Mining

Mining

With Mining, you extract ore, gems, and (in lower level zones) stones from raw metal veins, deposits, and from some enemies (usually rocky Elemental creatures). These materials are used primarily in Jewelcrafting, Blacksmithing, and Engineering. A Mining Pick (or any item that acts as a Mining Pick) is required to mine. You do not need to equip the Mining Pick; just keep it in your Backpack. Miners learn a second ability, Smelting, which turns the ore into metal bars.

Mining also imparts the ability to Find Minerals. When it is active, mineral nodes appear on your minimap. When you find a node, it has a glowing outline and the cursor changes into a pick axe. To mine, right-click on the node. The same thing applies when you find harvestable enemies. When you mouse over a corpse, your mouse cursor changes to a pick axe if you can harvest from it.

Another way to increase your Mining skill level is to Smelt ore. To Smelt, you need access to a forge and ore. Click on the Smelting icon to see what you can currently Smelt. Gaining skill ups from Smelting varies wildly with each new ore you learn to Smelt. Any time you work with a new metal, Smelt as much of it as you can as soon as you can. The skill ups from Smelting dry up much faster than the skill ups you get from mining.

MAKING MONEY WITH MINING

Mining can be incredibly profitable. With a multitude of different Professions all requiring ore, you have a large potential market. Try selling your low-level metal in both bar and ore form as some people want the refined bars, while others want the raw ore.

Draenor Ore: True Iron Ore, Blackrock Ore, Draenic Stone.

DRAENOR MINING

Mining has changed significantly with Warlords of Draenor. You no longer need to be a particular skill level to mine a particular kind of ore. Your skill level now determines how proficient you are at mining the item instead. If your Profession level is fairly low, you’ll gather fragments, or nuggets of ore. These can be combined to create a full piece of ore. Once you have sufficiently leveled your skill, you’ll no longer mine fragments.

In addition to ore, mining nodes on Draenor will also give you Draenic Stone. This stone can be used to create Work Orders with your Garrison’s Mine. In exchange for the stone, you’ll receive a random quantity of Draenor ore. While out mining in Draenor, you may even find a unique Battle Pet.

Almost every Profession in Warlords of Draenor uses ore in one way or another. This means that while Mining may sometimes seem tedious, it also has the potential to be really lucrative in terms of making gold.