Copper Ore and the Best Routes for Farming Them as of 9.2

Copper Ore is found from mining Copper Veins in WoW. (This ore is also in Black Desert Online, but this post isn’t in regards to that game, so I apologize for your misclick (I used to get a ton of hits for BDO farming)).

Anyway, it’s the first ore you’ll be able to mine with the Mining profession.

As such, it’s probably going to be farmed a lot by either lower levels (whom are probably going to be running toward it with their legs or a ground mount), or by higher levels with flying mounts that are just starting out the profession.

Keep in mind that most Alliance players will be farming via Elwynn Forest, whereas most Horde players will stick to Durotar.

Back when I first started mining, I stuck with Elwynn. Mainly because I never played as a Horde.

But now days, I hardly ever play as Alliance.

Eventually I outgrew Elwynn (though I still go back there from time to time) and didn’t like the competition too much in Durotar, so I decided on a new destination…

FAQ

What are your PC specs?

• You can find them on my PC specs page.

What addons are used for farming Copper Ore in WoW?

• The addon Routes.
• The addon FarmHUD.
• The addons Gathermate2 and WoWGatheringNodes.

Is this a Copper Ore Mining route for Classic WoW?

No. I play retail, not Classic World of Warcraft, so these routes might not be the ones for you to go by.

In case they aren’t, you might want to check out VanillaGuides, as they might have updated Mining routes for Classic. I already make full routes of fishing in schools with a flying mount, I can’t imagine making a full route for Mining via ground mounts. (Though I did once upon a time for Eversong Woods–truly a hassle.)

What professions benefit from Mining?

• Mining
• Jewelcrafting

First off, Mining, because you can’t exactly mine without said profession to begin with. Though you can still possibly acquire ore through other means–such as treasures and chests you pick up while fishing.

Mining, of course, also allows you to smelt the ore you have into bars–beneficial in other crafting professions.

Jewelcrafting allows you to prospect ore in stacks of five (5), in order to obtain gems, which in turn a Jewelcrafter can craft items out of. While certain gems aren’t huge on the auction house market, others can be. Plus, it’s hard to find rings and necklaces out in Azeroth, and a JC can help with this.

What Mining routes aren’t mentioned?

There are several zones I had no interest in making a mining route in, some for actual route-making reasons, while others are more because they don’t allow flying.

Dismissed Zones

• Dun Morogh
  I tried making a route for Copper Ore in Dun Morogh, and it sort of worked, because the node respawns were well-balanced and I wasn’t getting a terrible amount of ore, but there are phased areas and alliance patrols. Making it not the most ideal zone for farming in.

No-Flying Zones
Due to the fact that these are no-flying zones, I didn’t offer any kind of routes on them. This doesn’t mean that they won’t provide you with a decent amount of Copper Ore as you level. It’s just…nobody likes traveling a route via ground mount. Unless they play Classic. More power to them.

• The Lost Isles (Horde)
• Eversong Woods (Horde)
• Gilneas (Alliance)
• Azuremyst Isle (Alliance)
• Bloodmyst Isle (Alliance)

What else can you get from mining Copper Ore?

You have a chance of gathering Rough Stone, Malachite, Tigerseye, and Shadowgem.

Maps, Routes, and Data

Reduced resolution
The routes in this section offer you full view of the maps in question, at a reduced resolution of 1280×720. In order to get the full resolution of 2560×1440, you’ll need to purchase my In-Depth Farming Guide. It offers a variety of routes for each zone, with all the data I’ve accumulated over the years of farming.

• My miner is a Horde druid, thus giving faster in-and-out flight form.
• Overall farming time per zone: 30 minutes.

Eastern Kingdoms

Eastern Kingdoms offers one zone that’s best used for farming as part of an alliance faction, though horde can easily farm in the same zone as well. The second zone mentioned is horde-based and is not quite as land mount friendly.

Elwynn Forest

This is an Alliance zone.

Thus, I tried to avoid any contact with guards in this route. You’ll just need to be careful flying over the road leading to Stormwind. Occasionally patrols wander back and forth. This route can be traveled with a ground mount for lower levels–although there may be some locations you won’t be able to get to.

This zone is normally farmed by a few people at once as it’s closer to the major city of Stormwind and a simplistic route to remember.

• Copper Ore – 272

Tirisfal Glades

This is a Horde zone.

At first I didn’t like farming this zone, and I’m pretty sure RNG just wasn’t really on my side, or perhaps I didn’t get the route right, because the last time I farmed the area, the ore accumulated was actually decent. There’s not too much to worry about here when flying around.

• Copper Ore – 248

Kalimdor

While Eastern Kingdom features one zone for farming Copper in, Kalimdor offers a lot more variety. The zones below cater to both alliance and horde, but most of these zones belong to the horde faction. Thus, don’t get mad if you end up dying because you’re an alliance player who wanted to infiltrate enemy territory to steal some nodes that never belonged to you in the first place.

For the Horde.

Azshara

This is a Horde zone.

This is not a ground-mount friendly route due to all the cliffs and such, therefore it’s best to wait until you have a flying mount. There’s also a small phased zone you may enter, where you could find a Copper Ore node, but not be able to mine it. In that case, move on.

Or, y’know, actually do the quests in the zone, you slacker.

• Copper Ore – 316

Darkshore

This is an Alliance zone.

This is the best place to farm copper as alliance or horde, in my opinion (especially since there’s typically no competition about). It’s not ground-mount friendly due to all the fissures in the land. Though even if you’re a low level, there’s ore to be had everywhere you go.

• Copper Ore – 451

Durotar

This is a Horde zone.

This route does go over a Horde area, so Alliance players beware of that. Also, while a good portion of this route could be followed by ground-mounts, I wouldn’t worry too much if you’re a lower level, because there’s plenty of this ore damn near everywhere. Because the zone’s farming is simplistic, it will be likely farmed by a few different people.

• Copper Ore – 383

Mulgore

This is a Horde zone.

This is one of the more simple routes when it comes to mining copper in a zone. It’s not so much that you even need a route to look at, you simply have to follow along the mountain-side. But, just in case…here you go.

• Copper Ore – 314

Professions

If you’re curious as to how much gold you can possibly gain from the items listed below, you can always check out The Undermine Journal, choose your region, and then your realm. After that, search for the items below and see what they’ve been selling for lately.

Mining

Copper Bar (via WoWHead)
Used by Jewelcrafting, Blacksmithing, Engineering, and Mining.
It’s a bar that’s highly useful in getting other crafting professions going, so while they may or may not sell for a lot, they can sell pretty quickly, especially when people are making new characters and choosing new professions that need Mining components.

Requires:

• (1) Copper Ore

Jewelcrafting

Copper Ore may have a higher demand due to it being the only ore to actually give certain gems that Jewelcrafters need in order to up the skill points in their profession. While the gems themselves may not have a high sell rate or price to them, since they’re so easily obtained from those that have this duo profession.