Starsand Island Ore Locations by Forest Area

Quick Answer

Most ores spawn in the Moonlit Forest, the dungeon-and-mine map reached through the damaged stone door behind your first home after starting Zephyria's Explorer profession; Copper also spawns on the main island near the house. Early camps hold Copper, Tin, Fluorite, and Quartz; Iron, Coal, and Salt pick up around Dreamfall Garden; Primorite, Gold, and Magnetite sit mid-forest around Azure Bay and Mural Valley; Diamond, Oilstone, Flamecore, Moonstone, and Aurorite come after the Bronze Gate and Waterwheel. Upgrade pickaxes as nodes harden — Impulse Pickaxe for iron-tier rocks, Impact Hammer for gold and primorite — and use repaired camps to rest and fast-travel. First-gold spots and respawn timers are disputed; this page gives progression tiers, not pin coordinates.

On this page

Use the Moonlit Forest map to follow the camp order behind these ore tiers.

Ore Progression by Area

The table below is organized by progression tier, not exact spawn points. "Earliest reliable tier" is where independent walkthroughs agree an ore becomes part of the route; first-appearance claims that sources fight over are pushed to the notes.

Guide reference table
Ore	Earliest reliable tier	Areas reported	Minimum safe tool	Confidence	Notes
Copper	Island / forest entry	Main island near home; Evernight Forest through mid-forest	Stone Pickaxe	High	Orange-gem rocks north of home; Islandpedia labels it "Everywhere"
Tin	Early forest	Evernight Forest, Gate of Life, through mid-forest	Stone Pickaxe	High	Easy to confuse with iron nodes later
Fluorite	Early forest	Early through mid-forest; Darkwater Shore	Stone Pickaxe	High	Also the camp-repair material, commonly 5 per camp
Quartz	Early forest	Early camps through Dreamfall / Hideout; Eurogamer also lists Mural Valley	Stone Pickaxe	High	Islandpedia / Wand write "Quartzite Ore"; whether that is the same item is unconfirmed
Coal	Dreamfall Garden	Dreamfall Garden onward; Hideout, Azure Bay	Mid-tier pickaxe	Mixed	Islandpedia labels Coal as "Luminbridge," a name walkthroughs do not use
Iron	Dreamfall Garden	Dreamfall Garden (densest), Crystalith Hideout, Azure Bay	Impulse Pickaxe	High	Node name shows when you stand close with a pickaxe equipped
Salt	Dreamfall Garden	Dreamfall Garden (Eurogamer, Reddit); Wand lists Salt Pile pins	Mid-tier pickaxe	Mixed	Whether Salt / Salt Pile / Salt Brick are one node or three items is unconfirmed
Primorite	Mid-forest	Azure Bay onward (Eurogamer, TheGamer, Screen Hype, Reddit)	Impact Hammer (grouped with gold)	High	Needed in quantity for the Waterwheel repair
Gold	Mid-forest	Crystalith Hideout vs Mural Valley vs Azure Bay — disputed; also Grain Haven cave	Impact Hammer	Disputed first spot	Easy to confuse with Fluorite; see conflict callout below
Magnetite	Mid-forest	Mural Valley / after the Bronze Gate area	Impact Hammer or later	Mixed	Islandpedia labels it "Spiritshade River," not a named camp
Diamond	Late forest	Harvest Yard, Grain Haven, Homeward Trail; Moonlight Meadow disputed	Impact Hammer or higher (GameRant)	Mixed	No single agreed "diamond farm" — see conflicts
Oilstone	Late forest	Harvest Yard / Grain Haven / later camps	Impact Hammer or later	Mixed	Wand's item text calls it "relatively soft and easy to mine"
Flamecore	Late forest	Harvest Yard, Grain Haven, Homeward Trail, Serenity's Rest	Impact Hammer or later	Mixed	Islandpedia points at Grain Haven
Moonstone	Endgame forest	Serenity's Rest, Moonlight Meadow	Late-forest tools	High	Altar material for the Luna Deer
Aurorite	Endgame forest	Between Serenity's Rest and Moonlight Meadow (wiki.gg)	Late-forest tools	High	Eurogamer lists it at both final camps
Ore Chunks (Common / Uncommon / Rare)	Any forest tier	Random forest mining drops and soil mounds; rarity rises deeper	N/A — random drop	High	Opened in the Ore Analyzer, not mined as veins

Tool Progression

The pickaxe line is the real gate on late ores. Recipes below are from wiki.gg's pickaxe table, cross-checked against GameRant and TheGamer.

Guide reference table
Tool	Unlock / station	Craft listed	Mining role
Stone Pickaxe	Apprentice; Worktable I	2 Stone, 2 Softwood	Basic mining; island copper
Impulse Pickaxe	After Apprentice; Worktable I	10 Copper, 10 Fluorite, 5 Softwood, 5 Quartz, 1 Stone Pickaxe	Iron-tier nodes; some roadblocks
Impact Hammer	Junior Crafter blueprint from Zerine; Worktable II	1 Impulse Pickaxe, 4 Hardwood Plank, 4 Iron Sheet, 3 Bronze, 2 Radiant Crystal	Gold / Primorite; breaks clustered nodes in one swing
Blast Hammer	Worktable II	Consumes an Impact Hammer (full recipe on wiki.gg)	Later pickaxe; mainly faster
Electric Drill	Worktable III	6 Eternal Alloy, 8 High-Performance Wire Set, 5 Chip, 6 Meteor Plank	Fastest mining

Early / Mid / Late Route

Early (island → Gate of Life). Start Crafter with Zerine for the Stone Pickaxe, start Explorer with Zephyria, and mine island copper near home. In Evernight Forest and Gate of Life, gather Copper, Tin, Fluorite, and Quartz, and repair camps as you go.
Mid (Dreamfall Garden → Mural Valley). Craft the Impulse Pickaxe before pushing into Dreamfall Garden for Iron, Coal, and Salt. Reach Junior Crafter, buy the Impact Hammer blueprint, then work Azure Bay and Mural Valley for Primorite, Gold, and Magnetite. The Bronze Gate blocks everything later until both Ruins Key halves are collected.
Late (Harvest Yard → Moonlight Meadow). After the Waterwheel, Diamond, Oilstone, and Flamecore appear around Harvest Yard, Grain Haven, and Homeward Trail; Moonstone and Aurorite sit around Serenity's Rest and Moonlight Meadow. TechRaptor notes Copper, Tin, and Quartz stop appearing roughly halfway through the forest.

Ore Chunks and Analyzer

Common Ore Chunks drop randomly from mining anywhere in the Moonlit Forest and never from main-island copper (Destructoid). Open them in the Ore Analyzer — Zerine's recipe, 8 Hardwood and 2 Copper Sheets — for Stone, Copper, or exclusives such as Ancient Precision Parts. Wand's soil-mound notes and Steam players report uncommon and rare chunks from dirt mounds and deeper nodes such as Aurorite, with rarity rising the deeper you mine.

Later, a Robot Terminal placed at a forest campsite can assign mining robots to grouped regions; the Islandpedia Gatherables tier-5 stamp rewards a Mining Robot and a Logging Robot. See the robot terminal guide for setup.

Respawn and Route Conflicts

Vendor prices quoted by a single outlet (GameRant lists iron, gold, and diamond sell prices) are unverified by any second source and intentionally omitted here.

FAQ

Where do I find iron in Starsand Island?

Iron becomes plentiful in Dreamfall Garden — Eurogamer highlights the stretch between Dreamfall Garden and Crystalith Hideout — with further deposits in Crystalith Hideout and Azure Bay, per VG247 and GameRant. Iron nodes need an Impulse Pickaxe.

Where does gold first appear?

Sources disagree and there is no settled first spot. VG247, TheGamer, GameRant, and Screen Hype put gold in Crystalith Hideout; Eurogamer's Hideout table omits gold and first lists it at Mural Valley; the in-game Islandpedia labels gold as Azure Bay. Treat the whole mid-forest as gold territory rather than chasing one node.

What tool do I need for gold and primorite?

The Impact Hammer — a Junior Crafter blueprint bought from Zerine, crafted at Worktable II from 1 Impulse Pickaxe, 4 Hardwood Plank, 4 Iron Sheet, 3 Bronze, and 2 Radiant Crystal. VG247 and NookGaming note the Impulse Pickaxe cannot break gold.

How often do ore nodes respawn?

Not settled. TechRaptor and GameRant's gold guide say materials return daily; GameRant's iron guide says it can take a couple of in-game days; a Reddit route author reported a two-day feel. No official timer exists — if a vein is gone, do a camp loop and check back.

What are Common Ore Chunks?

Random drops from mining anywhere in the Moonlit Forest — never from main-island copper, per Destructoid. Open them in the Ore Analyzer (Zerine's recipe: 8 Hardwood, 2 Copper Sheets) for Stone, Copper, or exclusives such as Ancient Precision Parts. Soil mounds and deeper nodes are reported to drop uncommon and rare chunks.

Do I need the Blast Hammer or Electric Drill for late ores?

Not necessarily. TechRaptor says the Impact Hammer can already break every node and later tools mainly mine faster; Wand's item text calls Oilstone relatively soft. wiki.gg lists Blast Hammer and Electric Drill as later crafts, but no walkthrough proves they are a hard requirement.