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WoW Wrath of the Lich King Classic Mining leveling guide

Breeze through levels.

Mining is a profession as old as World of Warcraft itself that teaches you how to mine the finest ores and gems across Azeroth. Commonly paired with Blacksmithing or Engineering, it’s the best profession for competitive PvPers and melee classes like Warriors, Paladins, and Death Knights since you can craft best-in-slot gear that stays relevant even for several patches. On top of that, Mining, whether you’ll be selling rare pearls or raw ore, is a steady source of income over the course of expansion. 

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Since Mining has been a constant source of gold during the expansions, ore is typically highly contested, making leveling Mining an exhausting task. If you start leveling Mining armed with the knowledge of optimal routes, the best mining spots, and ore level requirements, you can breeze through levels and start bringing in the gold soon.

So, to help you get started with Mining, avoid the highly contested ore, and make a living as we prepare to defeat the Lich King, here’s a guide that tackles the basics of leveling Mining in Wrath of the Lich King Classic.

Learning Mining

To learn the Dwarven skill of Mining, you’ll need to visit a capital city and talk to an Apprentice-Artisan. Horde Apprentice-Artisans can be found in Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, Undercity, Silverpine Forest, Durotar, Tanaris, and Silvermoon City. On the other hand, Alliance can find the Mining trainers in Stormwind, Ironforge, Darkshore, Duskwood, Tanaris, and Exodar. To become Master Miner, you’ll need to pay a visit to a trainer in Hellfire Penninsula or Shattrath City. And lastly, to become Grandmaster Miner, train with a Mining trainer in Borean Tundra, Howling Fjord, or Dalaran. 

Getting started with Mining

Now you know the basics of Mining, your next steps should be focused on buying the essentials to start leveling Mining. The only item you’ll ever need as a dedicated Miner is a Mining Pick that can be bought from any Mining vendor near the trainers. There are, in fact, some picks that grant you +5 Mining, but they are optional. You should always have your Mining Pick in the inventory and equip it once you start leveling your Mining. Leaving your Mining Pick in the bank is out of the question since you won’t be able to mine. The next step you need to take, and this shouldn’t be skipped, is to turn on the Find Minerals buff so that you can easily see ores on your minimap. 

Here’s the list of essential materials and ores used to level Mining:

Amount Item
OneMining Pick

MaterialLocation
Copper oreCopper Veins located in Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh, Mulgore, Durotar, and the Barrens
Tin oreTin Veins located in Ashenvale, Redridge Mountains, Wetlands, Loch Modan, Hillsbrad Foothills, Duskwood, Thousand Needles, the Barrens, Stonetalon Mountains, Desolace, Silverpine Forest 
Silver oreSilver Veins located in Arathi Highlands, the Barrens, Thousand Needles, Hillsbrad Foothills, Stranglethorn Vale, Badlands, Stonetalon Mountains
Iron oreIron Veins located in Arathi Highlands, Desolace, Stranglethorn Vale, Thousand Needles, Alterac Mountains, Badlands, Ashenvale, Swamp of Sorrow, Dustwallow Marsh
Mithril oreMithril Veins located in the Hinterlands, Tanaris, Azshara, Desolace, Badlands, Searing Gorge, Stranglethorn Vale, Feralas, Arathi Highlands, Burning Steppes
Truesilver oreTruesilver Veins located in Winterspring, Burning Steppes, Eastern Plaguelands, the Hinterlands, Un’Goro Crater, Azshara, Tanaris, Western Plaguelands, Badlands
Thorium oreThorium Veins located in Winterspring, Eastern Plaguelands, Azshara, Burning Steppes, Un’Goro Crater, Western Plaguelands
Khorium oreKhorium Veins located in Nagrand, Shadowmoon Valley, Terokkar Forest, Blade’s Edge Mountains
Nethercite oreNethercite Veins located in Shadowmoon Valley
Adamantite oreAdamantite Veins located in Nagrand, Blade’s Edge Mountains, Netherstorm, Shadowmoon Valley, Terokkar Forest, Zangarmarsh
Cobalt oreBorean Tundra, Howling Fjord, Dragonblight, Zul’Drak, and Grizzly Hills 
Saronite oreThe Storm Peaks, Wintergrasp, Sholazar Basin, and Icecrown 
Titanium oreWintergrasp, The Storm Peaks, Icecrown, and Sholazar Basin

Leveling Mining

Mining is a profession that gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to leveling since you have three main methods of leveling—smelting, mining, and combining mining and smelting. Since mining and smelting is a rather casual and time-consuming method of leveling Mining, we’ll strictly focus on the mining-only and smelting-only approaches. 

Smelting-only

The smelting-only method is the most expensive method for level mining. Still, it’s the fastest method to max out your mining skills. 

MaterialAmountLevels
Copper bar140One to 65
Tin bar8065 to 75
Bronze bar8075 to 105
Silver bar40105 to 125
Iron bar70125 to 155
Gold bar30155 to 175
Mithril bar280175 to 230
Thorium bar95230 to 275
Fel Iron bar500275 to 325
Adamantite bar180325 to 340
Khorium bar20340 to 350
Cobalt bar100350 to 380
Saronite bar100380 to 420
Titanium bar150420 to 450

Mining-only

Before you start your mining-only adventures, bear in mind that this approach, although inexpensive, is rather time-consuming. This means you will spend hours and hours circling a zone in search of nodes. A general rule of thumb is to stick to the outer edges of the zones since they usually contain the most nodes.

Classic era

  • One to 65 mine Copper ore
  • Learn the next level of Mining
  • 65 to 125 mine Tin and Silver ore
  • Learn the next level of Mining
  • 125 to 175 mine Iron and Gold ore
  • Learn the next level of Mining
  • 175 to 250 mine Mithril and Truesilver ore
  • 250 to 300 mine Thorium ore

TBC era

  • Learn the next level of Mining
  • 300 to 325 mine Fel Iron ore
  • 325 to 375 mine Adamantite ore
  • 375 to 380 mine Khorium ore

WOTLK era

  • Learn the next level of Mining
  • 380 to 400 mine Cobalt ore
  • 400 to 435 mine Saronite ore
  • 435 to 450 mine Titanium ore

Bonus tips

  • The classes which level mining the fastest are Druids and Shamans
  • Don’t start leveling Mining before you have flying in Outland and Northrend
  • Solve quests that give you Mining Picks with bonus Mining skills
  • Smelt only ores that you need for your secondary profession since ores sell for more money than bars
  • The professions that pair the best with Mining are Engineering, Blacksmithing, and Jewelcrafting
  • Eastern Kingdoms has more nodes than Kalimdor
  • Don’t vendor gems and pearls that drop from nodes, but place them on the auction house 

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Author
Image of Izabela Tomakic
Izabela Tomakic
Staff Writer & World of Warcraft lead. Izabela has a long history with writing and games like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Fortnite, and The Sims. Before finding her home at Dot Esports in 2021, Izabela was an English teacher and a freelancer at Hotspawn, GGRecon, and Gameranx. In her free time, you’ll find her writing novels, wandering Azeroth, or inting on Summoner’s Rift.