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Core Keeper | All Ore Types and Locations

Core Keeper | All Ore Types and Locations

Core Keeper is one of the most promising survival crafting games in Early Access. It takes a lot of what makes successful games in the genre work, then adds a tiny bit more complexity. However, like many survival-craft games, you are going to need as much ore as you can find in Core Keeper! In fact, because of the additional complexity of the game, you might need even more metals than you may expect. This guide will explain all of the different ore types in Core Keeper, including where to find each one.

Core Keeper - All Ore Types and Locations
Mining with friends will unlock all sorts of secrets!

How to Mine All Ore Types in Core Keeper

Ore represents one of the most important aspects of Core Keeper’s progression system. There are seven steps of ore progression, scaling from Copper to Galaxite in quality. You will need tools and items crafted from the previous tier in order to mine the walls that contain the new materials. To do that, you need the gear and furnaces to smelt the new material and turn it into ingots. Then, you will need a high enough rarity Workbench to turn those ingots into a Pickaxe.

Most ore in Core Keeper is contained within the walls of the map. To gather it, you just need to dig through the walls, aiming for the parts that sparkle. You will also get some material from looting chests that you find in the various levels of the dungeon. As you reach further out from the core, you will need more and more powerful gear.

To start, you will be using your beginning pickaxe to get through Dirt Walls. Keep mining and you’ll find your first upgrade material: Copper Ore.

Where to Find Copper Ore

Copper Ore is located in Dirt Walls, which are found within the Dirt Biome. The Dirt Biome is where you will start your journey in Core Keeper – and where you can find two of the new cattle in the game – so go dig at those walls! You can access these walls with something as weak as a Wood Pickaxe. To make a Wood Pickaxe, just head into your crafting menu and spend four wood. This is basically a tutorial on how to craft!

In order to work with this new material, you’ll need a furnace. Craft a Basic Workbench with 8 Wood. Then, gather 20 dirt walls through mining. You’ll have a Furnace, which you can fuel by simply putting the ingots in there. You will be using this for the first few ore types.

Before you can make the pickaxe, though, you’ll need a Copper Workbench. Throw 6 Copper Ingots onto 8 pieces of wood to make this bench. Then, with 4 Wood and 2 Copper Ingots, we can make a Copper Pickaxe.

As with any level of ore, we suggest that you take the time to make the rest of your gear up to snuff. You could encounter dangerous enemies in the next few areas, so being prepared can save some headache!

Where to Find Tin Ore

Tin Ore is primarily dug up from Clay Walls from the Clay Caves biome of Core Keeper. The Clay Caves are located on the outskirts of the dirt biome, and are represented on the minimap by a shift to a more pink color palette. Tin is a relatively common ore in these walls, which can be broken with any pickaxe, though, a Copper Pickaxe makes it easiest.

Thankfully, smelting with Tin requires the same basic Furnace as your copper tools did. However, you’ll need a Tin Workbench to build anything with the material. This upgraded bench requires 10 Wood, 6 Copper Ingots, and 10 Tin Bars to make. The Tin Pickaxe is less expensive, only needing 4 Wood and 3 Bars.

Where to Find Iron Ore

Iron is located in the Forgotten Ruins, melded into the Stone Walls of the biome. The Forgotten Ruins is the dark blue area, also connected to the Dirt Biome. You will need a Tin Pickaxe to reliably break through these walls. The walls and chests of this region will be required for getting the Iron you need.

Iron is smelted through the Furnace, but you will need an Iron Workbench to make the next pickaxe tier. This bench requires 15 Iron bars and 10 Tin ingots, as well as 10 Wood, to create.

Iron is around the point where it is a really good idea to farm out gear and materials. While you could survive with a pair of pants and a sword for a while, enemies hit really hard now, and you need higher tier pickaxes to dig through much of the content. The Iron Anvil just needs 10 Iron Bars, and will set you up with stellar armor.

Where to Find Gold Ore

Gold Ore Boulder in Core Keeper
Gigantic Ore Boulders are extremely rewarding, but are also expensive to mine

Gold Ore is unique among the ore tiers. It is found randomly scattered around Dirt, Clay, and Stone Walls. If you want to farm it, it is recommended to head into the Forgotten Ruins once you have a Tin Pickaxe, since it is more common in this area. However, you can farm it in the Clay region as well if you wish.

Gold is required for various Iron-tier crafting recipes, so you will want to gather it sooner rather than later. While looking in the walls might seem like a chore, you will gather enough gold through farming for other materials. Gold is also fairly common through chests and pickups, such as from boss kills.

To create Gold Bars, you will need a Smelter Kiln. These kilns require 5 Iron, 5 Tin, and an Iron Workbench. Many Gold recipes will require an Iron Workbench. Gold does not have its own pickaxe tier, so farm it while you farm out Iron!

Where to Find Scarlet Ore

Scarlet Ore is found embedded in the Grass Walls of Azeos’ Wilderness, and occasionally in chests. To get to this biome, defeat the three bosses of the Dirt, Clay, and Stone biomes. Then, talk to the core to figure out which direction the Great Wall is in. Take down that wall to enter the Wilderness.

Scarlet Ore can be smelted in a Smelter Kiln, but you’ll need a Scarlet Workbench to do anything particularly useful with it. This workbench requires 10 Tin Bars, 15 Iron Bars, and 20 Scarlet Bars. Be sure to make the Scarlet Anvil for the armor, which just needs 15 bars!

Where to Find Octarine Ore

How to Mine All Ore Types in Core Keeper
Mining doesn’t change much from one step to another, but the danger increases by a lot!

To get Octarine, you will need to dig through Limestone Walls. Limestone is found in the Sunken Sea biome, which requires you to defeat the boss of Azeos’ Wilderness, Azeos the Sky Titan. This biome requires you to build boats to move around. Limestone is fairly common in the various metropolises that you encounter here, as well as scattered about the biome. Ride your boat right up to them and crack them with a Scarlet Pickaxe.

Octarine ore only needs the Smelter Kiln, thankfully. However, you will need to make its workbench if you want the next pickaxe tier. That’s going to cost 50 Coral Planks, 20 Scarlet Bars, and 30 Octarine bars. The Anvil just costs 15 Octarine bars.

Coral Planks are a new type of wood found in the Sunken Sea.

Where to Find Galaxite Ore

The final ore of the game, as of the writing of this article, is located within Sandstone and Lava Rock Walls, found in the Desert of Beginnings and Molten Quarry respectively. The Sandstone is the only one that can be mined without additional help; again, as of the current patch.

Galaxite Bars require the Fury Forge to smelt. The Fury Forge requires 30 Octarine bars and 15 Scarlet bars to create. The Galaxite Workbench is going to cost you 70 Coral Planks, 30 Octarine Bars, and 40 Galaxite Bars. You’ll definitely want that anvil, too, costing you 25 Galaxite Bars.

Where to Find Ancient Gemstone

Ancient Gemstones are another very rare resource that you will need for some recipes. Once the Core has been activated, this Gemstone appears very rarely practically anywhere — in chests, at merchants, and while fishing in the Molten Quarry. You’ll need Ancient Gemstones for late-game accessories.

What Are Boulders?

Occasionally, you will find large boulders that are colored in the same way as a specific ore. That means you can set up a little mining operation! Bringing a powered drill to these spots will reward you with upwards of 1,800 of the ore that the boulder is full of.

You’ll need an Automation Table (5 Copper, 8 Tin) to start work on any sort of automation. Then, you’ll need 10 Iron and 10 Scarlet to make a single drill. You’ll want 8 on each Boulder, since that’s just the fastest you can mine it! However, you need to power each drill. Make an Electricity Generator, some wires, and slap it down!

Frequently Asked Questions

How Many Ore Types Are In Core Keeper?

There are seven different ore types in Core Keeper. There are also rare things that you can mine from walls, called Ancient Gemstones, which aren’t technically an ore.

How Do You Smelt Ore?

The types of ore in Core Keeper are categorized into types of smelting furnaces that they need. Copper, Tin, and Gold can be smelted in a Furnace. The Smelter Kiln is needed for Iron, Scarlet, and Octarine ores. Galaxite needs the Fury Forge if you want to turn it into ingots.

Which Pickaxe Is Best For Mining?

The endgame pickaxe in Core Keeper is called the Soul Seeker, with a current value of +607 Mining Damage. To get this legendary item, you’ll need to defeat Ignis the Molten Mass, the late-game slime boss.

Written by Andrew Smith