Common Metal Ores

Caves on Olympus, Styx, Prometheus, and Elysium; use map and biome information to target the specific ore.

SEE WHERE TO GO

Maps & farm layouts

2 maps

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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.

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 on future cave trips whenever a new crafting tier or recipe calls for more ore. Deposit availability depends on map and region.

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.

Stop once you have enough ore for the planned recipes and a small reserve, or when the remaining trip would strain your supplies.

Sources & fact checks

Open a guide to find other locations and see what the item is used for.

Cave minerals

Iron and Copper are useful early metals for crafting equipment, benches, and structures.