WoW Mining Guide - Maps

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To get started let me give you a list of what skill levels you will need to mine each type of ore.

• Ore Required Skill
• Copper 1
• Tin 65
• Silver 75
• Bronze (not mined) 75
• Iron 125
• Gold 155
• Steel (not mined) 165
• Mithril 175
• Truesilver 230
• Dark Iron 230
• Small Thorium Veins and Deposits 250
• Rich Thorium Deposits 275

To start out with mining there's obviously going to be a difference in the beginning for Alliance and Horde because each faction starts in different areas until after a certain level when they freely roam through the same zones. I could explain the preferred routes to you but I think by drawing them you will have a better understanding. Don't forget to go back to the trainer at the appropriate times so that you can advance your skill to each new maximum.

Mining 1 to 65 - Copper

Horde

Undead - The undead path is fairly simple. You can pick a starting point anywhere on the line and just run the path. If you are low level you may want to take into consideration areas on the map that might be too high for you to cross, if that is the case then just skip them and meet up with the path further down.

Tauren - Mulgore is just a big oval so this route is really simple to run. Mob levels and aggro are not that important of a factor since you'll be sticking to the outer edges of the map you should be fine. You may want to skip going into the Venture Co Mine if you are too low of a level.

Orc & Troll - This route is shorter than the others above, but just as efficient. Durotar is full of mountains and you could probably develop your own route if this one doesn't work for you. I like to keep the routes nice and simple. Durotar is a deformed piece of land and you would have to run all over the place to utilize a full circuit of it.

Alliance

Human - This mining path is kind of obvious since Elwynn forest isn't surrounded by mountains on all 4 sides. Remember that when you get to the south river border and head northwest to Goldshire that there are two mines on the way back to town.

Night Elves - Darnassus is pretty ghetto so you have to come to Darkshore to do your mining. Darkshore is a huge zone so to ease the pain there are two routes you can alternate between which are both highlighted.

Dwarves and Gnomes - I pretty much just randomly picked a mining route that I've used before. You can literally make your own route in this zone because it is so mountainous. Just stick to the mountain edges, caves, and rises in land and you'll be set to mine in this zone.

Mining 65-125 - Tin and Silver

Horde and Alliance

You can do these mining routes as horde or alliance PVP server or not. To run to the southern regions of barrens be sure you are capable of fighting level 25 mobs effectively otherwise you may want to consider halving this route through the lower level areas.

Same thing as the above paragraph, areas like High Perch are higher level and you want to be able to ensure that you can effectively get to the veins in these areas. Any place on the routes that show an obvious indicator like a "V" mark, are showing that you should also head into a cave in that area for additional veins.

In addition to these mining routes above you could also perform full circuits of Wetlands, Ashenvale, and Redridge mountains.

Mining 126-175 - Iron and Gold

Horde and Alliance

Don't forget to go back to the mining trainer so that you can continue to skill up. This is an easy route to follow; both Horde and Alliance should have no problems doing this route. Ensure you are wary of Shadowprey Village if you are Alliance and the same goes for the Horde with Nijels Point.

This mining route can suck without a mount, most do at this level. I don't recommend going east of this route because all of the whelps will just become annoying in the eastern region. Ensure you hit the cave/rock elemental area northeast of Kargath and the cave at Camp Cagg.

Horde can go around behind Hammerfall on this route, ensure that you check the caves to the east of Hammerfall, there are some gem veins in the cave that could provide skill-ups in addition to iron and gold.

You could also do the Thousand Needles route in the previous section but go into the Shimmering Flights and do a full circuit as well.

Mining 176-250 - Mithril and Truesilver

Horde and Alliance

Don't forget to go back to the mining trainer at 225 so you can advance your skill. I've personally never done this route but I hear it is good. I spent most of my time in Tanaris when I leveled mining to 300.

This is a nice short mining loop. You could grind on mobs on the way to mines and level up pretty quick as well. If you are a skinner you could really make out when you hit the eastern shores, there are quit a few turtles there.

This is where I spent most of my time riding around in circles to level up mining. I always equipped my enchanted riding gloves, my mithril spur boots, and my carrot to increase mount speed because this is a long run. Also, if you drop down into some of the cave areas around the Noxious Lair you'll find the leveling is good there too; it's a lot less competitive and you are almost guaranteed to have it all to yourself.

You could also try places like the Hinterlands and Blasted Lands.

Mining 251-300 - Thorium

Horde and Alliance

Ungoro Crater, one of the most highly competitive zones known to the game. Good luck here! Don't forget to drop down in the Slithering Scar.

This zone has added benefit. You can gain skill-ups off Dark Iron Ore in addition to finding Thorium Veins.

This is the easiest route to follow since most people enter by flying into Light's Hopes Chapel. If you came in from the west on a mount you could form another circular pattern from the river to Fungale Vale and then south to the mountains, follow them west to the river and then north again.

I would use this route if the other ones are taken. Thorium is very competitive so you have to be creative with your routes and look where most people don't spend the time going. Routes that are away from flight paths or hard to get to could be quite beneficial to you.

Mining 300-325 - Fel Iron

Horde and Alliance

The easiest route to farm some Fel Iron is to stay in Hellfire Peninsula. Is looping around the Orcs near the citadel but if you follow the entire route around the map it will also be beneficial. Watch out for the elite area in the northwest area and there are some other crowded areas like the Pools of Agonnar that can be a headache.

Fel Iron can also be found in the souther portion of Zangarmarsh, I would stick to this simple route if you don't have any luck in Hellfire Peninsula.

Mining 325-350 - Adamantite

Horde and Alliance

From 325-350 continue mining Fel Iron when possible but begin to look for the non-rich adamantite veins which become available for mining at skill 325. The best zone is Nagrand where almost anywhere you look in the zone you can find adamantite veins. Start by performing a full-circuit as shown below and then move into the inner water areas if those are camped or you prefer a change.

Mining 350-375 Rich Adamantite / Khorium

I recommend following the same paths in Nagrand until you reach skill 365 then you can switch to Khorium to finish off from 365-375. Khorium can be found in Nagrand or other zones as can all of the new ores, but some optional routes are shown below in Blade's Edge Mountains.

Thank you for reading this guide, please remember that all of the mining ores from the Burning Crusade can be found in almost all of the new Burning Crusade zones so if you find one of the routes above doesn't work for you then try to follow mountain ridges, run through caves, and explore wetland areas to find and create your own unique mining routes.