WoW Mining Guide 1-525

This guide (updated for patch 4.3) is intended to be used by people who are power leveling their mining using a high level character who has an array of flight paths, mounts, and is high enough level to easily access all of these zones without too much difficulty.

Physically mining nodes is not the only option to power level your mining. For some steps it may be feasible to buy ore off the auction house and smelt it. You can get your mining from 1 to 340 from smelting without ever touching a mine but it will be very expensive because some of the ores are rare, if you wish to skip these first steps and power level your mining to 340 from smelting see the Smelting 1-525 section at the bottom of this guide (you can actually reach 525 by mining for 60 skill ups only). If you’d like to smelt but don’t have the money check out this Gold Guide for gold making ideas.

Mining Copper

Skill: 1-65

The first resource you will be mining while power leveling your mining is Copper. If you have money you can just skip this step and buy Copper Ore and smelt it into Copper Bars, but if for some reason you would like to use mining instead of smelting to level your skill for this part, I recommend the following zones and routes.

There are also more routes are available in the Horde Copper Mining Guide and Alliance Copper Mining Guide.

Mining Tin

Skill: 66-125

At skill level 75 you will be able to mine Silver which you will find frequently while mining Tin. This will help you get your skill to 125. If you have the money, smelting Bronze Bars or Silver Bars from buying ore in the auction house will also help you speed up this step. If you don’t have much gold to buy mats then take a look at these gold making tips. The best Tin Mining Routes are available below.

There are also more routes are available from the Tin Mining Guide.

Mining Iron

Skill: 126-175

At skill level 155 you will also be able to mine and smelt Gold which can help you get to 175 faster. I recommend buying 20 Gold Ore off the auction house when you hit skill 155 to smelt 20 Gold Bars and use those skill ups to make the process faster (make sure you trained smelt gold from the Alliance Mining Trainer or Horde Mining Trainer).

There are more Iron routes are available from the Iron Mining Guide.

Mining Mithril

Skill: 176-230

The best Mithril mining routes are found below. Also, consider simply skipping to the smelting section of the guide to save time. If you need gold to buy the mats look at this Gold Guide.

More Mithril routes are available from the Mithril Mining Guide.

You also might find this Truesilver Mining Guide useful.

Mining Thorium

Skill: 231-275

You will NOT be able to mine Rich Thorium Veins until skill 255 so try to focus on mining Small Thorium Veins until then. Also, I personally have mined Thorium until I hit skill level 340 so if you are not quite high enough to enter Outland safely you can stay on Thorium until 340. Below are the best Small Thorium Mining Routes.

Additionally you may find the Dark Iron Mining Guide of some help.

More Thorium mining routes are available from the Thorium Mining Guide.

Mining Fel Iron

Skill: 276-325

I want to point out that you can level your mining to 375 just by mining Fel Iron but it may take a little bit longer. I did it without leaving Hellfire Peninsula. It slows down after the mines turn green at 350, but it is possible. Below is the best Fel Iron Mining Route (yes you only need one). Also, don’t forget that you can smelt for this section until 340, check out this Gold Guide if you need gold to buy the mats.

More Fel Iron mining routes are available from the Fel Iron Mining Guide.

Mining Adamantite

Skill: 325-375

At 350 you are able to mine both Rich Adamantite Deposits and Adamantite Deposits so you should have no trouble going to 375 swiftly if you follow these routes. As an alternative to mining Adamantite at all you can also skip right ahead to mining Cobalt for these levels.

If you have a flying mount do not use the two areas above but instead try these.

More Adamantite mining routes are available from the Adamantite Mining Guide.

Mining Cobalt

Skill: 351-400

In Zul’Drak you might find Rich Cobalt nodes but they aren’t mine-able until 375. Keep in mind that Zul’Drak is a higher level zone (mid 70′s) and if you are a lower level you might want to try Howling Fjord instead. Also, if you have money you might want to consider buying Cobalt Ore off of the auction house and smelting until you reach 375. If you don’t have the gold to buy the supplies use these gold making tips to help you get all the gold you need.

More Cobalt mining routes are available from the Cobalt Mining Guide.

Mining Saronite

Skill: 401-450

Icecrown has been by far the most rewarding zone for Saronite and Titanium but Scholazar is by far the most fun because there various different options in the route and varying landscapes that you can tour on your mount. Scholazar is usually crowded and highly competitive due to it being a lower level zone but may actually have more node spawns than Icecrown.

More Saronite mining routes are available from the Saronite Mining Guide.

Mining Obsidium

Skill: 450-475

While I have you starting here at 450, you can be 425 and begin farming Obsidium. I’ve chosen Mount Hyjal for this section because it doesn’t involve underwater swimming like other zones do.

Mining Elementium

Skill: 475-525

You’ll need to have a mining skill level of 475 to begin mining for Elementium. I’ve chosen Deepholm and Twilight Highlands for this section of the guide because they have the highest density of ore, although you can farm it in Uldum too. If you see mines, be sure to enter them.

More Elementium mining routes are available from the Elementium Mining Guide.

Smelting your Mining from 1-525 Guide

(you will have to mine 2 times in this guide)

You can smelt from 1-525 and only have to mine two times in the guide. This can make leveling up your mining really easy but if you don’t have the gold to buy supplies you will be out of luck. Take a look at these gold making tips so that you can simply buy mats and smelt your way up.

Smelting Copper

Skills: 1-65

Buy enough Copper Ore from the auction house to reach skill 65 in mining. You will need at least 65 Copper Ore. Try starting off by buying 100 Copper Ore and see where you end up. I used 165 ore one time leveling up and 131 another time, so it varies.

Smelting Tin

Skills: 65-75

I made 22 Tin Bars to get to skill level 75. You’ll need Tin Bars to smelt your Bronze Bars. If you don’t want to smelt Tin at all then just buy the bars from the Auction House, and begin smelting Bronze right away.

Smelting Bronze

Skills: 75-115

If you have a lot of cash just skip this section and move to smelting Silver Ore, it will go faster, or just smelt Bronze until it turns green at 90. If you decide to level up all the way from yellow to gray plan on smelting for a while. I did it to test it out and it took me 227 smelts just to reach 115.

Smelting Silver

Skills: 115-125

Silver can be a bit more expensive to make than Bronze Bars but if you make Silver Bars you’ll level up with less smelting attempts. I made 15 Silver Bars to get to 125.

Smelting Iron

Skills: 125-155

It took me 59 smelts to get from 125-155.

Smelting Gold

Skills: 155-175

It took me 22 smelts to get to 175.

Smelting Steel

Skills: None! It’s gray.

Smelting Mithril

Skills: 175-230

It took me 217 smelts to reach 230.

Smelting Truesilver

You can optionally use this to level instead of Thorium.

Smelting Thorium

Skills: 230-275

Smelting Fel Iron

Skills: 275-325

Smelting Adamantite

Skills: 325-340

It took me 77 smelts to get to 340.

You’ll have to mine from 340-350 since you can’t smelt the next level ores until 350.

Smelting Cobalt

Skills: 350-375

This is likely the easiest way to finish off to 375; however, you can level up using Eternium and Felsteel to 375. If you choose to level up using these two ores I have listed the path you would take below this section.

Smelting Eternium

Skills: 350-365

It took me 45 smelts to get from 350-365.

Smelting Felsteel

Skills: 365-375

You’ll have to mine from 375-425 since you can’t smelt the next level ores until 425.

Smelting Hardened Adamantite

Smelting Khorium

Smelting Saronite

Smelting Obsidium

Skills: 425-475

You can level with Obsidium from 425-475.

Smelting Titanium

Smelting Elementium

Skills: 475-500

You can level with Elementium from 475-500.

Smelting Hardened Elementium

Skills: 500-525

You can level with Hardened Elementium from 500-525.

Smelting Pyrite

If you have any suggestions for this guide please email me at: silv3rvip@hotmail.com