You arrived on the island, set up your tents and caught some butterflies, now what? Grab your Mining License from Fletch (250 Permit Points), it’s time to learn some Mining!
Mining Guide – Dinkum
So, assuming you got your license from Fletch, it’s now time to head over to John and spend some of the Dinks you just received. You should have around 2500 lying around.
Visit John’s tent shop and purchase a Basic Pickaxe for 1,200 Dinks. Later on, you’ll be able to upgrade to a Copper Pickaxe and even an Iron Pickaxe. But, the basic one is the tool everyone starts with.
Once you’ve the Basic Pickaxe, you can head out into the world of Dinkum and smash some rocks.
There are 3 main types of ore in this game: Tin Ore, Copper Ore and Iron Ore.
Tin ores are the most commonly found of the bunch. They exist in all biomes and there’s likely going to be plenty of them wherever you look. Make sure you’re always stocked up on Tin Bars. They’re used for a lot in the form of Nails (made via Crafting Table) and Tin Sheets (made via Grinders).
The next ore by rarity would be Copper ore, which can also be found in all biomes. However, it is a lot scarcer than Tin ore. The biome Copper spawns the most in is the Desert biome.
Lastly, the rarest ore in the game right now is Iron ore – it can only be found in Mines.
Deep Mining
To access a Mine, you’re going to need to visit John again – the price of the Mine Deed is 3500 Permit Points, and it allows you to place a Mine Building on your plot, after gathering all the ‘ingredients’.
To build it, you’re going to need the following materials:
- 250,000 Dinks
- 10 Old Gear
- 10 Bags of Cement
- 5 Copper Bars
- 5 Tin Bars
- 2 Old Keys
- 1 Old Contraption
The mines are extremely dark and often packed with dangerous beasts (Glowing Crocos) so make sure to bring a light with you (torches should do the job) but also pack a weapon or two (spears).
When delving into the Mine, make sure to pack a lot of supplies – food, weapons and pickaxes.
This is primarily because to access the Mine in the first place, you need to pay a hefty price of 25,000 Dinks for a Mine Pass – a single-use item that is consumed upon entering the Mine, so you want to come prepared and make the most out of each visit.
This does seem rather expensive at first, but the good news is that you can find fossils and even rare gems! You cannot put these items in your inventory, however you can carry them with you to the elevator then go back to keep on digging. Doing so can be bothersome, but it’s usually worth the hassle of going back and forth as these are often worth quite a lot, depending primarily on the weight of the item which is measured at John’s shop, where it is sold as well – prices can go up to even 100,000 Dinks!
Smelting Ore
To make use of your ore, you need to smelt it, and to do that you’re going to need a Crude Furnace.
You likely already have the materials for this lying around in your inventory, but in case you don’t you’ll need to gather 3 Stones, 5 Tin Ore and a campfire, all obtainable fairly easily with a Basic Pickaxe.
This will be more than enough for all your smelting needs all the way until you get to Iron Ore, which requires you to obtain a Furnace – you can purchase it from John’s shop for a total of 30,800 Dinks. It enables you to smelt Iron Ore into Iron Bars, but also to smelt Tin and Copper two times faster.
ALSO READ: Dinkum: Complete Beginners Guide
