This WoW guide (up-to-date for patch 3.3) will cover training your Mining levels from 1 to 450 and what to mine or smelt while leveling Mining in World of Warcraft. Mining is one of the 3 primary gathering professions, and gathering professions tend to provide a strong gold income. Mining complements a number of the crafting professions well, including Blacksmithing, Engineering and Jewelcrafting. Mining also grants the passive trait Toughness, which increases your stamina (details at the end of this guide).
In order to find ore to mine, enable the Find Minerals option on your minimap, by right-clicking on the icon second from the top on the left hand side of the minimap and selecting Find Minerals.
If the ore can be mined it will have a color coded property that shows this when you hover your mouse pointer over it.
Red – Mining level not yet high enough to mine this ore
Orange - High chance of increasing Mining level when mining this ore
Yellow - Moderate chance of increasing Mining level when mining this ore
Green - Low chance of increasing Mining level when mining this ore
Gray – No chance of increasing Mining level when mining this ore
All of the ‘Mined From’ links for ores in this guide will take you to maps on Wowhead that show you all the zones where the ore can be found, which zone has the highest concentration of each ore, and where the ores can be found within each zone, so as that you can create a mining route that best suits you.
Mining Trainers
| Rank | Faction | Trainer | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice Journeymen Expert Artisan |
Alliance | Brock Stoneseeker | Thelsamar, Loch Modan |
| Dank Drizzlecut | Gol’Bolar Quarry, Dun Morogh | ||
| Dulvi | Azure Watch, Azuremyst Isle | ||
| Gelman Stonehand | The Dwarven District, Stormwind | ||
| Geofram Bouldertoe | The Great Forge, Ironforge | ||
| Kurdram Stonehammer | Auberdine, Darkshore | ||
| Matt Johnson | Darkshire, Duskwood | ||
| Muaat | The Trader’s Tier, The Exodar | ||
| Yarr Hammerstone | Stellgrill’s Depot, Dun Morogh | ||
| Horde | Belil | Farstrider’s Square, Silvermoon | |
| Brek Stonehoof | Lower Rise, Thunder Bluff | ||
| Brom Killian | The War Quarter, Undercity | ||
| Johan Focht | The Sepulcher, Silverpine Forest | ||
| Krunn | Razor Hill, Durotar | ||
| Makaru | The Valley of Honor, Orgrimmar | ||
| Neutral | Pikkle | Gadgetzan, Tanaris | |
| Master | Alliance | Fono | Aldor Rise, Shattrath |
| Hurnak Grimmord | Honor Hold, Hellfire Peninsula | ||
| Horde | Hanlir | Scryer’s Tier, Shattrath | |
| Krugosh | Thrallmar, Hellfire Peninsula | ||
| Grand Master | Alliance | Fendrig Redbeard | Valiance Keep, Borean Tundra |
| Grumbol Stoutpick | Valgarde, Howling Fjord | ||
| Horde | Brunna Ironaxe | Warsong Hold, Borean Tundra | |
| Jonathan Lewis | Vengeance Landing, Howling Fjord | ||
| Neutral | Jedidiah Handers | Magus Commerce Exchange, Dalaran |
Apprentice Levels (1-75)
Learn Apprentice Mining from a Mining trainer
Purchase a Mining Pick from a general vendor
| Levels | Recommended Locations | Ore | Mined From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-65 | Azuremyst Isle, Darkshore, Dun Morogh, Durotar, Elwynn Forest, Eversong Woods, Mulgore or Tirisfal Glades | Mine Copper Ore | Copper Vein |
| Levels | Action | Reagents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-65 | Smelt Copper | Copper Ore | Copper Bar |
Journeymen Levels (76-150)
Learn Journeymen Mining from a Mining trainer
At level 65 learn Smelt Bronze and Smelt Tin from a Mining Trainer
At level 75 learn Smelt Silver from a Mining Trainer
| Levels | Recommended Locations | Ore | Mined From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 66-75 | Hillsbrad Foothills, Redridge Mountains, The Barrens or Thousand Needles | Mine Tin Ore | Tin Vein |
| 76-125 | Arathi Highlands, Hillsbrad Foothills, The Barrens or Thousand Needles | Mine Tin Ore | Tin Vein |
| Mine Silver Ore | Silver Vein |
| Levels | Action | Reagents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 66-75 | Smelt Tin | Tin Ore | Tin Bar |
| Smelt Bronze | Copper Bar Tin Bar |
2 x Bronze Bar | |
| 76-115 | Smelt Bronze | Copper Bar Tin Bar |
2 x Bronze Bar |
| Smelt Silver | Silver Ore | Silver Bar | |
| 116-125 | Smelt Silver | Silver Ore | Silver Bar |
Expert Levels (151-225)
Level 10 Character Required
Learn Expert Mining from a Mining trainer
At level 125 learn Smelt Iron from a Mining trainer
At level 155 learn Smelt Gold from a Mining trainer
At level 175 learn Smelt Mithril from a Mining trainer
| Levels | Recommended Locations | Ore | Mined From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 126-155 | Arathi Highlands, Stranglethorn Vale or Thousand Needles | Mine Iron Ore | Iron Deposit |
| 156-175 | Arathi Highlands, Badlands, Desolace, Stranglethorn Vale, Tanaris or The Hinterlands | Mine Gold Ore | Gold Vein |
| Mine Iron Ore | Iron Deposit | ||
| 176-200 | Badlands, Tanaris or The Hinterlands | Mine Gold Ore | Gold Vein |
| Mine Mithril Ore | Mithril Deposit |
| Levels | Action | Reagents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125-155 | Smelt Iron | Iron Ore | Iron Bar |
| 156-175 | Smelt Gold | Gold Ore | Gold Bar |
| 176-200 | Smelt Mithril | Mithril Ore | Mithril Bar |
Artisan Levels (226-300)
Level 25 Character required
Learn Artisan Mining from a Mining trainer
At level 230 learn Smelt Dark Iron and Smelt Truesilver from a Mining trainer
At level 250 learn Smelt Thorium from a Mining trainer
| Levels | Recommended Locations | Ore | Mined From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201-230 | Badlands, Tanaris or The Hinterlands | Mine Mithril Ore | Mithril Deposit |
| 231-245 | Burning Steppes or Searing Gorge | Mine Dark Iron Ore | Dark Iron Deposit |
| Tanaris, The Hinterlands or Winterspring | Mine Truesilver Ore | Truesilver Deposit | |
| 246-275 | Burning Steppes or Searing Gorge | Mine Dark Iron Ore | Dark Iron Deposit |
| Silithus, Un’Goro Crater or Winterspring | Mine Thorium Ore | Small Thorium Vein | |
| Tanaris, The Hinterlands or Winterspring | Mine Truesilver Ore | Truesilver Deposit |
| Levels | Action | Reagents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201-230 | Smelt Mithril | Mithril Ore | Mithril Bar |
| 231-250 | 1Smelt Dark Iron | 8 x Dark Iron Ore | Dark Iron Bar |
| Smelt Truesilver | Truesilver Ore | Truesilver Bar | |
| 251-290 | 1Smelt Dark Iron | 8 x Dark Iron Ore | Dark Iron Bar |
| Smelt Thorium | Thorium Ore | Thorium Bar |
1Requires you to complete the quest The Spectral Chalice to learn and can only be smelted at the Black Forge in Blackrock Depths
Master Levels (301-375)
Level 40 Character required
Learn Master Mining from a Master Mining trainer
At level 300 learn Smelt Fel Iron from a Mining trainer
At level 325 learn Smelt Adamantite from a Mining trainer
| Levels | Recommended Locations | Ore | Mined From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 276-300 | Eastern Plaguelands, Silithus, Un’Goro Crater or Winterspring | Mine Thorium Ore | Small Thorium Vein Rich Thorium Vein |
| 301-325 | Hellfire Peninsula or Zangamarsh | Mine Fel Iron Ore | Fel Iron Deposit |
| Eastern Plaguelands or Winterspring | Mine Thorium Ore | Rich Thorium Vein | |
| 326-350 | Blade’s Edge Mountains, Nagrand, Netherstorm or Shadowmoon Valley | Mine Adamantite Ore | Adamantite Deposit |
| Mine Fel Iron Ore | Fel Iron Deposit |
| Levels | Action | Reagents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 291-300 | 1Smelt Dark Iron | 8 x Dark Iron Ore | Dark Iron Bar |
| 301-315 | Smelt Fel Iron | 2 x Fel Iron Ore | Fel Iron Bar |
| You can’t gain any Mining levels from 316-325 with Smelting – you must mine ore | |||
| 325-340 | Smelt Adamantite | 2 x Adamantite Ore | Adamantite Bar |
| You can’t gain any Mining levels from 341-350 with Smelting – you must mine ore | |||
1Requires you to complete the quest The Spectral Chalice to learn and can only be smelted at the Black Forge in Blackrock Depths
Grand Master Levels (376-450)
Level 55 Character required
Level 65 Character required to mine deposits in Northrend zones
Learn Grand Master Mining from a Grand Master Mining trainer
At level 350 learn Smelt Cobalt from a Grand Master Mining trainer
| Levels | Recommended Locations | Ore | Mined From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 351-375 | Nagrand, Netherstorm or Shadowmoon Valley | Mine Adamantite Ore | Adamantite Deposit Rich Adamantite Deposit |
| Borean Tundra, Dragonblight, Howling Fjord or Zul’Drak | Mine Cobalt Ore | Cobalt Deposit | |
| 376-400 | Borean Tundra, Dragonblight, Howling Fjord or Zul’Drak | Mine Cobalt Ore | Cobalt Deposit Rich Coblat Deposit |
| 401-425 | Borean Tundra, Dragonblight, Howling Fjord or Zul’Drak | Mine Cobalt Ore | Cobalt Deposit Rich Coblat Deposit |
| Icecrown, Sholazar Basin or The Storm Peaks | Mine Saronite Ore | Saronite Deposit | |
| 426-450 | Borean Tundra, Dragonblight, Howling Fjord or Zul’Drak | Mine Cobalt Ore | Cobalt Deposit Rich Coblat Deposit |
| Icecrown, Sholazar Basin or The Storm Peaks | Mine Saronite Ore | Saronite Deposit Rich Saronite Deposit |
| Levels | Action | Reagents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 351-375 | Smelt Cobalt | Cobalt Ore | Cobalt Bar |
| You can’t gain any Mining levels with Smelting after 375 – you must mine ore | |||
Toughness
This is a passive trait, exclusive to characters that train Mining, and it provides a stamina bonus that scales with Mining levels.
Rank 1: +3 Stamina (requires Mining level 75)
Rank 2: +5 Stamina (requires Mining level 150)
Rank 3: +7 Stamina (requires Mining level 225)
Rank 4: +10 Stamina (requires Mining level 300)
Rank 5: +30 Stamina (requires Mining level 375)
Rank 6: +60 Stamina (requires Mining level 450)
I hoped you found this WoW Mining Leveling Guide useful and that it has helped you on your way to level 450. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks this helped a ton!
Nice and clear guide, exelent work.
Overall a great guide, particularly for a death knight going 1-300 as quickly as possible. However, I think your treatment of Dark Iron is, at best, somewhat inaccurate. No trainer I can find will teach it to me, so I’m pretty sure the quest is still necessary, as is going to Blackrock Depths to smelt it. I would love to be contradicted, though.
The Dark Iron is an oversight on my part – thanks for pointing it out. The guide has been updated to reflect the quest requirement to learn ‘Smelt Dark Iron’.
Is it possible to mine ore that is gray (below the surface) when there is no cave or mine associated with the vein/deposit. Example: copper veins east of the Gol’Bolar Quarry in Dun Morogh? Can you dig for it or blast for it when it’s not on the surface? [Or are these bugs in the rendering - like the copper node inside a tree, etc.]
You need to be able to see a vein/deposit in order to mine it. If there is no cave associated with a grayed node indicator, then I would assume it to be a rendering bug.
That is a vein/deposit that is under you!
Look around, there should be a cave nearby where you can go deep and find the vein you saw in grey on the minimap!
Thnks this website helped alot
would be handy to have a list of locations with forges in places where there isn”t a trainer. (i.e. elwynn forrest)
Ditto: Great website!!
Awesome guide man! Extremely useful thanks!
how do you use a smelter and where can i find one. just started yesterday and dont have a clue lol
I think the game usually refers to the equipment needing for smelting as a forge. There is usually one located very near each of the Mining Trainers and it while look like a large furnace. To use it, you need to access the Smelting skill from your spellbook (hotkey: P) while standing in proximity to the forge.
to learn master skill, you needto be lvl 40. but it can only be learned in the outlands so you have to be lvl 58?
Actually you can go to Outaland at any lvl you just cant take the portals in the capital cities there
thanks a lot, great intell about the mining stuff, i started mining at lvl 80 so i needed to know where to look etc.
job wel done! ^^
grty mates
Hello, not sure when this was posted, but I’ll try to pitch in anyway.
I was a little impatient trying to get to 125 and went on a silver hunt… well this didn’t pan out but I found a cave at the NE corner of the Arathi Highlands with Lesser Bloodstone mines. They were yellow to me until 125 and respawned fairly quickly (10min or so). Just thought I would throw that out there to help other impatient people like myself ^_^
thnx , really helpfull
Great mining guide…thanks so much for all the help!!
I have a mining skill of 418. Everything is gray. According to this, I should be able to mine stuff (or smelt it) to 425, but everything is gray and nothing is giving me points. What can I do?
so u cant make saronite bars?
Correct – smelting saronite bars won’t get you any more mining skill levels.