Mining

“It's taking longer than I calculated.”

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Mining is a non-combat activity that allows players to excavate various minerals and ores used as resources in Cetus. It can be performed in the Plains of Eidolon and Orb Vallis.

Mechanics

Gear Acquisition

Before players can begin mining, they must first acquire a Nosam Cutter from Old Man Sumbaat in Cetus or a Sunpoint Plasma Drill from Smokefinger in Fortuna  They can either be bought for Ostron/Solaris Standing, or selected as a free Ostron/Solaris ranking reward. Players must then equip the mining tool on their Gear menu to be able to use it.

Finding Veins

Out on the Plains, players have several means of finding resource deposits.

• Veins stand out visually as bright colored spots surrounded by light grey patches on rocks and rock formations. Red spots denote Ores, while Blue spots denote Gems. Note that the various fossilized Sentient bones littering the Plains are not rocks (despite bearing a superficial resemblance to them) and will not have any mineral veins.
• The Nosam Cutter has several tools to find minerals from a distance. Equipping the Nosam Cutter (default hold Q  and select the cutter) will bring up a HUD with the following features:
  • The left side of the HUD will display icons of rocks indicating the number of mineral deposits within the detector's range (higher tiers of Cutters will increase the detectable number).
  • The right side of the HUD is equipped with a rangefinder that shows the distance to the nearest mineral vein being detected (higher tiers of Cutters will increase the detection range).
  • Finally, an audible repeating tick (akin to a metal detector) will be heard if the detector is within range of a deposit. This sound will grow in pitch if the player is looking in the direction of the vein, and tick more frequently the closer player is to the source.

Mining Process

Once the player has located a vein, they can begin mining it by equipping their Cutter, and then zooming in on the vein (default hold RMB ). This will reveal up to three blue drilling spots. Aim onto a drilling spot, then Press and Hold the fire button (default LMB ) while remaining still. A ring of unlit colored lights with white brackets will appear.

The goal is to stop firing when the colored lights reach as close to the middle of these white brackets as possible. The white brackets may or may not be sliding, and may or may not have another pair of tiny, white stationary brackets below it. If this exists, these tiny brackets are the optimal area to stop cutting in, presenting a high-risk high-reward scenario, if one wishes to attempt it.

A progress gauge will fill up at the top of the Cutter's HUD, composed of 5 small mineral icons determining the amount of resources gained and the quality of the deposit that was just mined, all affected by the timing of the cut. The mining is completed once the yellow gem bar fills up, which will reward a random mineral, either Ore or Gem depending on whether an Ore or Gem-type deposit was mined (Red denotes Ore deposits and Blue denotes Gem deposits).

The more accurate the timing during cutting, the higher likelihood a better-grade mineral will be mined, and the higher the amount of minerals will be given upon completion. Players can halt cutting at anytime, however doing so will immediately "complete" the drilling spot that was cut into, preventing a retry of that spot, and thus reducing the quality and quantity of extracted minerals. This makes uninterrupted cutting most desirable, after clearing the immediate area of enemies.

Cutters

Cutters can be purchased from Old Man Suumbaat or Smokefinger for standing. More advanced Cutters feature more accurate mining beams, as well as longer detection ranges for minerals.

Additionally, the Advanced Nosam Cutter has a minimap radar and – depending on the quality of the cut – a 15% ~ 30% chance of extracting an Eidolon Gem (Sentirum or Nyth).

All cutters work on Plains of Eidolon and Orb Vallis. However, the Sunpoint Plasma Drill purchased from Smokefinger, is required to mine the rarest Gems in Orb Vallis. Like the Advanced Nosam Cutter, the Sunpoint drill also possesses a minimap radar and is able to extract Eidolon Gems.

Nosam Cutter
500 Standing 500 at Neutral
Unstable mining beam
Detection amount: 5 deposits
Detection range: 30 meters

Focused Nosam Cutter
10000 Standing 10000 at Visitor
Somewhat stable mining beam, But unstable while zoomed in
Detection amount: 10 deposits
Detection range: 45 meters

Advanced Nosam Cutter
20000 Standing 20000 at Surah
Perfectly stable mining beam
Detection amount: 10 deposits
Detection range: 60 meters
Mini-map radar (50 meters)
Can extract Eidolon Gems

SunpointMiningDrill.png

Sunpoint Plasma Drill
500 Standing 500 at Neutral

Gems

Raw gems found on the Plains of Eidolon can be turned in to Suumbaat for standing, while those found in the Orb Vallis can be turned in to Smokefinger:

50 Standing 50	Azurite	Devar	Phasmin	Noctrul
75 Standing 75	Veridos
100 Standing 100	Crimzian
200 Standing 200	Goblite
400 Standing 400	File:Sentrium.png Sentirum	Nyth
500 Standing 500	Amarast
1,000 Standing 1,000	Zodian	Thyst

Tips

• Mining veins spawn in greater numbers in areas with many rocks packed closely together, such as caves, rock tunnels and Grineer excavation sites.
• The area on the Plains where one can consistently find the most mining veins in the smallest area is the bay known as Er-Phryah's Vigil. It is located west and slightly north of the Cetus gates, around Grineer Base #2 (as marked on the map). This bay area can be recognized by the towering Sentient bones in the local shallows, which are periodically electrified by a nearby Grineer machine. This bay and the nearby cave will almost always have 15 or more veins in a relatively small 100 square meter area, making it ideal for mining.
• While Grineer-occupied caves have a high concentration of veins, they may generate in areas that are also quite difficult to reach with a cutter, such as high up rock faces and on ceilings. Using Ivara's Dashwire Arrow to create elevation can make reaching these veins much easier.
• You can use the cutters when in Razorwing mode, which can aid in scouting overland areas quickly for veins and also for reaching any hard-to-get ones (or to position yourself better for a cleaner cut).

Notes

• A Nosam Cutter and a Plasma Drill cannot be equipped at the same time.
• Cut gems are tradeable under "Crafting Components".
• Gems are used as materials in Ostron crafting, including the creation of Zaws and Amps.
• The secondary fire function (default middle mouse button) can be used to enhance the mining tool's zoom level while aiming.
• Firing the cutter is considered an alarming action, and will thus alert enemies within the vicinity. Consequently, it will disrupt Ivara's Prowl ability when used, rendering her visible for the duration that the cutter is active.
• It is possible for two veins to spawn at the same spot, however only one cutting outline will appear and the second vein disappears after cutting the first one (tested with a regular Excalibur and Nosam Cutter)
• The color of the Nosam Cutter and its beam is determined by the Warframe's chosen colors and energy color.
• The Advanced Nosam Cutter is required to mine the Eidolon gems Sentirum and Nyth.
• With an Advanced Nosam Cutter: Although it may show that it detected 10 deposits, there can be more than 10 deposits marked on mini-map.
• It seems that the mining beam range can reach up to 10 meters.
• Using the built-up charge of Volt's passive ability, it is possible to do damage with a Nosam Cutter equal to the amount of electricity stored.
• The amount of resources yielded in mining is affected by a Resource Booster (Doubling the amount mined).
• The frequency of gem deposits is affected by a Resource Drop Chance Booster.
• Mining has a base chance, as well as a bonus based on your accuracy, to reward a rare gem (15% + 3% per filled gem icon).

Media

A concise guide to mining- Ores, gems and locations

Warframe Farming - Eidolon Mining (Gems & Ore)

Patch History

Hotfix 24.0.2 (2018-11-09)

• Improved Mining visibility in low lighting by dimming the flashlight more when aiming with any Mining tool.

Update 24.0 (2018-11-08)

Smokefinger - Mining

Meet 'Smokefinger', the Orb Vallis mineralogy enthusiast. This Fortuna vendor is your one-stop shop for the mining tools and resources you need! Speak with him in Fortuna to purchase the SUNPOINT PLASMA DRILL a fast-ignition, high-intensity mining tool capable of extracting the rarest of materials with surgical precision, and get to mining the Ores and Gems of The Orb Vallis:

• Axiditre
• Noctrul
• Phasmin
• Travoride
• Goblite
• Venerol
• Hesperon
• Amarast
• Zodian
• Thyst

Note: Ostron Mining Tools can be used out in The Orb Vallis to mine Gems/Ore, but the Sunpoint Plasma Drill is required to mine the rarest Gems in Vallis.

Mining Changes (Plains of Eidolon & Vallis)

Mining launched with Update 22: Plains of Eidolon and introduced a new resource extracting system to Warframe! Collecting Ore and Gems required you trace a pattern around a deposit using a Mining cutter tool in order to release it from its encasement. Since then it has seen several small iterations over time in order to ease what was at times tricky to execute, especially since the quality of the deposit was affected by the accuracy of the trace (which typically made the process very slow).

With the introduction of a brand new open landscape with deposits of its own, we knew that we needed to add new challenge that required similar levels of precision and skill, but in a speedier fashion and with much more return. So with that said, we have made the following changes to Mining:

Extraction is now done by heating a deposit to the ideal temperature. Aiming and shooting your Mining tool at any of the heat spots (flashing blue dots) on a deposit will begin the process.

A thermometer gauge ring will appear with boxed indicators that denote where you have to land in order to extract from the deposit. Simply hold the fire button and release when you are inside any of the indicators on the ring. Red deposits still indicate Ores and Blue indicates Gems. Landing in the smaller of the indicators yields Gems (even on a Red deposit).

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General mining notes

• All hot spots must be completed in order to successfully collect Ore/Gems.
  • Heat spots will glow red to indicate when you have successfully completed it.
• The more heat spots, the harder the extractions become with timing pressures and moving boxes.
• If all of the indicators are missed, you will still be rewarded a small amount of Ore/Gem (depending on the deposit type).

Hotfix 22.12.3 (2018-02-12)

• Fixed a script error that could occur when Mining.

Update 22.12 (2018-02-09)

• Resource Drop Chance Boosters now affect Mining.
• Fixed a Mining exploit caused by switching weapons while zooming in.

Update 22.11 (2018-01-31)
Mining Additions & Changes: We want you to feel like the perfect Gem that you are, and that means giving Mining a bit of a revisit! Feedback about difficulty level and perfect extraction recognition are just a few of the concerns we acted on and tweaked for the better.

• Added a new celebratory success sound for doing a perfect Mining extraction in the Plains!
• Added different levels of FX for Mining success.
• The Gem count now stays on screen until the Mining reward fades.
• The Mining outline now stays visible longer (8 seconds) while you're cutting.
• Reduced the accuracy required to get a perfect Mining extraction, meaning you don’t need to be as close to the line as before!

Hotfix 22.10.2 (2018-01-26)
Mining Buff:
For those of you who may not have been aware, mining in the Plains has a base chance, as well as a bonus based on your accuracy, to reward a rare gem. We’ve increased both the base chance as well as the bonus for accuracy. You can tell how accurate you are by the number of gem icons that you fill up while mining. Each filled gem icon increases the total chance to receive a rare gem.

• Now: 15% + 3% per filled gem icon
• Previously: 10% + 2% per filled gem icon

Hotfix 22.8.3 (2018-01-11)

• Fixed a script error when Mining in the Plains.

Hotfix 22.6.1 (2017-12-08)

• Improved the ability to hear the mining laser audio more clearly when it's raining.

Update 22.6 (2017-12-07)

• Fixed crosshair being visible when opening and closing the Gear menu while holding your mining beam.

Update 22.4 (2017-11-23)

• Fixed minimap Mining markers lingering for the Advanced Nosam Cutter when the tool is put away.
• Fixed minimap Mining markers lingering for the Advanced Nosam Cutter for Clients if the Host has their Cutter out.

Hotfix 22.2.4 (2017-11-06)

• Fixed the Mining UI not appearing after switching to a different weapon and then back again.

Update 22.1 (2017-10-25)

• Limbo can no longer mine while in the Rift. Rocks aren't affected by his Void Magic.

Hotfix 22.0.7 (2017-10-19)

• Fixed a memory corruption error when using the mining tool.
• Fixed mining deposits overlapping on certain rocks.

Hotfix 22.0.6 (2017-10-18)

• Fixed the Mining laser permanently hiding the normal reticle.

Hotfix 22.0.5 (2017-10-17)

• Optimizations towards Mining.

Hotfix 22.0.3 (2017-10-16)

• Fixed mining Resources collected in the Plains duplicating if you went from Cetus to the Plains and then joined a Conclave mission.

Hotfix 22.0.2 (2017-10-13)

• Fixed Mining breaking and the UI getting stuck on screen if you were Mining out in the Plains, walked back into Cetus and then back out into the Plains, and then completed Mining a deposit.

Update 22.0 (2017-10-12)

• Introduced

Last updated: Hotfix 22.19.1 (2018-05-03)