foundry Mining 300	Blueprint	5 Thorium Bar, 2 Dense Stone, 1 Truesilver Bar

The Lodestone gives melee attack power to players sitting at the campfire, up to 90 at level 60 on the beta. The buff does not stack with Blessing of Might. The Rock Garden spawns a common mining node over time, and the Molten Foundry is the workspace for Smelt Heavy Thorium. Both keep the Lodestone buff.

A trainer teaches a rank once you meet its skill and level. The neutral trainers serve both factions, and 2 of them stand on Zephras Isle, covered in the Skyborne guide. Powderfuse Port is in the Riverglades, covered in the new zones guide.

Alliance trainers

Trainer and ranks	Where
Kelsey Fargo Apprentice	Northshire, Elwynn Forest (47.2 32.6)
Sally Swiftwrench Apprentice	Coldridge Valley, Dun Morogh (28.8 67.8)
Fanorran Stilloak Apprentice	Shadowglen, Teldrassil (58.2 41.6)
Geofram Bouldertoe Every rank	The Great Forge, Ironforge (50.4 26.0)
Gelman Stonehand Every rank	Dwarven District, Stormwind
Yarr Hammerstone Every rank	Steelgrill's Depot, Dun Morogh (50.0 50.2)
Dank Drizzlecut Every rank	Gol'Bolar Quarry, Dun Morogh (69.2 55.4)
Brock Stoneseeker Every rank	Thelsamar, Loch Modan (37.2 46.8)
Kurdram Stonehammer Every rank	Auberdine, Darkshore (38.2 41.0)
Matt Johnson Every rank	Darkshire, Duskwood (74.0 49.6)

Horde trainers

Trainer and ranks	Where
Norzsh Apprentice	Valley of Trials, Durotar (40.6 68.0)
Vartha Rockmane Apprentice	Red Cloud Mesa, Mulgore (44.2 78.2)
Walter Mason Apprentice	Deathknell, Tirisfal Glades (32.2 65.8)
Makaru Every rank	Valley of Honor, Orgrimmar (73.0 26.4)
Brek Stonehoof Every rank	Thunder Bluff (34.6 57.6)
Brom Killian Every rank	War Quarter, Undercity (56.0 37.0)
Krunn Every rank	Razor Hill, Durotar (51.8 40.8)
Johan Focht Every rank	The Sepulcher, Silverpine Forest (43.4 40.6)

Neutral trainers

Trainer and ranks	Where
Messana Crestwind Every rank	Shen'dar Village, Zephras Isle (44.8 44.4)
Halavuul Cragwind Every rank	Valanaar, Zephras Isle (65.4 80.4)
Pikkle Every rank	Gadgetzan, Tanaris (51.0 28.0)
Grungle Every rank	Powderfuse Port, Riverglades (77.6 51.8)