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.
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 |
| One | Mining Pick |
| Material | Location |
| Copper ore | Copper Veins located in Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh, Mulgore, Durotar, and the Barrens |
| Tin ore | Tin Veins located in Ashenvale, Redridge Mountains, Wetlands, Loch Modan, Hillsbrad Foothills, Duskwood, Thousand Needles, the Barrens, Stonetalon Mountains, Desolace, Silverpine Forest |
| Silver ore | Silver Veins located in Arathi Highlands, the Barrens, Thousand Needles, Hillsbrad Foothills, Stranglethorn Vale, Badlands, Stonetalon Mountains |
| Iron ore | Iron Veins located in Arathi Highlands, Desolace, Stranglethorn Vale, Thousand Needles, Alterac Mountains, Badlands, Ashenvale, Swamp of Sorrow, Dustwallow Marsh |
| Mithril ore | Mithril Veins located in the Hinterlands, Tanaris, Azshara, Desolace, Badlands, Searing Gorge, Stranglethorn Vale, Feralas, Arathi Highlands, Burning Steppes |
| Truesilver ore | Truesilver Veins located in Winterspring, Burning Steppes, Eastern Plaguelands, the Hinterlands, Un’Goro Crater, Azshara, Tanaris, Western Plaguelands, Badlands |
| Thorium ore | Thorium Veins located in Winterspring, Eastern Plaguelands, Azshara, Burning Steppes, Un’Goro Crater, Western Plaguelands |
| Khorium ore | Khorium Veins located in Nagrand, Shadowmoon Valley, Terokkar Forest, Blade’s Edge Mountains |
| Nethercite ore | Nethercite Veins located in Shadowmoon Valley |
| Adamantite ore | Adamantite Veins located in Nagrand, Blade’s Edge Mountains, Netherstorm, Shadowmoon Valley, Terokkar Forest, Zangarmarsh |
| Cobalt ore | Borean Tundra, Howling Fjord, Dragonblight, Zul’Drak, and Grizzly Hills |
| Saronite ore | The Storm Peaks, Wintergrasp, Sholazar Basin, and Icecrown |
| Titanium ore | Wintergrasp, 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.
| Material | Amount | Levels |
| Copper bar | 140 | One to 65 |
| Tin bar | 80 | 65 to 75 |
| Bronze bar | 80 | 75 to 105 |
| Silver bar | 40 | 105 to 125 |
| Iron bar | 70 | 125 to 155 |
| Gold bar | 30 | 155 to 175 |
| Mithril bar | 280 | 175 to 230 |
| Thorium bar | 95 | 230 to 275 |
| Fel Iron bar | 500 | 275 to 325 |
| Adamantite bar | 180 | 325 to 340 |
| Khorium bar | 20 | 340 to 350 |
| Cobalt bar | 100 | 350 to 380 |
| Saronite bar | 100 | 380 to 420 |
| Titanium bar | 150 | 420 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
