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Dinkum is a charming little life-sim set in a uniquely themed world based on Australia. Think Animal Crossing, mixed with Stardew Valley, with kangaroos and you are on the right track. Whether you want to complete milestones, make friends, go spelunking, or just chill in the bush, Dinkum has you covered.

Related: Animal Crossing - The Best Villagers Ever, Ranked

The main goal of Dinkum is to build your town. This requires all kinds of resources, but as you progress, metal becomes increasingly more important. This is where mining comes into play. Grab a licence, a pick, and prepare for a day of jolly rock thwacking.

Dinkum is in Early Access and is therefore subject to change. Information in this guide may be out of date depending on the build of the game.

How To Mine In Dinkum?

Dinkum base tent

Learning how to mine will be one of your first quests in Dinkum. In fact, you will learn how to extract precious metals before you learn how to do pretty much anything. To Mine, however, a few things are required.

Firstly, you need to get your mitts on a Mining Licence Level One. These can be bought from Fletch, and allow you to purchase the appropriate tools. Speaking of which, you will also require a pickaxe.

Pickaxes are used to hit rocks to extract materials, and they cost a pretty penny at John’s Store. You can also craft better pickaxes as you progress, but all of them are temporary. They will eventually break after enough usage.

How Much Do Mining Licences Cost?

Dinkum buying a level one mining licence

You only need a Level One Licence to start mining, but if you want to make the most out of the system, you will want to level that Licence up a bit as it will unlock better equipment.

Level

Cost

Level One

250 Points

Level Two

1000 Points

Level Three

3000 Points

How To Craft Better Pickaxes?

Dinkum buying a pick axe from John's

Pickaxes are locked behind Licences. Each Licence level will unlock a new Pickaxe, however only the most basic of Pickaxes can be bought.

Pickaxe

Licence

Cost

Basic

Level One

1200 Dinks

Copper

Level Two

  • x1 Basic Pickaxe
  • x2 Copper Bars

Iron

Level Three

  • x1 Copper Pickaxe
  • x2 Iron Bars

Where To Find Ore?

Dinkum mining tin ore

Having a licence and pickaxe won’t do you much good without some rocks to smack. Basic brown rocks can be hit for stone, but the reason you are here is that you want to grab those valuable minerals. There are three types of ore in Dinkum, and they are Tin, Copper, and Iron.

Related: Stardew Valley - Everything You Need To Know About Mining

Where To Find Tin Ore?

Tin Ore can be found just about anywhere, and it is by far the most common ore in Dinkum. Tin Ore may be the most abundant ore, however, it is also one of the most valuable since a lot of crafting recipes require it - especially early on.

Tin Ore can be turned into Tin Bars with the use of a Crude Furnace.

Where To Find Copper Ore?

Copper Ore, like Tin Ore, is fairly common. You can find it in any biome, it just favours deserts in particular. Copper Ore is a more advanced resource and is used in more advanced recipes. It is also vital for the construction of better mining equipment.

Like Tin, Copper Ore can be turned into Copper Bars with the use of a Crude Furnace.

Where To Find Iron Ore?

You can’t - at least not at first. Iron Ore is only found in Mines, and won’t appear in the overworld. Iron is the rarest of all ores, and is required for the most advanced recipes and, of course, in the construction of the very valuable Iron Pickaxe.

Unfortunately, your Crude Furnace will not work with Iron Ore. Instead, you will need to invest in a Furnace. These are expensive, coming in at 30,000 Dinks from John’s store. You will want a few of these set up so you can have multiple bars cooking at once.

Deep Mining And Quarries

Dinkum exploring a Deep Mine

Going out and hitting rocks with a sharp stick is a great way to get yourself ore. The downside to doing this of course is the resource cost in making the Pickaxes and the energy cost of, well, hitting the rocks.

There are other ways to mine, and some of them don’t even require physical exertion to take advantage.

Deep Mining

Deep Mining is not an early-game endeavour. It requires a substantial and regular investment in terms of both resources and Dinks. Firstly, just to start Deep Mining, you need a Deep Mining Licence. This will set you back a whopping 3500 Points.

With this unlocked, you can now construct a Mine, which is not cheap. To construct a Mine, you will need the following:

  • 250,000 Dinks
  • x10 Bags of Cement
  • x10 Old Gears
  • x1 Old Contraption
  • x2 Old Keys
  • x5 Tin Bars
  • x5 Copper Bars

That’s a lot of stuff and a staggering amount of Dinks. But even after you’ve poured all of that into the endeavour, you STILL can’t go Deep Mining. No, you need a Mine Pass which is bought from John’s Store and it will set you back another 25,000 Dinks. Not only that but this pass can only be used ONCE.

So why would you want to go Deep Mining? Well, it is the best way to get Iron Ore. Iron Ore is noticeably more common in Deep Mines than anywhere else in Dinkum, so if you want to have a heft stash of valuable ore, you are going to need to invest heavily.

Not only that, but Deep Mining will also provide valuable gems and fossils, although these are too big to fit in your pockets and must be carried back to the entrance.

Quarry

The final mining system in Dinkum is the Quarry. These buggers are a pain to access since they aren’t locked behind any kind of Licence. Instead, Quarries are locked behind Data Disks, which unlock later down the line.

Quarries essentially provide a passive supply of Ore. That’s it. You set them up, leave them be, and when you come back, you will have a small stash. Simple as that.

You can build multiple Quarries in Dinkum, but they aren’t cheap and they aren’t as effective as regular mining. The cost:

  • 70,000 Dinks
  • x5 Old Gears
  • x1 Old Contraption
  • x3 Old Springs
  • x1 Button Board
  • x1 Old Toy

Quarries are excellent once you have a few set up, but they take a while to get. Even having multiple, you are likely better off just doing it manually if you need large amounts of ore.

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