WotLK Classic Mining Profession and Leveling 1-450 Guide

Mining is one of the few gathering Professions available to players. This profession focuses on collecting ore, rather than crafting items or consumables for use. This gathered ore is most commonly smelted into bars and used by Engineering and Blacksmithing to fuel their crafting needs; but the raw ore can also be used with Jewelcrafting.

Mining ore veins first requires you to have a Mining Pick in your inventory. Mineral veins now only take one hit to fully deplete, giving you all of the ore instantly.

When Mining is learned as a Profession, you will also learn a skill called Find Minerals that will show nearby mineral nodes as a golden point on your minimap. This allows you to see ore in hidden areas or off-screen so you can gather any nearby ore.

When you approach a mineral vein, you can interact with it to try and mine the ore. However, you cannot gather all ore from the start; you will see different colors representing how hard is it for you to gather that certain ore. These colors represent the skill level needed to gather the ore and are the following:

• Red means that vein needs a higher skill level than you currently have and you cannot mine it yet.
• Orange means you can mine this vein, but your attempts may fail. Every successful attempt on the vein is guaranteed to increase your Mining skill.
• Yellow means you can normally mine this vein, your attempts may occasionally fail, and most successful attempts increase your Mining skill.
• Green means you can easily mine this vein, your attempts will rarely fail, and you will rarely increase your Mining skill by mining these.
• Gray means you can mine this vein with no effort, your attempts will never fail, and they will never increase your Mining skill.

When you learn Mining from the trainers, apart from the very useful Find Minerals you will also learn a technique called Smelting. It is a skill Miners can use when they are near a Forge to smelt the minerals into usable metal bars for crafting. The good part is that smelting minerals also increases your skill in Mining too and it can be used to level your Mining quickly without having to seek out veins of ore if you are willing to buy the materials.

You can learn Mining from any Mining trainer, which are found in capital cities. When you arrive at a major city, you can ask any city guard for directions and pick the Mining trainer option under the professions section. This will mark its location on your map, allowing you to easily find them and get the Mining skill.

To train past 300 skill level, you need to speak with a Master Mining trainer in either Outland or Northrend. This will allow you to train up to level 375 Mining.

To learn Mining past 375 skill level you must travel to Northrend and talk with a Grand Master Mining trainer found below. This will allow you to max your Mining skill out at 450.

• Fendrig Redbeard in Borean Tundra;
• Grumbol Stoutpick in Howling Fjord.

• Brunna Ironaxe in Borean Tundra;
• Jonathan Lewis in Howling Fjord.

• Jedidiah Handers in Dalaran City.

Your Mining advancement begins by mining Copper Ore found in the low-level starting areas. Once you have reached 50 skill in Mining, head to your local trainer to learn Journeyman Mining, allowing you to progress up to 150 Skill.

After training Journeyman Mining head out to either Hillsbrad Foothills, Redridge Mountains, The Barrens, Loch Modan, or Darkshore and look for these veins for skill-ups all the way to 125:

• 65-100 — Copper Ore
• 65-125 — Tin Ore
• 75-125 — Silver Ore

Make sure to visit your nearest trainer and learn Expert Mining. You will be gathering plenty of these ores as this is typically one of the tougher spots in Mining progression as you only have one main ore to gain skill-ups from. Set up nice circular routes in Arathi Highlands, Desolace, and Thousand Needles to cover as much ground as possible and keep your eyes peeled for:

• 125-175 — Iron Ore
• 155-175 — Gold Ore

At 175 Skill you obtain the ability to mine Mithril, giving you access to a very popular mineral. If you previously were in Arathi Highlands, you can continue to mine there as there is a large mixture of your needed ores. If not, you will want to make your way there, to the Hinterlands, or Tanaris.

• 175-225 — Mithril Ore

At 225 Skill, make sure to visit your nearest Mining trainer and learn Artisan Mining. After that continue your previous mining route until you reach 245.

At 245 Skill you gain the ability to mine Small Thorium Veins and at 275 you can access the Rich Thorium Veins, giving you the ability to quick gather all ore in the area and reach Skill Level 300. We recommend that you head into Un'Goro Crater, Blasted Lands, Felwood, or Silithus and gather any mineral veins that may grant you a skill-up.

• 245-300 Thorium Ore

Vein	Skill Level				Possible Loot			Zones
	Orange	Yellow	Green	Gray	Guaranteed	Sometimes	Rarely
Copper Vein	1	25	50	100	2-4 Copper Ore	1-6 Rough Stone	1 Shadowgem 1 Malachite 1 Tigerseye	Low-level zones
Tin Vein	65	90	115	165	2-4 Tin Ore	1-8 Coarse Stone	1 Shadowgem 1 Moss Agate 1 Lesser Moonstone 1 Jade	Low-level zones
Silver Vein	75	100	125	175	2-4 Silver Ore		1 Shadowgem 1 Moss Agate 1 Lesser Moonstone	Low- to mid-level zones
Iron Deposit	125	150	175	225	2-4 Iron Ore	1-6 Coarse Stone	1 Aquamarine 1 Citrine 1 Lesser Moonstone 1 Jade	Mid-level zones
Gold Vein	155	180	205	255	2-4 Gold Ore		1 Aquamarine 1 Citrine 1 Lesser Moonstone 1 Jade	Mid-level zones
Mithril Deposit	175	200	225	275	2-4 Mithril Ore	1-8 Solid Stone	1 Aquamarine 1 Citrine 1 Star Ruby 1 Black Vitriol	Mid-level zones
Truesilver Deposit	230	255	280	330	2-4 Truesilver Ore		1 Aquamarine 1 Citrine 1 Star Ruby	Mid-level zones
Small Thorium Vein	245	270	295	345	2-3 Thorium Ore 2-5 Dense Stone		1 Black Vitriol 1 Arcane Crystal 1 Large Opal 1 Star Ruby 1 Huge Emerald 1 Blue Sapphire 1 Azerothian Diamond	Mid- to high-level zones
Rich Thorium Vein	275	300	325	375	4-5 Thorium Ore 4-7 Dense Stone		1 Black Vitriol 1 Arcane Crystal 1 Large Opal 1 Star Ruby 1 Huge Emerald 1 Blue Sapphire 1 Azerothian Diamond	Mid to high-level zones

Metal	Skill Level				Materials
	Orange	Yellow	Green	Gray
Copper Bar	1	25	47	70	1 x Copper Ore
Tin Bar	65	65	70	75	1 x Tin Ore
2 x Bronze Bar	65	65	90	115	1 x Copper Bar 1 x Tin Bar
Silver Bar	75	115	122	130	1 x Silver Ore
Iron Bar	125	130	145	160	1 x Iron Ore
Gold Bar	155	170	177	185	1 x Gold Ore
Steel Bar	165	165	165	165	1 x Iron Bar 1 x Coal
Mithril Bar	175	175	202	230	1 x Mithril Ore
Truesilver Bar	230	250	270	290	1 x Truesilver Ore
Thorium Bar	230	250	270	290	1 x Thorium Ore

Here you will be looking to farm some Fel Iron Ore in Hellfire Peninsula. Run along the mountain edges looking for any veins you can find on your minimap.

For these next 25 skill-ups you will head into Zangarmarsh and search along the outer edges of the map. Here you will find a mixture of Fel Iron Ore and Adamantite Ore, both offering you skill-ups.

For the last few skill-ups we recommend heading into Nagrand as you will see an increased number of nodes, both rich and regular, in the area. You can also choose to stay in your current area as Mining is very simple to train in any of the zones Outland has to offer.

Vein	Skill Level				Possible Loot	Zones
	Orange	Yellow	Green	Gray
Fel Iron Deposit	300	325	350	400	2-4 Fel Iron Ore 1 Eternium Ore 1-2 Mote of Fire 1-2 Mote of Earth 1 Uncommon Quality Gem	All Outland zones
Adamantite Deposit	325	350	375	425	2-4 Adamantite Ore 1 Eternium Ore 1-6 Mote of Earth 1-2 Uncommon Quality Gem 1 Rare Quality Gem	All Outland zones except Hellfire Peninsula
Rich Adamantite Deposit	350	375	400	450	5-7 Adamantite Ore 1-3 Eternium Ore 3-8 Mote of Earth 1-4 Uncommon Quality Gem 1-2 Rare Quality Gem	All Outland zones except Hellfire Peninsula
Khorium Vein	375	400	425	475	2-4 Khorium Ore 1-3 Eternium Ore 1-4 Mote of Earth 1-2 Uncommon Quality Gem 1-2 Rare Quality Gem	All Outland zones

Metal	Skill Level				Materials
	Orange	Yellow	Green	Gray
Fel Iron Bar	300	300	300	325	2 x Fel Iron Ore
Adamantite Bar	325	325	332	340	2 x Adamantite Ore
Eternium Bar	350	350	357	365	2 x Eternium Ore
Felsteel Bar	350	350	357	375	3 x Fel Iron Bar 2 x Eternium Bar
Hardened Adamantite Bar	375	375	375	375	10 x Adamantite Bar
Khorium Bar	375	375	375	375	2 x Khorium Ore

Be sure to head to a Grand Master Mining trainer in Northrend as shown above to unlock Grand Master Mining, allowing you to max out your Mining at 450 skill level.

Borean Tundra is a decent zone for mining as it has level ground, letting you travel the area quickly. It also has plenty of caves which almost always have at least one ore deposit inside. If the area is highly contested, try heading to Grizzly Hills once you reach 375 Mining Skill.

Sholazar Basin is one of the best zones in the game for mining ore as it has a massive amount of veins to mine. Use this zone to finish off your Mining skill in a short time. If the zone is highly contested, try Icecrown instead.

Vein	Skill Level				Possible Loot	Zones
	Orange	Yellow	Green	Gray
Cobalt Deposit	350	375	400	450	2-4 Cobalt Ore 1-2 Crystallized Earth (30%) 1-2 Crystallized Water (30%) Uncommon Quality Gem (0.5%) Rare Quality Gem (0.2%)	Borean Tundra Howling Fjord Dragonblight Zul'Drak Grizzly Hills
Rich Cobalt Deposit	375	400	425	475	4-8 Cobalt Ore 1-2 Crystallized Earth (30%) 1-2 Crystallized Water (30%) Uncommon Quality Gem (1.5%) Rare Quality Gem (0.8%)	Borean Tundra Howling Fjord Grizzly Hills Dragonblight Zul'Drak
Saronite Deposit	400	425	450	500	2-4 Saronite Ore 1-2 Crystallized Earth (40%) 1-2 Crystallized Shadow (40%) Uncommon Quality Gem (0.6%) Rare Quality Gem (0.2%)	Icecrown Sholazar Basin The Storm Peaks Wintergrasp Zul'Drak
Rich Saronite Deposit	425	450	475	525	5-7 Saronite Ore 1-8 Crystallized Earth (40%) 1-8 Crystallized Shadow (40%) Uncommon Quality Gem (8%) Rare Quality Gem (0.8%)	Icecrown Sholazar Basin The Storm Peaks Wintergrasp
Titanium Vein	450	475	500	550	5-7 Titanium Ore 3-6 Crystallized Air (50%) 3-6 Crystallized Earth (50%) 3-6 Crystallized Fire (50%) 3-6 Crystallized Water (50%) Uncommon Quality Gem (8%) Rare Quality Gem (1.5%)	Icecrown Sholazar Basin The Storm Peaks Wintergrasp

Metal	Skill Level				Materials
	Orange	Yellow	Green	Gray
Cobalt Bar	350	350	362	375	1 x Cobalt Ore
Saronite Bar	400	400	400	400	2 x Saronite Ore
Titanium Bar	450	450	450	450	2 x Titanium Ore
Titansteel Bar	450	450	450	450	3 x Titanium Bar 1 x Eternal Earth 1 x Eternal Fire 1 x Eternal Shadow 20-Hour Cooldown

Below you will find some of the most commonly used ore in Wrath of the Lich King. These ores will be constantly in-demand as they are needed to make end-game consumables for raiding content.

• Titanium Ore — Constantly needed for end-game crafts and enchants.
• Saronite Ore — Needed in bulk for many professions and end-game gear crafts.

Mining provides you with a unique buff Toughness, increasing your Stamina based on your Mining skill level.

Buff	Skill Required	Details
Toughness (Rank 1)	75	Increases Stamina by 3.
Toughness (Rank 2)	150	Increases Stamina by 5.
Toughness (Rank 3)	225	Increases Stamina by 7.
Toughness (Rank 4)	300	Increases Stamina by 10.
Toughness (Rank 5)	375	Increases Stamina by 30.
Toughness (Rank 6)	450	Increases Stamina by 60.

Mining is just one of the many professions you may choose to level in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. To learn more about the other options available, we recommend checking out our overviews of all professions and their unique bonuses below.