Across all of Ark: Survival Evolved’s settings, having a steady supply of metal at hand is crucial, primarily for upgrading your tools, weapons, and armor, and as a key crafting resource throughout. Typically you’ll find good ore deposits in the more mountainous areas (along with the likes of obsidian and crystal), with lesser quantities sourced from smooth river rocks or as a small trade-off from your usual stone and flint mining.
This largely rings true in the latest Lost World expansion, although the large icy mountain that dominates the northern half of the map has precious few metal sources — so here are a few pointers on some of the better places to find ore galore. Feel free to, ahem, take your pick.
Finding metal for early upgrades in Lost Island
If you start life by spawning at the Easy location in the north-western corner of the map, the smart move is to follow the coastline to the east (ensuring a ready supply of water and a good eye line on any lurking predators). Once you start heading up the hill towards the Blue Obelisk, you’ll soon find a decent stash of metal ore, which can be farmed to quickly improve your basic toolset. Checking the map or GPS device for coordinates; a good start can be found at 22.5, 31.4, with a natural pathway leading up the mountain from the coastline to the northeast.
By continuing east along the coast, you can find lots of good sources in the central northern hills just before the large inlet. It’s probably worth setting up a camp around the metal found at 19.6, 50.8 as there’s a great supply of ore just up the hill to the east (20.8, 51.5). There’s more further inland if you wanted to scale the mountain to the west, with one such spot around 20.6, 46.7 that also has some crystal nearby up the hill, likewise on the smaller peak to the west of this around 23.6, 44.0.
Once you’ve got the gear to fight off some of the toughest dinos (including Wyverns), the crevasse that splits the snow-topped mountains from the two volcanos you’ll see off to the northwest is a near-literal goldmine of ore, crystal, and obsidian. Entering from the north, 26.0, 60.0 begins a great area for mining, with the mountains themselves proving not quite so fruitful. Approach from the south and you’ll get off to a bountiful beginning around 33.7, 67.0 — but be ready and willing to have to fight like hell for it.
If you’d rather steer clear of the heat and roaming Magmasaurs around the volcanos, you can instead try heading over the water to the cooler far-eastern mountain, where there’s a good haul to be mined around the rocks at 23.0, 76.1, with several more spots in the hills as you round the coastline, so it could be worth making a somewhat safer camp in this area.
Finding more metal ore sources in Lost Island
As you head further south, there are slim pickings until you reach the southern regions of the central island. To the east, there’s a good place to top up supplies around 48.2, 75.8 with another good source down at 58.1, 72.6.
Heading down the middle of the island, you’ll find a few deposits on your travels (such as 52.6, 51.5, and a decent spot in the forest at 56.3, 58.5), but nothing really worth camping near until you reach those southern mountains. The peak to the east of the Green Obelisk (topping off around 63.4, 60.6) is your best target, offering a huge supply of metal and crystal, while the mountain to the west (66.2, 47.7) also has plenty of the good stuff.
The large island to the west of the map has plenty of ore locations, mostly around its south-eastern peak (such as 71.6, 28.3) and stretching down the foothills towards the sea — with the area around 74.0, 29.0 a good source if you wanted to clear the trees and build yourself another coastal retreat.
If you make the voyage/flight across to the far-southern deserts of Scorched Earth, there’s enough metal to build an absolute fortress around the peaks to the east, with crystal and obsidian also in good supply. The large lake is a good central location for a picturesque base, and the surrounding mountains are littered with great resources. The flatter peaks to the east are pretty good too, but a flying mount is recommended as many spots are inaccessible on foot.
In short, you might want to stick to the northern parts of the island until you’re fully stocked up, and then be prepared for slim pickings until you’re well into the bottom half of the map.
