WoW Classic – Eastern Plaguelands Thorium Mining Route

One of the best places to gather Thorium Ore in WoW Classic is Eastern Plaguelands (EPL). That’s because you’ll find fewer Mithril and other mineral nodes here, and more Rich Thorium Veins than in Winterspring or Silithus. Even though EPL doesn’t offer the visibility and ease of navigation as Silithus, at least you won’t have to enter any caves or insect lairs, which is a plus. Also, on this EPL route, you’ll have a rather smaller area to cover compared to Winterspring and Silithus.

Requirements:

• Minimum level 60 character
• Minimum 275 mining skill
• Mining pick
• Riding skill 150 (Journeyman)
• Epic ground mount (100% speed)
• Optional: GatherMate 2 Classic addon

Where to go:

Eastern Plaguelands has one important neutral quest hub at Light’s Hope Chapel (75, 52) with Flight Paths for both Horde and Alliance. Therefore, this should be your starting point for this mining route, so fly to Light’s Hope Chapel either from Undercity or Ironforge.

What to do:

First of all, don’t bother with the southern part of Eastern Plaguelands, or with Plaguewood. In southern EPL you’ll find mostly Mithril (and there isn’t much of it either), while in the northwestern part of EPL, at Plaguewood, you’ll only find 1-2 small Thorium nodes, which aren’t worth the trouble.

So, the best route to take involves four major monster camps which contain one Rich Thorium Vein spawn each (with several possible locations for it at each camp), as well as several nodes in-between these monster camps.

The route goes something like this:

1. From Light’s Hope Chapel go a bit southwest and check the Pestilent Scar (68, 54) – there should be one Rich Thorium Vein there.
2. Go west through the area above Corin’s Crossing, at around (60, 55) – there should be one Small Thorium Vein on the small hills there.
3. Check Infectis Scar (51, 59) for another Rich Thorium Vein.
4. Exit Infectis Scar (the only access point is to the south near the road), go north and pass Blackwood Lake. In the area north or west of the lake, there should be one more small Thorium Vein.
5. Go further north and check the cliff formation right outside Zul’Mashar at around (57, 23) for another rich vein.
6. Enter the troll camp at Zul’Mashar (63, 15) – there’s another Rich Thorium Vein there.
7. Leave Zul’Mashar and go southeast – check Northdale (66, 23) for another Rich Thorium Vein.
8. Your next stop should be The Noxious Glade (78, 36), for one last Rich Thorium Vein, and then re-start the route at the Pestilent Scar.

Now, especially if you come here with a minimum level 70 character so that all the monsters are gray, you should be able to complete this route in less than 10 minutes. One completion should grant you a stack, maybe a stack and a half of Thorium Ore.

There is also a Rich Thorium Vein spawn at The Fungal Vale (34, 49), northwest from Infectis Scar, but the detour is rather long, so I left it out from the initial route. You can check this location too, especially if there’s mining competition in the area.

Finally, I have visited the Quel’Lithien Lodge (47, 14) – the blood elf camp west from Zul’Mashar – several times; did not find any mineral nodes there.

Loot:

After one hour following this route, I got the following:

• Thorium Ore x 154
• Truesilver Ore x 8
• Arcane Crystal x 5
• Huge Emerald x 3
• Large Opal x 2
• Blue Sapphire x 1
• Dense Stone x 168

Tips:

Although we’ve recommended a minimum level 60 character for this route, it’s best to come here with a level 70 character. You’ll get less aggro this way, fight fewer mobs, and move with less hindrance between areas of interest.

The GatherMate2 addon saves the location of each mineral (or herb) node on your map and can save you some trouble looking for them once you reach an area where a node can spawn. Each one of the major areas circled on the map above contain one Rich Thorium Ore, which can spawn in several spots in that particular area.

Related posts:
Silithus Thorium Mining Route (retail WoW)
Badlands Mithril & Iron Mining Route (WoW Classic)