Permafrost ore is embedded in labeled boulders, each restricted to a particular tool. Point at one to display its name, the prompt “Press LMB to break” and a pickaxe symbol. A red crossed-out icon means your equipped tool cannot mine it. This determines the Flint, Coal and Copper progression: the right pickaxe gives you access to the next ore.
Quick answer: Mine Flint with a Stone Pickaxe, then craft a Flint Pickaxe (2 Flint + 4 Wood at a Workbench) to break Coal and Copper boulders. Smelt copper into ingots in a Stone Furnace.
Which pickaxe mines what
Check the pickaxe tooltip for its mining limits; the “Mines” entry spells them out. Since the Stone Pickaxe handles only Flint and Stone, you must craft a Flint Pickaxe before Coal and Copper are accessible.
| Pickaxe | Mines | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Stone Pickaxe | Flint, Stone | Craft: 2 Stone + 4 Wood (inventory) |
| Refined Stone Pickaxe | Flint, Stone | Found or bought |
| Flint Pickaxe | Sulfur, Copper, Coal, Flint, Stone | Craft: 2 Flint + 4 Wood (Workbench) |
So the path is fixed. Build the Stone Pickaxe early from your inventory menu, gather Flint, set up a Workbench, and turn that Flint into a Flint Pickaxe. From there Coal and Copper open up. In early access these recipe costs can change with updates, but the “Mines” line on each tooltip is always the truth of the moment.
Where to find Flint
Flint is the first ore you can reliably gather, and it sits right on the main quest path. Bone Cave, the objective for “Dog Days” and then “New Home,” is lined with Flint Boulders along the main route between the dog’s chamber and the far exit. That includes the lower cavern where the bear roams and one boulder right at the exit into the Woods.
Outside the cave, more Flint Boulders turn up in a few places you reach in the first hours.
- Beyond the fixed road bridge near your first base lies a ravine, followed by an extended misty chasm continuing toward Solar Fields.
- On a Woods slope, slightly downhill from your first base.
A boulder yields several Flint after a handful of swings, so a brief trip to Bone Cave is usually enough to make your first Flint Pickaxe.
Where to find Coal
Coal shows up early, but you can’t mine most of it right away. The short passage linking the starting clearing and Horizon contains Coal Boulders and an Iron Boulder, both beyond the Stone Pickaxe’s ability. Return once you have crafted a Flint Pickaxe.
Once you can mine it, Coal is easy to stockpile:
- A Coal Boulder on the cliff path at Liam’s favorite spot above Horizon.
- Several Coal Boulders deeper in Bone Cave, worth a return trip with the Flint Pickaxe.
- Look for plenty in the ravine beyond the road bridge and in the chasm stretching toward Solar Fields.
No pickaxe yet? The Stone Furnace can produce Coal from scratch. The “Coal (x2)” recipe costs 5 Wood and returns 2 Coal, which covers you in a pinch while you set up proper mining.
Where to find Copper
There is no Copper at the first base, which trips up a lot of players building toward the radio. The first Copper Boulders sit in the ravine you reach by crossing the repaired road bridge near the base and dropping downhill to the right, along a rock face and a frozen creek bed.
Follow that ground on and the supply keeps coming. More Copper Boulders fill the narrow canyon and the misty chasm of rock spires beyond it, which ends at the location banner reading “SOLAR FIELDS.” One more sits inside Landscar Cave, the big stone archway right after Solar Fields.
If you just need a quick head start, a loose Copper Ingot (already smelted) lies on the ground at the Nomad Camp in the Cold Zone near the first base. One full run through the ravine and chasm, though, brings back far more copper and coal than a single radio build asks for.
Iron, Gold and Moonrock you cannot mine yet
Some boulders show up well before you have a tool that can break them, so don’t waste swings on these in this part of the game.
- The first cave before Horizon contains one Iron Boulder. The furnace offers an Iron Ingot recipe costing 3 Iron + 3 Coal, but there is no iron to mine here.
- Gold Boulder — Three are found in the chasm leading to Solar Fields. A Flint Pickaxe can’t break them, and the required pickaxe is not shown.
- Moonrock Boulder — found in Bone Cave. Also beyond the Flint Pickaxe, with no known tool for it yet.
For the record, Stone comes from Rock Shards on the ground (press F for 1 Stone each) and Rock Boulders (several per boulder with a pickaxe). You will want a good pile, since the Stone Furnace alone needs 40 Stone.
Turning ore into Copper Ingots and Wire
Raw Copper on its own does nothing. The radio and its wiring need smelted ingots, which means a Stone Furnace outside your cabin and a Workbench inside it.
Mining tips for long ore runs
Mining levels up the Pickaxes skill, which its description says increases damage against ores and reduces durability loss. The skill page lists “Additional damage (ores),” reading 14.00 at level 8 and 16.00 at level 9, so the more you mine the faster boulders fall.
- Check the tooltip’s DURABILITY STATUS: pickaxes wear down. After one extended trip, a Flint Pickaxe may be at roughly one-quarter durability, so make a spare before leaving. It costs 2 Flint + 4 Wood and requires a Workbench.
- Ore eats inventory space fast. Hand stacks to your dog using “Press F Check container” on its pack.
The chasm run is long and brutally cold. Solar Fields can read -25°C by day, with the cold warning showing -28°C there, so set out in the morning with food and warmth to spare.
Permafrost is still in early access, and updates can alter ore locations, tool requirements and recipe costs. The boulder-and-pickaxe system remains a dependable guide: each tool’s “Mines” entry shows at a glance whether it can break the boulder in front of you.
