One of the most abundant ores, Iron ore, can be acquired at a few mines in Skyrim. These Mines are scattered at a few locations in the game. If you have just started learning Smithing, then knowing about these Iron Mines will surely make your game a lot easier as you won’t have to go out on yourself and look for all these mines. It will surely save you time too.
- Skyrim has tons of iron mines, each having valuable minerals that can help with gear and other equipment from the early going.
- Only for Iron, there are a few Mines that have Iron Veins for players to mine in the world of Skyrim.
- Apart from the mines I mentioned below, players can also find Iron Ores and Ingots at Solitude Blacksmith, Sorli’s House, Treva’s Watch, East Empire Company Warehouse, The Scorched Hammer, and Solitude Lighthouse.
- Author’s Note: After going through Skyrim for several weeks on Steam, I feel confident going into the topic with thorough experience.
Best Iron Mines
| Iron Mines | What Is This For | Hold | Clearable | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halted Stream Camp Mine | Best Early-Game Iron Farm Mine. | Whiterun Hold | Yes | Northwest of Whitewatch Tower |
| Fort Fellhammer | Best Mine for Farming Iron through Enemies. | Winterhold | Yes | Southeast of Dawnstar |
| Embershard Mine | The Mine Rich With Iron Ores. | Falkreath Hold | Yes | Northwest of Helgen and Southwest of Riverwood |
| Knifepoint Ridge | Best Mid-Game Iron Farm Mine. | Falkreath Hold | Yes | Northwest of Falkreath |
| Iron-Breaker Mine | Mine for Easy Iron Farming. | The pale | No | Dawnstar |
| Blind Cliff Cave | The Mine Rich in Iron Veins. | The Reach | Yes | Southwest of Karthwasten, east of the Lover Stone |
Halted Stream Camp
- Why I Chose This: It is arguably the best Iron Mine, as players get access to it early in the game.
One of the best mines that you will come across in Skyrim for Iron Veins is the Halted Stream Camp. It isn’t hidden in some faraway distant lands, but right there at the beginning of the game. It is located to the Northwest of Whiterun.
- You can go there on your own and clear the Mine of all its Iron Ores.
- You must remember that Bandits overrun the Mine, so clearing it will be hard.
- Once the Mine is clear of the bandits, pick up the pickaxe and start mining.
- There are a total of 16 Veins inside the Mine.
- Make sure to get all of them, and you will get a total of 48 Iron Ores with three ores on each Vein.
- Apart from that, you will find a total of 4 Iron ores lying around in the Mine.
Fort Fellhammer
The next best iron mines location is Fort Fellhammer. It is located to the South of Dawnstar. It is a little far away from Dawnstar, so you might get lost while looking for it. You can check the map screenshot down below to check its location.
- Why I Chose This: Although Fort Fellhammer will be filled with Bandits or Silver Hand, the Iron Ores found here are totally worth it.
- Fort Fellhammer is filled with Bandits, or in some cases, the Silver Hand.
- There are a total of 10 Iron veins in Fort Fellhammer.
- They all will give you 30 Iron Ore to work with.
- Apart from that, if you explore Fort Fellhammer, you will come across another 10 Iron Ores.
- In total, there are 40 Iron Ores that you will come across here.
Embershard Mine
One of the first Iron Mines you will most likely come across on your travels of the world of Skyrim is the Embershard Mine. It is the first mine, as you will locate it on your way to Riverwood after surviving the Dragon’s attack at Helgen. It is to the Northeast of the Standing Stones and to the Southwest of Riverwood.
- Why I Chose This: This Mine contains up to 28 Iron Ores.
- You’ll find the usual Bandits swarming the Mine.
- There are a total of 8 Iron Veins in the mine.
- That will give you a total of 24 Iron Ores.
- With that, there are two extra Iron Ores and 2 Iron Ingots scattered in the mine.
Also, consider reading the best Bow and Arrow, and build guides for easy mining in SKyrim.
Knifepoint Ridge
Up next, we have another Iron Mine that is a great target for some early-game Iron mines in Skyrim. It is the Knifepoint Ridge that is mainly a mine of Corundum Ores but has a good amount of Iron Veins too. It is a camp for the Bandits that have taken over it.
You’ll find them spread around at the Knifepoint Ridge and inside the Knifepoint Mine. It is located to the Northwest of Falkreath. We’ll have its map down below for you to check out.
- Why I Chose This: It is a great Corundum ore source with an ample amount of Iron Veins.
- The mine is mainly a Corundum Mine, but it contains 5 Veins of Iron Ore, giving you 15 Ores.
- There are 3 Iron Ores that you can loot from the mine too.
- With that, you’ll find 19 Corundum Veins in Knifepoint Mine too.
- All in all, you will get a total of 18 Iron Ores and 57 Corundum Ores.
Iron-Breaker Mine
A small iron mine located in Dawnstar is the Iron-Breaker Mine. The mine is easy to find. If you can’t find it, you can start by looking for the White Hall adjacent to the Mine. Beitild is the owner of the mine. Unlike other Mines in Skyrim, the Iron-Breaker Mine isn’t swarmed by Bandits so you can go in and mine all the Iron Ores that you want.
- Why I Chose This: This Mine is owned by Beltild and pays miners to mine for her.
- The Mine has 6 Iron Veins that will give you 18 Iron Ores.
- The player will come across 1 Iron Ore while looking around in the Mine.
- In total, there are 19 Iron Ores in the Mine.
Blind Cliff Cave
Up next, we have the Blind Cliff Cave. It is a Cave in the Reach region. The Blind Cliff Cave is one of the interesting Iron Mines, as you will get to do a unique mini quest here. It is called The Affairs of Hagravens. We’ll explain it in a while. The Blind Cliff Cave is located to the Northeast of Markarth. If you have located the Lover Stone, then head east from there, and you will come across the Cave.
- Why I Chose This: The Cave has two Hagravens fighting for power.
- The Player needs to be Level 14 to clear the Blind Cliff Cave easily.
- There are Forsworn and two Hagravens inside the Blind Cliff Cave.
- Make sure to come prepared, as Forsworn are much more deadly compared to the Bandits.
- There are Six Iron Veins in total at Blind Cliff Cave.
- In addition to that, you will come across three Quicksilver Veins.
- All in all, there are 18 Iron Ores and 9 Quicksilver Ores for you to mine.
Uses of Iron
Iron is the easiest to acquire ore in Skyrim. Due to that, it was once the best source for leveling up Smithing to 100. Unlike other Ingots, the Iron Ingot only requires one Ore, whereas others require Two or more Ores of the same material. When you have Smithing 100, you can craft powerful Armor and Weapons in Skyrim.
- Although Gold might seem quite hard to get, once you have acquired Iron Ore, you can use a trick to get Gold.
- For that, you will have to use the Transmute spell of Alteration.
- That will first turn Iron Ore into Silver Ore, and then, when you use Transmute on it again, it will convert that Silver Ore into Gold Ore.
My Take
In my opinion, you should definitely focus on the best Iron Mines but getting Iron from Mines and working on it isn’t the only method to increase smithing in Skyrim. You will have to focus on other materials too. Now, the World of Skyrim isn’t only about Fighting and Iron Smithing or with other materials. It is filled with enemies and Dragons and everything. While it is imperative to venture into these Iron Mines, there are plenty of other things to do in the game.
There are a variety of things that you can do in Skyrim. That is why the game is still alive today. Among many other things, you can have your own Horse to travel around. And the different Followers that you can have to help you on your quests.
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