TBC Mining Guide 1-375 for Anniversary Realms

Updated October 12, 2026 for the TBC Anniversary realms.

You can reach 375 Mining in TBC Classic Anniversary almost entirely by smelting ore at a forge, with a few stretches where you have to mine nodes yourself. Smelting is faster but costs gold, while field farming is slower and earns it.

Smelting or farming

Smelting means buying ore from the Auction House and smelting it at a forge; farming means riding routes and mining veins yourself. You can reach skill 290 entirely at a forge without leaving the city, and the last 10 points before 300 require actual mining since no smelting recipe stays orange long enough. If you level by smelting, expect slow skill ranges and a few spots you must mine through.

You will end up with a lot of ore and bars, which you can sell on the Auction House or feed to a crafting profession like Blacksmithing.

What to bring before you start

• Mining Pick: buy one from the Mining Supply vendor near your trainer and keep it in your bags; without it you cannot mine anything.
• Find Minerals: enable this minimap filter in your minimap dropdown to show ore node locations as you ride past.
• Trainer visits: you must visit a trainer to unlock each skill tier, so upgrade when you hit the required skill or you cap out early.

Mining trainer ranks and locations

Classic trainers from 1-300 work at any major city trainer. Horde options include Makaru in Orgrimmar, Brek Stonehoof in Thunder Bluff and Belil in Silvermoon City; Alliance options include Geofram Bouldertoe in Ironforge, Gelman Stonehand in Stormwind and Muaat in The Exodar. Master trainers in Outland are Hurnak Grimmord at Honor Hold for Alliance and Krugosh at Thrallmar for Horde, with trainers also in Shattrath City on the Aldor and Scryer sides.

Smelting shopping list

Buy a small buffer above these amounts, since smelting recipes go yellow and then green and actual consumption depends on your luck with skill-ups.

The 225-230 stretch on Mithril is notorious for low skill-up rates, so buy extra Mithril. Smelting Felsteel Bars can be very expensive, so check prices before the final step and consider mining ore instead.

Ore and vein skill requirements

Khorium works like Truesilver did in Classic: it rarely replaces other nodes rather than spawning on its own, it requires 375 skill, and it cannot be prospected. There is also a small chance to find Eternium Ore inside Adamantite and Khorium deposits as a bonus drop rather than a dedicated node.

Classic farming routes, 1-300

• 1-65: every starter zone has Copper Ore, so pick the one you are questing in; Teldrassil is the exception with no copper, so Night Elves should head to Darkshore. In Durotar, run the Venture Co. Mine before jumping down from the cliffs for around 8 Copper Veins in one pass.
• 65-125: The Barrens and Hillsbrad Foothills are strong for Copper, Tin and some Silver, with Ashenvale and Redridge Mountains as decent alternatives. Tin stops giving levels at 165.
• 125-175: Thousand Needles and Desolace are full of Iron; Arathi Highlands is good but its caves hold more Mithril than Iron, which you cannot mine until 175. Gold Ore unlocks at 155.
• 175-245: The Hinterlands and Tanaris are the best zones; Hinterlands is a smaller loop that suits solo farming, while Tanaris is a massive loop with several caves. Truesilver unlocks at 230.
• 245-300: Un'Goro Crater is the classic choice and you can stay to 300, with Winterspring, Eastern Plaguelands and Burning Steppes as alternatives if Un'Goro is contested.

Outland routes, 300-375

Hellfire Peninsula, 300-325

Run the mountain ridgelines and outer edges of Hellfire Peninsula; the zone is dense with Fel Iron Deposits and needs no flying mount. It is heavily contested, so if you struggle to find nodes you can smelt Fel Iron Bars to 315.

Zangarmarsh, Terokkar Forest and Nagrand, 325-350

Move to Adamantite at 325; Zangarmarsh and Terokkar Forest have reliable cave routes, with four or five marked caves per zone, and you should go all the way to the back of each cave since nodes often sit deep inside. If nodes are scarce, smelting Adamantite Bars carries you to 340.

Netherstorm, Shadowmoon Valley and Nagrand, 350-375

Nagrand is the go-to zone at 350 with a clean circuit of regular and Rich Adamantite. Rich Adamantite appears frequently in Netherstorm and Shadowmoon Valley, but most of those nodes sit in elevated areas that require a flying mount. Mining is dramatically faster with a flying mount in Outland, so buying even a basic one before the last stretch is worth it.

You can enter Outland as early as skill 300, since Fel Iron Ore can be mined from 300. If you want the profession finished without the route work, an TBC Anniversary Mining Boost has a booster run the leveling paths on your character up to 375.