In Stardew Valley there are several different Ores. Each one has its own purpose in-game, you will eventually need all of them be it either for crafting or upgrading your tools.
SPOILERS AHEAD: This guide contains spoilers from update 1.5 which some platforms don't have access to yet.
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There are five types of Ore in the game, Copper Ore, Iron Ore, Gold Ore, Iridium Ore, and Radioactive Ore. Depending on which type of Ore you're looking for, the farming methods will differ since they can be obtained in greater quantities in different places.
Copper, Iron, And Gold Ore
These are the three most common ores in the game. As you progress through the mine you will find them in more abundant quantities. First copper, then iron, and finally gold. This is also the order in which you can upgrade your farming tools.
You can actually get Ore from Clint at the Blacksmith but the price increases drastically in your second year on the farm. The same happens with basic resources like wood and stone at Robin's Carpenter Shop.
These are the prices you can get them at and how much they go up in Year 2:
| Ore | Year 1 | Year 2+ |
|---|---|---|
| Copper Ore | 75g | 150g |
| Iron Ore | 150g | 250g |
| Gold Ore | 400g | 750g |
This is not a bad way to accumulate ore but it requires a lot of gold, especially after the first year in-game.
But if you're looking to grind for some hours and farm ore, your best solution is to go down to the mines. A pickaxe is your best way to go in this case, since you need a considerable amount of ore to make a few bombs.
To farm for Copper Ore, you should play through levels two through 39. These are the levels in which copper Ore is most likely to spawn. Once you're done, you can just back up into the elevator and redo them.
To farm Iron Ore, you should play through levels 70 and 79 of the mines, since that is where Iron Nodes are most likely to spawn.
To farm Gold Ore, you should play through levels 80 until 85 and then rinse and repeat until you're satisfied with how many Gold Ores you have on you.
Iridium Ore
Iridium Ore can be tough to get your hands on but it is incredibly useful, especially considering how good Iridium tools are. There are more passive ways to get your hands on Iridium Ore even though these take much longer compared to going down to the Skull Cavern.
However, it's still good to acquire Iridium passively at the same time. Once you reach Year 3, you will go through Grandpa's Evaluation and if you manage to light all four candles, you will receive the Statue of Perfection. The statue will produce two to eight Iridium Ore each day.
To really farm Iridium Ore, though, you must descend down to the Skull Cavern. This place is much tougher compared to the mines so come prepared. Be sure to bring food, bombs, and some staircases.
The food is necessary so you can bring your health back up if you have to deal with Serpents, which will take a good chunk of health out of you. The bombs are a great way to get rid of rock clusters without wasting too much time and blow up Iridium Nodes. And finally, the staircases are important so that you can skip infested floors that take too long to complete, wasting a good few hours of the day.
The deeper you go down in the Skull Cavern, the more likely you are to find Iridium Ore. You might even want to ignore single Iridium Nodes you come across to try to keep moving as fast as you can, down to the deeper levels.
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You will eventually find a good amount of Iridium Nodes and that's when you start bombing them and collecting the ore. Try to hit the Skull Cavern on a Great Luck day since this will increase your chance of finding a ladder, which will make farming much easier.
Radioactive Ore
Stardew Valley keeps getting free updates and not long ago we got a new type of ore — Radioactive Ore. Reddit user u/upliv2 came up with this method of easily farming the ore without running into too much trouble.
So, firstly, what you need to do is to get access to The Shrine of Challenge. You do this by visiting Qi's Walnut Room on Ginger Island and then completing the Dangers In The Deep quest.
Now, you can active The Shrine of Challenge on floor 120 of the mines. This makes it so that during that day, enemies will be much tougher than usual. It goes back to normal the following day, however. If you proceed through while The Shrine of Challenge is activated, you can find Radioactive Nodes in the mines.
Play through level 40 until level 45 or through level 30 until 35, then take the elevator back to 0 to reset and repeat this. These levels of the mine are fairly easy to play through and have other good drops.
Since this is still a new addition to the game, new methods are being discussed and so far this is one that seems to be the easiest and still quite productive you should get anywhere from 20 to 35 Radioactive Ore per day.
It is also very important that you do this on Great Luck days, and the miner profession is definitely a plus since you get an extra ore for each node you break.
NEXT: Stardew Valley: Everything You Need To Know About Ginger Island
