Mining Guide - Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Walkthrough
Welcome back to another episode of our Harvest Moon: Light of Hope guide. In this section, we’ll cover common problems related to mining and ores.
Mining is an essential activity in the game. You can collect ores and refine them into gems, which can be sold for profit, used to repair buildings, or to upgrade your tools.
You’ll also encounter quests that require you to obtain specific ores from the mine. But before you can start mining, the most important step is to get a Hammer.
How to Get the Hammer
To begin, you need to have unlocked the Mountain area by placing the Second Stone Tablet in the Lighthouse. Upon entering this area for the first time, you’ll meet Naomi and Sally.
Naomi will give you a map of Beacon Island. This map not only helps you navigate, but also lets you see villagers’ locations in real-time. She will also recommend repairing the mine before focusing on other buildings.
Your first task is to repair the bridge (with a broken stone tablet in front of it) leading to the central area of the Mountain. There, you’ll find Gus’ house (Gus’ Smithy) and the mine. Repair both structures.
Repair the bridge
Materials: Softwood Lumber ×5
Cost: 600 G
Repair Gus’ Smithy
Materials: Softwood Lumber ×20
Cost: 500 G
Repair the mine
Materials: Softwood Lumber ×10
Cost: 500 G
After repairing Gus’ Smithy, visit the Mountain area the next day to trigger an event where you meet Melanie, Gus’ granddaughter. She’ll thank you for fixing her grandfather’s home.
Next, you’ll be asked to find Gus. You can locate him in front of the mine. Gus will then request that you collect an Iron Ore (commonly found on levels 5–6) and will loan you a Hammer for the task.
Once you bring the Iron Ore back to Gus at his home, he’ll let you keep the Hammer as a reward. Now you can mine ores and break rocks freely. Gus can also upgrade your tools and refine ores into valuable gems.
Basic Mining
Mining in Harvest Moon: Light of Hope requires breaking rocks (ores) found in each room of the mine to obtain different types of ores. Once you’ve mined the rocks, you’ll need to find the ladder that leads down to the next floor.
The deeper you go, the more valuable the ores become. Every time you pass five floors, you’ll unlock a checkpoint.
This is extremely useful—when you re-enter the mine, you can start from your latest checkpoint instead of beginning at the very first floor. These checkpoints will help you progress all the way to level 100.
However, note that if you leave and re-enter the mine without descending to a lower floor, you will lose about 2 in-game hours.
Ore difficulty increases with depth:
- Levels 1–30: Black ores – Can be broken with Gus’ Hammer.
- Levels 31–60: Orange ores – Require the Expert Hammer.
- Levels 61–100: Blue ores – Require the Master’s Hammer.
Note: “Level” refers to the mine’s floor number.
How to Reach Level 100 in the Mine
To reach the 100th floor, I use a method similar to the one from Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories.
In that game, you could use the save/load trick—but in Light of Hope, you can’t. Thankfully, the checkpoint system makes things much easier, as explained above.
The core strategy is what I call the “3×3” and “4×4” plots trick:
- If there are ores inside a 3×3 (9 squares) or 4×4 (16 squares) area, the ladder will not be in that area.
- If there are no ores in that area, the ladder is very likely hidden there. Start digging from the wall and work your way toward the center of the room.
Use the 3×3 trick starting from floor 6, and switch to the 4×4 trick from floor 51 onward. Upgrading your hoe will make finding ladders much faster.
Finally, always bring food to restore stamina—bread, milk, eggs, or cooked dishes that provide a large stamina boost are great choices.
The Complete List of Ores and Gems
Below are the ores from mining and what if it refined further on Gus:
| Ore | Price | Refined to | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stone | 1 G | Material Stone | 60 G |
| Glass Material | 5 G | Glass | 60 G |
| Iron Ore | 5 G | Iron | 150 G |
| Bronze Ore | 10 G | Bronze | 150 G |
| Silver Ore | 20 G | Silver | 400 G |
| Gold Ore | 50 G | Gold | 600 G |
| Mithril Ore | 60 G | Mithril | 700 G |
| Orichalcum Ore | 70 G | Orichalcum | 700 G |
| Adamantite Ore | 100 G | Adamantite | 900 G |
| Agate Ore | 50 G | Agate | 900 G |
| Jade Ore | 50 G | Jade | 900 G |
| Fluorite Ore | 50 G | Fluorite | 1250 G |
| Opal Ore | 50 G | Opal | 1250 G |
| Crystal Ore | 50 G | Crystal | 1500 G |
| Peridot Ore | 70 G | Peridot | 1500 G |
| Moonstone Ore | 70 G | Moonstone | 1800 G |
| Onyx Ore | 70 G | Onyx | 2000 G |
| Topaz Ore | 70 G | Topaz | 2000 G |
| Amethyst Ore | 70 G | Amethyst | 2000 G |
| Ruby Ore | 100 G | Ruby | 2400 G |
| Emerald Ore | 100 G | Emerald | 2600 G |
| Sapphire Ore | 100 G | Sapphire | 3000 G |
| Diamond Ore | 200 G | Diamond | 3000 G |
| Pink Diamond Ore | 200 G | Pink Diamond | 4000 G |
| Soul Gem Ore | 300 G | Soul Gem | 5000 G |
Notes:
- You can get Mithril Ore starting at level 31 and above.
- You can get Orichalcum Ore starting at level 36 and above.
- You can get Diamond Ore starting at level 41 and above.
- Adamantite, Pink Diamond, and Soul Gem Ore can be found at level 61 and above.
That's the Mining Guide in Harvest Moon: Light of Hope. I hope this helps with your gameplay. Thanks for reading!