This WoW Forever Mining leveling guide will show you the fastest way to level Mining from 1 to 300. You will also find every trainer location and where to train Mining past 75, 150 and 225.
Below you will find the Mining trainers by starting zone and capital city, and the best zones to mine in for every skill range. Mining serves two professions, Blacksmithing and Engineering, so it's really good combined with these two. Check out my Forever Blacksmithing leveling guide or my Forever Engineering leveling guide if you want to level one of them.
WoW Forever added a couple of new ores, bars and recipes. You can check them out here:
New Ores, Bars and Camp Items in WoW Forever
Mining Trainer Locations
Every capital city except Darnassus has a Mining trainer. You can also ask a guard, then it will be marked with a red flag on your map.
Capital cities:
- Orgrimmar:
Makaru - Undercity: Brom Killian
- Thunder Bluff: Brek Stonehoof
Starting zones:
| Race | Zone | Closest trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Orc, Troll | Durotar | Norzsh in the Valley of Trials (only up to 75), Krunn in Razor Hill |
| Tauren | Mulgore | Vartha Rockmane in Camp Narache (only up to 75) |
| Undead | Tirisfal Glades | Walter Mason in Deathknell (only up to 75) |
| Skyborne | Zephras Isle | There is no trainer in Thendal Village, where you start, but you don't need one. The trainers on the island are Halavuul Cragwind in Valanaar and Messana Crestwind in Shen'dar Village. |
Capital cities:
- Stormwind City:
Gelman Stonehand - Ironforge: Geofram Bouldertoe
- Darnassus: no trainer, the closest one is Kurdram Stonehammer in Auberdine, Darkshore
Starting zones:
| Race | Zone | Closest trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Human | Elwynn Forest | Kelsey Fargo (only up to 75) |
| Dwarf, Gnome | Dun Morogh | Sally Swiftwrench (only up to 75), Yarr Hammerstone at Steelgrill's Depot, Dank Drizzlecut at Gol'Bolar Quarry |
| Night Elf | Teldrassil | Fanorran Stilloak at Aldrassil in Shadowglen (only up to 75), then Kurdram Stonehammer in Auberdine, Darkshore |
| Skyborne | Zephras Isle | There is no trainer in Thendal Village, where you start, but you don't need one. The trainers on the island are Halavuul Cragwind in Valanaar and Messana Crestwind in Shen'dar Village. |
You can find every Mining trainer for Horde and Alliance on my WoW Forever Mining Trainers page.
Track Ore on Your Minimap
You can only track one thing at a time, so you can't track minerals and herbs together.
You learn 
Find Minerals together with Mining, but it's not turned on by default:
- Open the Professions window with the hammer and pick button, the 2nd button in the menu at the bottom of your screen.
- Click Find Minerals in the Mining box. I recommend dragging it to your action bar, close to the buffs you use after you die. This way you make a habit out of it and you are less likely to forget it.
- The Find Minerals buff shows up next to your minimap.
Your tracking turns off every time you die, so don't forget to turn it back on!
Mining Skill Bonuses
You don't need these, but they help when you are stuck between two ores. With +5 you can mine Iron Deposits from 120 instead of 125, so you can skip the last few slow points of Tin.
| Item | Mining | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
 Enchant Gloves - Mining |
+2 | An enchanter |
| Enchant Gloves - Advanced Mining |
+5 | An enchanter |
 Goblin Mining Helmet |
+5 | Made by Engineers, you need Engineering 205 to wear it |
 Miner's Cape |
+2 | Drops from Miner Johnson in The Deadmines |
Smelting to 105
You can skip the first 105 skill points by buying ores on the Auction House and smelting them. If you prefer leveling Mining the normal way, scroll down to the mining routes. But I would recommend smelting if you have the gold, as it saves a lot of time. Sometimes the bars even sell for more than the ores or they are very close in price, so it's not like you are losing much by doing this.
Buy around 140 
Copper Ore and 70 
Tin Ore. Smelting is mostly yellow and green, so you might need a few more if you are unlucky.
| Skill | Notes |
|---|---|
| 1-65 | 120-140x  Smelt Copper until you reach 65. Keep 70 Copper Bars, you will need them for Bronze. |
| 65-75 | Learn Journeyman Mining, Smelt Tin and Smelt Bronze from your trainer. Make 70x |
| 75-105 | Make 70x  Smelt Bronze from the Copper Bars and Tin Bars you made. You will end up somewhere between 100 and 110, so you might need a few more. |
| 105-120 | Learn Smelt Silver from your trainer. Check the price of Silver Ore and Silver Bar first, because this part can get expensive. If you don't mind the cost, make 35-45x Iron Deposits need Mining 125, but with +5 from the Mining Skill Bonuses above you can mine them from 120, so you can skip Tin and go straight to Iron. |
Smelt Tin
Smelt Silver1-65
Don't forget to buy a 
Mining Pick from the Mining Supplier near your trainer or from the trainer!
You can buy one from these vendors:
Horde vendors
| Zone | Vendor |
|---|---|
| Durotar | Norzsh in the Valley of Trials, Flakk in Razor Hill |
| Mulgore | Vartha Rockmane in Camp Narache, Wunna Darkmane in Bloodhoof Village |
| Tirisfal Glades | Walter Mason in Deathknell, Abigail Shiel in Brill |
| Zephras Isle | Uualia Suncrest in Thendal Village, Belandiel Farflight in Shen'dar Village |
| Orgrimmar | Gorina in the Valley of Honor |
| Undercity | Elizabeth Van Talen in the Rogues' Quarter |
| Thunder Bluff | Kurm Stonehoof |
Alliance vendors
| Zone | Vendor |
|---|---|
| Elwynn Forest | Brother Danil in Northshire Valley, Tharynn Bouden in Goldshire |
| Dun Morogh | Thrawn Boltar in Kharanos |
| Teldrassil | Fanorran Stilloak at Aldrassil in Shadowglen, Narret Shadowgrove in Dolanaar |
| Zephras Isle | Uualia Suncrest in Thendal Village, Belandiel Farflight in Shen'dar Village |
| Stormwind City | Brooke Stonebraid in the Dwarven District |
| Ironforge | Thurgrum Deepforge in The Great Forge |
| Darnassus | Mythrin'dir |
Like I said above, for most high level players I think it's best to skip this part and smelt your way up to at least 105. But if you prefer mining and you can choose your zone, I think Durotar is the best for Horde and Elwynn Forest for Alliance.
One or two laps around the zone will get you enough Copper Ore to reach 65 with smelting.
After you do one lap, stop at Razor Hill and smelt your Copper Ore into Copper Bars.
The cave marked with the red circle has 5 Copper Veins inside, the respawn rate is so fast that you can basically stay inside the cave and level there. The cave layout is also very good because there is a drop down at the end, so you can quickly return to the start and continue mining. If the respawn rate is not enough for you or there is competition, just run outside, mine a couple of Copper Veins and go back to the cave.
You can also just do a full lap in Mulgore, the route is very easy to follow, it's basically a loop around the edge of the zone. But I found the cave to be better without a mount.
You can smelt your ore at the Bael'dun Digsite, the dwarf camp just north of the cave has a forge and an anvil. (marked on the map) The dwarves there are hostile.
Both routes are good. The route on the east side of the zone will probably have fewer people, because there are fewer quest hubs there.
Stop at Brill after one lap to smelt your Copper Ore.
Harvesting Windstones is one of the first quests you get in Thendal Village. Pick 
Mining for Dummies as your reward, it teaches you Mining.
The respawn rate is very fast around this area, sometimes the veins spawned right on top of me. You can do a larger route, but without a mount and with the fast respawn rate I found it wasn't needed.
Stop at Shen'dar Village after one lap to smelt your Copper Ore.
Just move back and forth along the marked route, and clear the cave if you are high enough level. The respawn rate is quite fast inside the cave, so you might not even have to leave it, it depends on your level. You can also just skip the cave, the respawn rate seems to be fast enough on the route, but then do the small detour to the north too.
Stop at Goldshire after one lap to smelt your Copper Ore.
Not much to say about this one, just do loops around this area. You don't have to go inside the cave, it's optional and the respawn rate outside is quite fast.
Stop at Kharanos after one lap to smelt your Copper Ore.
These two caves have an insanely fast respawn rate. I don't know if it stays like this, but right now you can just stay inside the caves and level there.
There is no forge in Teldrassil, the closest one is at the Warrior's Terrace in Darnassus.
Harvesting Windstones is one of the first quests you get in Thendal Village. Pick Mining for Dummies as your reward, it teaches you Mining.
The respawn rate is very fast around this area, sometimes the veins spawned right on top of me. You can do a larger route, but without a mount and with the fast respawn rate I found it wasn't needed.
Stop at Shen'dar Village after one lap to smelt your Copper Ore.
65-125
Visit your trainer and learn Journeyman Mining, it requires Mining 50 and level 10. The new Junior Mining Trainers in the starting areas won't teach you Journeyman Mining.
If you have any Copper Ore or Tin Ore at this point, smelt them and make Bronze Bars before you head out, because smelting stops giving skill points around 105.
For Alliance, the Wetlands is the best one by far if you can manage the cave. For Horde it's the Silverpine Forest cave or Hillsbrad Foothills. The rest are pretty even, hard to judge.
Ores in these zones: Tin Ore, Copper Ore, 
Silver Ore
Tin Veins need Mining 65 and Silver Veins 75.
This cave in the Wetlands is the best place for Alliance players to level Mining. The cave is full of Tin Veins and Incendicite Mineral Veins with a very fast respawn time.
The mobs are around level 20 and in Forever they respawn much faster, so you need to outlevel them by quite a few levels, or they will keep respawning right on top of you.
This cave has 3 vein spawn points with a very fast respawn time, just mine the veins and wait for the respawn. (around 2 minutes)
The mobs are around level 21-22 and in Forever they respawn much faster, so you need to outlevel them by quite a few levels, or they will keep respawning right on top of you.
This cave has several Tin Veins that respawn very fast. There are also veins outside, so if you clear it too fast you can just run outside and mine a few there too.
The mobs are around level 13-15 and in Forever they respawn much faster, so you need to outlevel them by quite a few levels, or they will keep respawning right on top of you.
This is the best if you prefer mining the normal way, but you might have more competition from other players because this is a popular area. The route goes around a Horde town, so I'm not sure how it works for Alliance. I think you can probably avoid the guards, but I only tested this one with a Horde character.
The mobs are around level 22-26 here, so it's best to farm here if you are above those levels. But the respawn rate is fast.
A very straightforward route that is easy to follow. This is the best if you prefer mining the normal way, but you might have more competition from other players because this is a popular area.
This route might not work if more than one player is leveling Mining there, because when I tested it there were very few people around. But this place usually has fewer people, so I think it's a good alternative if you don't want to level in caves. The only downside is that sometimes an Iron Deposit spawns instead of a Tin Vein, and you can't mine it yet.
125-175
From this point the guide follows the standard Classic Mining routes. The beta cap was 30, so I couldn't properly test Arathi and Desolace. I'll revise this section once I level my character higher on live, but the main change is the ore respawn rate, so most routes should work and you can probably take shorter routes in most zones.
Visit your trainer and learn Expert Mining, it requires Mining 125 and level 20.
Smelting Iron and Gold (optional)
If you want to save some time and have the gold, buy around 20 
Iron Ore and make 
Smelt Iron until 135 before you head out mining. After 135 it rarely gives a point, so don't count on reaching 140.
At 155 you can learn 
Smelt Gold from your trainer. It gives a point every time until 170, so around 22 Gold Ore takes you from 155 to 175 and you can start on Mithril right away. I recommend checking the price of Gold Ore and Gold Bar first.
If you have a lower level character around level 30, stick to the Thousand Needles route, that's the safest. If you have a higher level character or a mount already, I recommend Arathi Highlands.
Ores in these zones: Iron Ore, Tin Ore, 
Gold Ore
Iron Deposits need Mining 125 and Gold Veins 155.
There are 4 caves marked with red circles on the map. Make sure to go all the way to the end of each cave because you won't see all the mining veins from the entrance.
Low level players should skip all 4 caves, and low level Alliance players should take a detour and go south of Hammerfall!
175-245
To train past 225, visit your trainer and learn Artisan Mining, it requires Mining 200 and level 35.
Ores in these zones: 
Mithril Ore, 
Truesilver Ore
Mithril Deposits need Mining 175 and Truesilver Deposits 230.
The red route should be skipped by lower level players because the area is filled with level 62 elites. Lower level players might also want to consider skipping the cave marked with a red circle on the map. (depends on your gear/class)
Players below level 60 should skip the 4 caves marked with red circles.
245-275
Ores in these zones: Mithril Ore, Truesilver Ore, 
Thorium Ore
Small Thorium Veins need Mining 245.
You will find 2-3 veins in the two caves marked with red circles on the map.
Lower level players should probably skip the cave to the south. It really depends on your level, gear and class.
Both caves marked with red circles have a lot of mobs inside, so I only recommend this zone to level 60 players with good gear, or to Druids and Rogues with stealth.
It's really hard to navigate inside the Garrison Armory mine, so I included a small map. Alliance players can't mine inside the Garrison Armory!
There are usually 2 veins inside the cave marked with a red circle. It's worth going in because the cave is small and there aren't many mobs inside, and if you are high level, you can pass some of them without aggro.
I recommend skipping the other two caves at Jaedenar, especially Shadow Hold. (if you have stealth, they might be worth going into)
275-300
Ores in these zones: Thorium Ore, Mithril Ore
At 275 you can mine Rich Thorium Veins too.
Almost the same as the previous Un'Goro route, but now it includes Rich Thorium Veins.
The red line is full of level 57-58 elites, so if your gear is bad, you should probably skip that part unless you have stealth. With some practice you can usually get through and only pull a few of them.
- The mobs in this cave are not that hard, so most classes can clear it. (depends on your gear)
- Most classes can get into at least the first part of the cave without pulling aggro. You can try going deeper depending on your gear.
- A lot of elites patrol this gorge, but you can usually pass most of them without pulling aggro. Sometimes you have to kill 1 or 2.
- I don't recommend this area for most players because it's hard to farm here without dying. It really depends on your class and how good you are at avoiding mobs.
The two caves marked with red circles are full of level 50 mobs, so lower level players might want to skip them. (depends on your gear and level)
