Iron and Copper are useful early metals for crafting equipment, benches, and structures.
PC / Steam / current live version; Olympus, Styx and Prometheus maps
WHERE & HOW TO FARM
Where to farm
Caves on Olympus, Styx, Prometheus, and Elysium; use map and biome information to target the specific ore.
Use caves as a shared route for these common metals, then refine the ore at your base. Iron is found on Olympus and Styx across their biomes, and in named cave biomes on Prometheus and Elysium. Copper is also gathered from caves across those maps. Because the two ores do not have identical map patterns, check the destination before planning a combined trip.
Olympus cave entrances in grid A5-H8 (forest valleys). Use the letter-number grid to find nearby rock faces; inspect each cave for its current ore veins.
Olympus cave entrances in grid A9-H12 (southern desert and snow biomes). Use the letter-number grid to find nearby rock faces; inspect each cave for its current ore veins.
GET STARTED
How to farm
Before you go
Pickaxe suitable for mining ore.
Basic cave combat supplies and a light source.
Smelting setup and space to carry the refined or raw material.
Identify whether your immediate crafting need is Iron, Copper, or both.
Choose a map and cave region where the target ore is available; account for Prometheus and Elysium cave-biome limits for Iron.
Find a cave entrance in rocky terrain and prepare for cave creatures.
Inspect the cave walls for the target veins and mine them with your pickaxe.
Return to your base while you still have room for the haul.
Smelt the ore into ingots and use them in the bench, tool, or structure recipe you planned.
Farming tips
Plan around the next recipe so you do not haul ore you cannot yet use or refine.
When gathering both metals, confirm that the selected cave region supports each target instead of assuming their distributions match.
Repeat, collect and use
Repeat on future cave trips whenever a new crafting tier or recipe calls for more ore. Deposit availability depends on map and region.
Common mistakes
Treating Iron and Copper as having identical distributions; verify each target for the chosen map and biome.
Leaving without smelting capacity or storage planned; make room at base before bringing back a large load.
Taking an unfocused trip; choose the metal needed for a specific recipe and prioritize its veins.
When to stop or switch
Stop once you have enough ore for the planned recipes and a small reserve, or when the remaining trip would strain your supplies.
