PROFESSIONS · 1 TO 300 GUIDE
Mining
Gathering · Updated October 30, 2026
You mine ore and stone from veins and smelt it into bars. Smelting gives skill too, so you level by mining and smelting. Forever adds new ores and bars, and veins respawn faster when players are around. For blacksmiths, engineers and anyone after gold.
What to pair it with: Blacksmithing or Engineering (the PvP pick).
What changes in Forever
- Every starting zone has a junior trainer who teaches up to 75 (no smelting) and Poor Copper Veins you can mine from level 1. Teldrassil has Chunks of Amber. The small ones only give points up to 20.
- Starter manual: an early quest lets you choose Mining for Dummies, which teaches Mining and gives +2 skill.
- Veins respawn faster the more players are nearby. Ore now stacks to 20 (it was 10).
- New bonus ores: Pyrite (from Copper, Tin and Iron), Bauxite (from Mithril) and Pitchblende (from Thorium). Plus Heavy Thorium Ore from its own veins in Mount Hyjal's Scourge area.
- New bars: Azerothium Bar (275; 2 Pitchblende and 1 Coal at a forge) and Heavy Thorium Bar (300; at a Molten Foundry). Both come from the trainer.
- Camp: Lodestone (20, attack power, doesn't stack with Blessing of Might), Rock Garden (140, spawns a common vein now and then; Relic Guardians at the Wetlands Excavation Site drop the blueprint) and Molten Foundry (300).
- Smelting is easier: Create and Create All buttons, a filter and a search box.
- Rockslicer: Rhahk'Zor drops it in The Deadmines. It has 30 uses and lets you mine Copper, Tin, Silver and Iron without the profession.
From 1 to 300, step by step
| 1-65 | Copper Vein (1) y Smelt Copper 120-140 Copper Ore Your starting zone: the Durotar cave (5 veins), Mulgore, Tirisfal, Elwynn, Dun Morogh, Teldrassil or Zephras Isle. Smelt in Razor Hill, Brill, Goldshire, Kharanos or Shen'dar Village. Keep about 70 Copper Bars for bronze. Buy the Mining Pick from the trainer or the mining supplier. |
|---|---|
| 65-125 | Tin Vein (65), Silver Vein (75), Copper; Smelt Tin y Smelt Bronze character level 10-25 Alliance: Wetlands (best), Westfall, Loch Modan. Horde: Silverpine Forest, The Barrens, Stonetalon Mountains. Both: Hillsbrad Foothills and Ashenvale. Journeyman at 50 skill and level 10 (not from a junior). Smelting: 70 Tin Bars (grey at 75), then 70 Bronze Bars to 105; Smelt Silver gives points up to 120. |
| 125-175 | Iron Deposit (125), Gold Vein (155), Silver; Smelt Iron y Smelt Gold character level 25-35 Thousand Needles if you're level 30 or below; higher or mounted, Arathi Highlands. Also Desolace, Alterac Mountains and Stranglethorn Vale. Expert at 125 and level 20. Smelt Gold is learned at 155 and gives a point every time until 170: about 22 Gold Ore take you from 155 to 175. With +5 Mining you can mine Iron from 120. |
| 175-245 | Mithril Deposit (175), Truesilver Deposit (230); Smelt Mithril character level 40-50 The Hinterlands and Tanaris (below 60, skip its four caves). Also Badlands, Searing Gorge and Feralas. Artisan at 200 and level 35: you need it to go past 225. From 230 to 245 the Dark Iron Deposits in Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes work too. Riverglades (35-45) fits by level, but its veins aren't known yet. |
| 245-275 | Small Thorium Vein (245), Mithril, Truesilver character level 50-55 Un'Goro Crater, Blasted Lands (Alliance can't mine in the Garrison Armory) and Felwood (mainly the Jaedenar cave). Keep your Thorium: the Pitchblende it drops is for Azerothium. |
| 275-300 | Rich Thorium Vein (275), Small Thorium; Smelt Azerothium character level 55-60 Un'Goro Crater, Eastern Plaguelands, Winterspring, Burning Steppes and Silithus. Smelting Azerothium Bars from 275 also gives points. At 300: Heavy Thorium on Mount Hyjal, the Molten Foundry and the account title. |
Trainers
- Ranks: Apprentice 1-75 (level 1), Journeyman 50-150 (level 10), Expert 125-225 (level 20), Artisan 200-300 (level 35). Junior trainers in starting zones only go to 75, with no smelting.
- Horde: Makaru (Orgrimmar), Brom Killian (Undercity), Brek Stonehoof (Thunder Bluff), Krunn (Razor Hill).
- Alliance: Gelman Stonehand (Stormwind), Geofram Bouldertoe (Ironforge), Yarr Hammerstone (Dun Morogh). Darnassus has none: the closest is Kurdram Stonehammer in Auberdine.
- Skyborne (Zephras Isle): the quest Harvesting Windstones, choosing Mining for Dummies. Then Halavuul Cragwind (Valanaar) or Messana Crestwind (Shen'dar Village).
What is worth the most
- Thorium and Arcane Crystal (a rare find in Thorium veins): every crafting profession wants them at 60.
- Iron and Mithril: engineers burn through them (bombs, grenades, PvP gadgets).
- Gems from veins and the new ores (Pyrite, Bauxite, Pitchblende): new Forever recipes use them.
Tips
- Smelt every time you pass a forge: you gain skill and save bag space.
- In Forever veins come back fast: go into caves overleveled so you're not fighting nonstop.
- Find Minerals turns off when you die and can't run with Find Herbs.
- Bonuses: Enchant Gloves - Mining (+2), Enchant Gloves - Advanced Mining (+5), Miner's Cape (+2, from Miner Johnson in The Deadmines) and Goblin Mining Helmet (+5).
- Get the Rock Garden (140) early: it gives you ore without leaving camp.
What we don't know yet
- Which veins are in Riverglades (35-45).
- Everything from 125 up is the classic route: the beta stopped at level 30, so Arathi and Desolace weren't fully tested.
- What skill Pyrite, Bauxite and Pitchblende need, and where the Molten Foundry blueprint comes from.
- There's talk of mining some dead creatures, but no clear data yet.
This guide is updated every time Blizzard publishes changes. Whatever is still missing goes in as soon as it is known, and the date at the top tells you when we last touched it.
Sources: Warcraft Tavern: Mining en Forever · wow-professions: Mining 1-300 en Forever · wow-professions: cambios de Mining · Zockify: profesiones en Forever.