Copper powers most of the electric tools and advanced gear you will want in Solarpunk, and it does not exist on your starting island at all. To get it, you fly an airship to a second island north of your base, mine the ore there, and process it in a Furnace. The trip is simple once you know the route, but it punishes anyone who shows up without spare tools.
Quick answer: Build an Airship Dock, fly directly north to the small second island visible from your starting island’s edge, break the brown rocks and the ground copper node with stone pickaxes, then smelt the Copper Ore in a Tier 2 Furnace to turn it into Copper bars.
Requirements before you can mine copper
You need a working airship before copper is reachable. That means building an Airship Dock, which unlocks at Research Table Tier 3. You do not need to unlock the Map first, because the copper island is close enough to spot with your own eyes from the edge of your starting island.
In co-op, airships are personal. Each player in a multiplayer session has to build their own dock, so friends cannot ride along on one airship.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Airship Dock | Built after unlocking Research Table Tier 3, then assembled with the airship materials. |
| Map | Not required. The copper island is visible from your starting island’s edge. |
| Furnace | Unlocked at Research Table Tier 2, needed only to smelt the ore later. |
| Spare pickaxes | Bring extra Sticks and Stones to craft replacements on site. |
Where to find copper ore
Climb into your airship and head straight north of your main base. The copper island is the small, second island in that direction, and it floats in plain sight from your starting island, so you can navigate to it by eye alone.
When you land, you will see large brown rocks on the surface and flat patches of ground. The brown rocks are your first source. There are also three Watermelon spawns on the same island, which is worth noting since Watermelon feeds into later Traderbot trades.
How to mine copper ore efficiently
The island also has trees, Stones, and Sticks you can gather to make replacement pickaxes on the spot. If you chop trees, replant them. You will be coming back to this island repeatedly, and a stripped-bare island becomes a supply headache later.
Note: Later in the game you can unlock a Drill that automates copper mining using electrical power, which removes the manual pickaxe grind entirely. That comes well after the early airship phase.
How to smelt Copper bars in the Furnace
Raw Copper Ore is useless until it goes through a Furnace, where it becomes Copper (the in-game name for the bar). The Furnace is a Tier 2 research, so by the time you can reach the copper island, you should already have one running from making Iron Bars.
| Step | Detail |
|---|---|
| Furnace capacity | Up to 16 Copper Ore per batch. |
| Best early fuel | Wood is reliable; Wax Briquettes are more efficient but need Bricks. |
| Faster output | Run multiple Furnaces in parallel. |
| Research needed | Furnace unlocks at Research Table Tier 2. |
Don’t spend your first Copper before checking research gates
Copper is a gate material, not just a crafting ingredient. Research Table Tier 4 requires 1 Copper to unlock, and the early Traderbot trade route eventually asks for 32 Copper to buy your first airship range upgrade. Burning your very first Copper on a tool can quietly stall your progression.
Before you craft anything with it, confirm whether your next research tier or trade needs the Copper first. Once Tier 4 is open and your trade stock is set aside, the rest of your Copper is free to spend on the electric tools and gear that made the trip north worthwhile.
