Mining is a gathering profession and thus doesn’t have great bonuses. Max-level miners only get Toughness – +60 stamina. This isn’t an awful bonus for tanks, but every other role will find it pointless. On the upside, mining can be an amazing money-maker. Three other professions (blacksmithing, engineering, jewelcrafting) require ore. And engineering and jewelcrafting are minmax professions. That means ore prices will probably be high. Also, miners are able to smelt
Titansteel Bars once every 20 hours, which are needed for endgame items. If you want to make some money and love gathering, read this WotLK mining guide.
When presented with different options in this guide, choose the one which you like the most and/or will make you travel the least. Leveling mining from scratch can be annoying as it is, so you need to help yourself in any way you can. Darnassus isn’t included in the starting zone pool because there are no veins there.
Don’t forget to buy a Mining Pick before starting!
Here’s a helpful table that shows when you can mine each vein, and when it goes yellow, green, and grey.
Mining table (veins and skill levels)
| Vein | Orange (Skill lvl) | Yellow (Skill lvl) | Green (Skill lvl) | Gray (Skill lvl) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper Vein | 1 | 25 | 50 | 100 |
| Tin Vein | 65 | 90 | 115 | 165 |
| Silver Vein | 75 | 100 | 125 | 175 |
| Iron Deposit | 125 | 150 | 175 | 225 |
| Gold Vein | 155 | 180 | 205 | 255 |
| Mithril Deposit | 175 | 200 | 225 | 275 |
| Truesilver Deposit | 230 | 255 | 280 | 330 |
| Small Thorium Vein | 245 | 270 | 295 | 345 |
| Rich Thorium Vein | 275 | 300 | 325 | 375 |
| Fel Iron Deposit | 300 | 325 | 350 | 400 |
| Adamantite Deposit | 325 | 350 | 375 | 425 |
| Rich Adamantite Deposit | 350 | 375 | 400 | 450 |
| Khorium Vein | 375 | 400 | 425 | 475 |
| Cobalt Deposit | 350 | 375 | 400 | 450 |
| Rich Cobalt Deposit | 375 | 400 | 425 | 475 |
| Saronite Deposit | 400 | 425 | 450 | 500 |
| Rich Saronite Deposit | 425 | 450 | 475 | 525 |
| Titanium Vein | 450 | 475 | 500 | 550 |
Also, you could do try and level mining by buying ore of the auction house and smelting it. However, this might prove to be an expensive and tedious endeavor. You reach green points more quickly by smelting.
Still here’s a smelting table that might help you:
Smelting table (bars and skill levels)
| Metal | Orange (Skill lvl) | Yellow (Skill lvl) | Green (Skill lvl) | Gray (Skill lvl) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper Bar | 1 | 25 | 47 | 70 |
| Tin Bar | 65 | 65 | 70 | 75 |
| Bronze Bar | 65 | 65 | 90 | 115 |
| Silver Bar | 75 | 115 | 122 | 130 |
| Iron Bar | 125 | 130 | 145 | 160 |
| Gold Bar | 155 | 170 | 177 | 185 |
| Steel Bar | 165 | 165 | 165 | 165 |
| Mithril Bar | 175 | 175 | 202 | 230 |
| Truesilver Bar | 230 | 250 | 270 | 290 |
| Thorium Bar | 250 | 250 | 270 | 290 |
| Fel Iron Bar | 300 | 300 | 300 | 325 |
| Adamantite Bar | 325 | 325 | 332 | 340 |
| Eternium Bar | 350 | 350 | 357 | 365 |
| Felsteel Bar | 350 | 350 | 357 | 375 |
| Hardened Adamantite Bar | 375 | 375 | 375 | 375 |
| Khorium Bar | 375 | 375 | 375 | 375 |
| Cobalt Bar | 350 | 350 | 362 | 375 |
| Saronite Bar | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 |
| Titanium Bar | 450 | 450 | 450 | 450 |
| Titansteel Bar | 450 | 450 | 450 | 450 |
Mining guide WoW Classic
Start by learning mining from one of these trainers:
Horde trainers
Jo’mah in Orgrimmar.
Alliance trainers
Gelman Stonehand in Stormwind City.
1 – 65
With rocks and hills everywhere, Durotar can be a bit annoying to navigate. Follow the outskirts of the mountains, and check around Sen’jin Village when you go south. Completely ignore the Valley of Trials. When you go to northeast, enter the Skull Rock cave to check it as well. 
The downside of Tirisfal Glades is that it doesn’t have the best vein density of all the starting zones, thus making mining a running around a bit tedious. The upside is that the route is really easy to follow and quite chill. Just follow the edges of the zone while ignoring the Scarlet Monastery and Deathknell parts. 
Run circles around Mulgore while ignoring the southern part of the zone. There could be some veins down there, but it should be quicker this way. Also, there are two caves - the Palemane Rock in the western part of the zone, and the Venture Co. Mine in the eastern part. Check inside those as well. 
In Eversong Woods you can do one large circle or a few smaller circles, by ignoring the eastern or western parts of the route - depending on what you enjoy more. Be sure to go up and down the Dead Scare to get the veins there. 
Dun Morogh is crazy good for mining. There are a lot of hills and caves so there’s no set mining route that is recommended to take. I circled the two routes on the map there are the most veins, but you won’t do wrong by just running randomly and going over everything. Don’t forget to check every cave you stumble upon. 
The Elwynn Forest route is a long one. There’s some argument to completely ignore the part of the zone east of the river because there are fewer veins there. However, if you are on a mount there’s no reason to not go there as well. Be sure to when doing circles around to go into both Kobold caves. 
This route has the most ‘dead space’ so don’t be alarmed if you run around and don’t encounter any veins. Do circles on the western part of the zone plus the Silvermyst Isle in the southwest. Definitely go inside the Silverpine Hold cave in the north and inside the naga Tides Hollow cave just south of the Bristlelimb Village. Don’t forget to train Journeyman mining (75 – 150) once you reach skill level 50.
The routes from now on are good regardless of your faction – just be extra careful if you’re on a PvP server.
65 – 125
Tin Ore and Silver Ore
Barrens is a huge zone. There are two TIn Ore routes you can do here - the northern and the southern. The northern one has more Copper Ore veins there. The southern one is almost exclusively Tin. Do the northern route if you still want to get more copper, or want to smelt bronze. 
The Thousand Needles route is very simple - just run circles around the zone while ignoring The Shimmering Flats. Thousand Needles has some Iron Ore veins, so it’s not worth going to Highperch and to The Shimmering Flats until you can mine those as well. That’s also the reason why it isn’t mandatory to check all the caves in the zone. 
Wetlands is arguably the best zone to farm Tin Ore in Eastern Kingdoms. The route is to follow the inner circle of the zone, going into the Whelugar’s Excavation Site, and the two caves. The entrance of Thelgen Rock is just north of the Dun Algaz exit, and the entrance of the second cave is north of the path that leads to Grim Batol. Sample Description Don’t forget to train Expert Mining (150 – 225) once you reach skill level 125.
125 – 175
You can continue the path you did before just include Highperch, The Shimmering Flats, and the caves. 
Shown here are two different routes. The red route is for iron only. The yellow route includes mithril as well. When following the red route be sure to check the cave in the south in the ogre compound, the troll cave that is east from there, the kobold cave in the northeast, and the cave west from the Refuge Pointe. 
Shown here are two different routes. The red route is for iron only. The yellow route includes mithril as well. For the best results in Badlands for iron you’ll have to circle around some mountains. If you don’t want to bother with that and just want a simple route, do a basic circle around the zone. However, ignore the Lethelor Ravine in the east. Be sure to go inside the cave behind Camp Cagg in the southwest. 175 – 250
Mithril Ore and Truesilver Ore
Follow the yellow route shown above.
Follow the yellow route shown above. 
Tanaris is another simple route with you doing circles around the zone. There are two underground caves that are somewhat annoying to navigate but you can go there as well. The first one is under the Noxious Lair in the western part and the other one is under the Gaping Chasm in the southeast. 
Do circles inside the inner zone of The Hinterlands. If you want you can go down the coast to the east, but it’s not necessary and might be a waste of time. Also, you can do a circle around Seradane in the north, and go up Jintha’Alor in the south, but those places are also not mandatory. The time you go up and down might not justify the few veins you could get. Be sure to check Skulk Rock cave. Don’t forget to train Artisan Mining (225 – 300) once you reach skill level 200.
250 – 300
This is one of the simplest and most brain-dead routes in the game. Basically do a perfect circle around the zone, check down the Slithering Scar in the south, and then to Fire Plume Ridge in the center. Because of its simplicity and abundance of veins, this is the most popular thorium farming spot. 
At first sight, Silithus might seem like another easy route that just follows the edge of the zone. What makes this route a bit more complicated are the three bug hives: Hive’Ashi is in the north, Hive’Zora in the west, and Hive’Regal in the southeast. A lot of veins can be found under these hives in convoluted caves. If you want to maximize your mining, you should go down there. Mining guide TBC
Learn Master mining (300 – 375) from one of these trainers:
Horde trainers
Alliance trainers
300 – 325
Hellfire Peninsula is a HUGE zone with many fel iron veins. The basic route is going along the edges of the zone, but you can do no wrong just by randomly running around wherever you want. In a big zone like this, a flying mount is extremely helpful, but it’s not much of a problem if you are on a ground one instead. 325 – 350
Everyone loves Nagrand - especially miners! There are a ton of veins all around the zone so it’s hard to create a simple route to follow. You can fly across the zone on your own and still find a lot of deposits, just avoid the greater area south of Garadar. Always be sure to check the caves - there are two of them northwest in Warmaul Hill, the twin clefts in the inner circle of the zone, and the one in Burning Blade Ruins in the southeast. Mining guide WotLK
Learn Grand Master mining (350 – 450) from one of these trainers:
Horde trainers
Alliance trainers
Neutral
- Dalaran: Jedidiah Handers
350 – 375
Both starter zones are good for mining cobalt, but I personally prefer Howling Fjord because it’s more beautiful and chill, which helps a lot when you have to run around mindlessly. This route is another one that follows the edges of the zone. But every time you make a circle, do a little detour and run west of Nifflevar to the area that’s north of Utgarde Keep. 375 – 400
You still need to mine cobalt ore, but now you have to move north from Howling Fjord to Zul’Drak. Zul’Drak has rich cobalt deposits which is the easiest way to get to 400. The simplest route is to run the circle in the western part of the zone. If you want, you can go and do two additional mini routes: around the Altar of Mam’Toth and south of Gundrak. 400 – 450
Scholazar Basin is my personal favorite for late-game WotLK mining. It’s lush and green and very simple to follow once you get used to it. Follow the edges of the zone, while ignoring The Avalanche area, and go around each pillar in the zone: The Glimmering Pillar, The Suntouched Pillar, The Mosslight Pillar, The Skyreach Pillar, and The Lifeblood Pillar. Also, be sure to check the River’s Heart in the middle of the zone. Thank you for reading our WotLK mining guide! That was quite a long journey, but now you are a hardened miner ready to make some money. Don’t forget to smelt Titansteel Bar whenever you don’t have a cooldown.