How to Mine, Smelt Metals and where to find Ore
Mining
Ore is collected using any Pickaxe, the higher quality the Pickaxe, the less hits the Node needs to smash the ore for collection. Keeping the Reticule on the node will ensure minimal Stamina usage.
The tool needs to go into either Hotbar slot 1 or 2 as its a 2-Handed item. Update (0087) changed the way nodes “shattered” when mining.
Stone tools are crafted on character with metal tools (Iron and Steel) requiring Workbenches.
Iron and Steel tools can be looted from almost anywhere with Industrial buildings, Farms and top floors of Police Stations and the Military Bases being good sources.
A small amount of Stone will also be gathered when mining nodes so take a supply of Sticks to keep crafting replacements of Stone Pickaxes when they break.
You can get overloaded with materials when mining which reduces your Movement Speed 
so take a Hand Cart or a Vehicle filled with bags to get as much loot as quick and safely as possible.
- Ores can be mined from the various caves or looted in Industrial Buildings, Quarries and Farms.
- Nuggets need to be crafted or looted from Cars (Front), Industrial Buildings, Quarries and Farms.
- Ingots need to be crafted or be salvaged from Dismantling metal Tools with a Knife and a high enough Dex skill.
More information on the Technology Tree is here.
What a node looks like
Nodes in Ore Fields are further down the page here.
Coal nodes contains small amounts of Copper.
Smelting
Smelting Order
Ore —-> Nuggets —-> Ingots
All Crafting Stations are found under “Workshop” in the Building Menu.
Workbenches/Craft Tables/Labs can be used as temporary Storage.
- Ores >
- Nuggets >
- Ingots >
- Stone >
- Clay >
- Brick >
- Charcoal >
- Coal >
- Glass / Saltpeter / Limestone >
Furnace
The first item to unlock in the Technology Tree (After the Workbench) is the Furnace which needs x5 Clay . It requires x5 Logs, x15 Stone and x20 Clay to build.
Charcoal can be crafted using Logs and the 4 types of Nuggets (Copper, Iron, Aluminium and Silver) using the relevant Ores.
The Furnace uses no fuel and staying in the UI whilst it crafts will give you some Metallurgy experience. More on Skill learning here. You will need to be at Metallurgy 1 and x3 Clay to unlock “Brick”, then x2 Bricks are required to unlock the Smelting Furnace.
Charcoal and Cement can only be made in the Furnace.
The Furnace holds 5 crafting queues and will stop when the set amount to be crafted is completed.
- Add the materials needed.
- Set the item to craft.
- Set how many.
- Press “Craft”.
Smelting Furnace
Until the Ingots are unlocked in the Tech Tree, the Smelting Furnace operates much like the Furnace but uses fuel.
It requires x2 Bricks to unlocks and needs x5 Logs, x15 Stone, x9 Clay and x15 Bricks to build
Further unlocking requires advancing the Metallurgy skill and certain materials to craft Glass, Copper, Iron, Aluminium and Silver Ingots. >
Sticks (60), Planks (60) Logs (120), Charcoal (240) and Coal (600) are suitable fuels for Smelting. (Burn Times in Secs).
Charcoal can be made from Logs whilst Coal can be mined or found whilst looting Industrial Buildings, Farms or Quarries.
Ore —-> Nuggets —-> Ingots
The Smelting Furnace holds 5 crafting queues and will only run whilst it has fuel whether or not the set amount to be crafted is completed.
- Add the fuel.
- Add the materials needed.
- Set the item to craft.
- Set how many.
- Press “Craft”.
Video has been sped up whilst crafting.
Electric Furnace
The Electric Furnace requires to be connected to a working Electricity Supply setup (Battery Table) and the Machine Table unlocked and it normally halves the production time of items crafted in it.
It requires skill level of 4 in Metallurgy , 3 in Engineering, x3 Electronic Components and the Blueprint- Electric Furnace to unlock.
To unlock Steel, it requires the Guide- Steel Crafting, a skill level of 5 in Metallurgy and x1 Iron Ingot.
x1 Steel Ingot is made with x3 Iron Ingot and x1 Aluminium Ingot
The Electric Furnace holds 5 crafting queues and will run whilst it has power or the set amount to be crafted is completed.
Crucibles can not be crafted but looted from mainly Industrial and Rural Buildings with the best places circled on the maps.
- Add the materials needed.
- Set the item to craft.
- Set how many.
- Press “Craft”.
Video has been sped up whilst crafting.
Ore Fields and Mine Locations
Ore fields are large open spaces with usually no foliage with only plain dirt showing with various nodes scattered around.
The majority of them will be Clay, Silver, Iron, Stone and Limestone nodes but Copper can also be found at some. The size of the Ore Field varies depending on the Map and location.
Map 01 Mines have just one entrance accessed on foot with dangerous wildlife sometimes nearby and contain Construction Worker Zombies. Some tools and items can be looted from crates inside. Ore Fields are marked as Pickaxe symbols.
Map 02 Mines are very long tunnels and able to be driven through and only contain a mixture of Zombies, except the South West Mine (Aluminium/Coal) which has a Bunker type Entrance. Ore Fields are marked as Pickaxe symbols.
Map 03 Mines just have one entrance accessed on foot with dangerous wildlife sometimes nearby and contain Construction Worker Zombies. Some tools and items can be looted from crates inside. Ore Fields are marked as Pickaxe symbols.
