How to get Cadmium in No Man’s Sky

There are many different materials scattered throughout the vast galaxy of No Man’s Sky, used to craft upgrades for your gear and starships. One of these is Cadmium, a rare mineral players use to craft lategame upgrades. It can also be purified into Chromatic Metal.

Here’s everything you need to know about collecting and using Cadmium in No Man’s Sky.

How to Find Cadmium in NMS

To find and farm Cadmium in NMS, you must first find a planet with Cadmium as one of its main resources. Cadmium only spawns on planets orbiting Red Stars. To warp to these Red Systems, you must own the Cadmium Drive. When flying, move your cursor over a planet and press the C key on PC, or LS on a controller, to conduct a scan of the planet. This reveals key details about the world, including if Cadmium is present.

1. Once you have found a planet with Cadmium, fly down and land wherever you want.
2. Open up your analysis visor by holding the F key, or LT on consoles, and look around for Cadmium deposits. Travel to the location of the nearest Cadmium deposit.
   • Mineral deposits are marked as a white and blue diamond in the analysis visor.
3. Take out your Terrain Manipulator and mine out the entire deposit. To use the Terrain Manipulator, make sure it’s set to the “Mine” setting, and hold left-click on your mouse or RT on your controller.
   • Any materials you collect with the Terrain Manipulator are automatically added to your Exosuit for crafting.

All Cadmium recipes in NMS

Unlike other ores found throughout the galaxy, Cadmium has niche uses. Most likely, you’ll farm Cadmium to create the Emeril-tier hyperdrive upgrades for starships and freighters, allowing you to travel to Green or Red star systems. Here are all of the recipes that require Cadmium in NMS, and how you can unlock them: