Mining

Mining is the skill associated with breaking rocks.

During the first few days in Stardew Valley, the mines are closed due to some accident by Joja Corporation. When it is open, mining becomes viable to the player. Each level adds +1 efficiency with the class tool (Pickaxe).

Mining Skill

Mining skill is increased by using the pickaxe tool to break rocks. Each level adds +1 to pickaxe proficiency.

Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
Crafting Recipes:	Crafting Recipes:	Cooking Recipes:	Crafting Recipes:	Choose a Profession:
Cherry Bomb	Staircase	Miner's Treat	Glowstone Ring Transmute (Fe)	Miner +1 ore per vein.	Geologist Chance for gems to appear in pairs. (50% chance per mining node. Also applies to geodes spawned from breaking rocks.)
Level 6	Level 7	Level 8	Level 9	Level 10
Crafting Recipes:	Crafting Recipes:	Crafting Recipes:	Crafting Recipes:	Miner:	Geologist:
Bomb	Transmute (Au)	Mega Bomb	Crystalarium	Blacksmith Metal bars worth 50% more. (Applies to Copper, Iron, Gold, Iridium, & Radioactive Bars)	Excavator Chance to find geodes doubled. (Applies to all 4 types of geodes)
				Prospector Chance to find coal doubled.	Gemologist Gems worth 30% more. (applies to Minerals and Gems)

Tips & Tricks to efficient mining

Mining in the mines is often challenging due to the time and stamina cost required to break rocks. It's easy to forget how time passes in the mines due to not having any visual cues of the outside lighting. Things you should know however:

A) Going deeper yields more ore

B) Going deeper gives you better ore

Knowing this, you should know this pattern:

For every level you land on, quickly do a run around of the level to find obvious ores (Things like copper ore and quartz sticks out compared to other rocks).

Then, if you haven't found the stairwell yet, kill all enemies, as some of them will drop the ladder down (Killing enemies yield you with a stamina-free option, even if it takes some time, stamina tends to run out faster than in-game time). If all enemies are dead and you're still looking for a ladder down, start breaking rocks around until you do. If you have a lot of stone in your inventory, it might be worth it to make a staircase if you are short on stamina.

Doing this, you can quickly achieve maximum yield for least effort/Stamina.

The axe, scythe or pickaxe can be used to kill monsters in lieu of the sword, but they are weaker.

Mining Nodes

Mining is done by breaking apart rocks or nodes with your pickaxe; larger rocks in the outside area or higher tier rocks and nodes in The Mines, the Quarry, and Skull Cavern will take more hits or a stronger pickaxe to break.

Nodes

Diamonds begin appearing at level 50 in the mines, at approximately 1 in 500 chance of appearing in place of a stone. For every level after level 50, frequency increases by .000016 per level.

Image	Name	Description	Location
	Amethyst Node	Break apart to obtain Amethyst.
	Aquamarine Node	Break apart to obtain Aquamarine.
	Copper Node	Break apart to obtain Copper Ore.	Mine (any layer)
	Diamond Node	Break apart to obtain Diamonds.	Mine (Layer 50+)
	Emerald Node	Break apart to obtain Emeralds.
	Gem Node	Break apart to obtain various Gems.
	Gold Node	Break apart to obtain Gold Ore.	Mine (Layer 80+)
	Iridium Node	Break apart to obtain Iridium Ore.
	Iron Node	Break apart to obtain Iron Ore.	Mine (Layer 40+)
	Jade Node	Break apart to obtain Jade.
	Ruby Node	Break apart to obtain Rubies.
	Topaz Node	Break apart to obtain Topaz.