Permafrost Copper: Mining, Smelting and Wire
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Quick answer: copper comes from copper boulders, and the stone pickaxe is not enough — you need the flint pickaxe. Smelt copper ore with coal in a stone furnace into ingots, then craft ingots into wire at a workbench. Wire is what the story wants: the radio station bench costs 3 wire + 10 wood.
Where to find copper
- Caves are the dependable source. The bone cave system (where you rescue the dog) contains copper boulders, and there is one right outside its entrance.
- The ravine past the repaired bridge near the first base area — cross the bridge, take the downhill path to the right, and check the rock faces and frozen creek bed.
- Community map data reports clusters at Rift Cave, Landscar Cave and the Crater, with smaller deposits around the improvised radio tower and the shattered convoy.
A copper boulder yields 3–6 ore (game files); copper stacks to 50. A red crossed-out pickaxe icon at your crosshair means the tool tier is too low.
Smelting copper into ingots
- Build a stone furnace (reported cost: 40 stone, unlocked with blueprint points).
- Fuel it with coal — the recipe is 3 copper ore + 5 coal per copper ingot.
- Coal is genuinely scarce on Survival difficulty, so smelt only what you need. The furnace also converts 5 wood into 2 coal if you're wood-rich and coal-poor; coal burns longest (roughly two minutes per unit reported).
What copper is for
| Item | Recipe (reported) | Station |
|---|---|---|
| Copper ingot | 3 copper ore + 5 coal | Stone furnace |
| Wire | 1 copper ingot | Workbench |
| Radio station bench | 3 wire + 10 wood | Build menu |
| Tailoring bench | 3 copper ingots + wood | Build menu |
| Copper tool tier (axe/pickaxe/shiv/sledgehammer) | copper ingots + wood | Workbench |
The radio station bench is the important one: building it for the "New Home" quest opens the Hunter's Glade questline and moves the story forward. Base-camp wall renovations also consume wire (10 scrap + 1 wire per wall at house camp).
Later, copper becomes an alloy input: copper and iron feed refined metal, which gates the top gear tiers — see quality metal.
Common mistakes
- Smelting everything immediately. Copper and iron are needed later for alloys — keep a reserve.
- Confusing scrap and plastic scrap. Different materials; recipes won't accept the wrong one.
- Forgetting ingots at home. There is no remote crafting — materials must be in your personal inventory, not a chest.
- Mining with the stone pickaxe and wondering why nothing drops — that's the red-icon tool-tier check working as intended.
FAQ
Do copper nodes respawn? Unconfirmed in the current build — treat them as finite for planning.
How much copper do I need for the radio station? 3 wire = 3 ingots = 9 ore + 15 coal, reported.
Related: Flint: where to find it · Flint pickaxe · Workbench
Related guides
- Permafrost Flint: Where to Find It and What It's ForFlint comes from flint boulders mined with any pickaxe — the bone cave is the first reliable source. It unlocks the entire flint tool tier.
- Permafrost Flint Pickaxe: Recipe and Pickaxe TiersCraft the flint pickaxe at a workbench (2 flint + 4 wood) to unlock copper, coal and sulfur mining. Here is the whole pickaxe ladder.
- Permafrost Workbench: How to Build and Use ItBuild a workbench for 10 wood under a roof. It crafts flint tools, wire, bandages and heaters — but items land on the bench and chests don't count.
- Permafrost Quality Metal: Smelting Chain and UsesQuality metal is smelted from iron and scrap — it gates the military and lunar gear tiers. Here is the full chain from boulder to bar.