How to Prospect Ore in Burning Crusade Classic

In Burning Crusade Classic, learn Prospecting at Jewelcrafting 20, then activate the ability and select a stack of at least five eligible ore in your bags. The cast consumes five ore of one type and gives a random result from that ore's prospecting table. Use raw ore; smelted bars can't be prospected.

Learn the ability and test a cheap stack

1. Raise Jewelcrafting to 20 and visit a Jewelcrafting trainer. Learn Prospecting and check that it appears among your abilities.
2. Put at least five pieces of the same prospectable ore in your bags. Copper Ore is a simple starting point when you have just learned the ability.
3. Activate Prospecting and click the ore stack. Allow the cast to finish, then collect the results.
4. Check that the stack lost five ore and that you received the loot. Repeat only after confirming you selected the ore you meant to use.

Prospecting is not the same as Mining. You don't need to have gathered the ore yourself, and your Mining skill doesn't determine what your Jewelcrafter can prospect. A Miner can supply the raw material, but the character doing the prospecting needs the Jewelcrafting ability and the skill required for the ore.

Don't smelt the ore first if your goal is gems. Smelting turns raw ore into bars for a different set of recipes. If you need bars for settings and raw ore for gems, split the materials before you head to the forge or start prospecting.

Check the skill requirement before buying ore

Different ores require different Jewelcrafting skill. Learning the ability at 20 gets you started; it doesn't unlock every ore. Check a Burning Crusade Classic prospecting table or the in-game requirement before you buy a stack of higher-tier ore. If you're just below a threshold, save the ore and increase Jewelcrafting through recipes you can already make.

Buy a small quantity the first time you try an ore. One attempt lets you confirm that you meet the skill requirement and have enough bag space for the results. It won't tell you what you can expect to get from every batch. Prospecting has a loot table, so the first outcome can differ from the second even when you use the same ore.

Count full batches when you plan the purchase. With 27 ore of one type, you can prospect five times and will have two ore left. Combining leftovers helps only when they're the same ore type. Three Copper Ore and two Tin Ore aren't a valid batch of five.

Decide whether to buy ore or a finished gem

If you need one specific gem for a recipe today, compare the cost of buying it directly with the cost of prospecting a batch. There is no guarantee that five ore will give you the particular gem you want. Buying the gem directly can be the better choice when you would have no use for the other results.

Prospecting is more useful when you're stocking several recipes or can use the other gems and materials in the table. Write down the type and quantity of ore you started with if you want to compare results across batches. Keep the material cost separate from the value of gems you haven't sold. A large pile of results isn't the same thing as earning back what you spent.

Leave space in your bags and check the loot as you go. You may get materials in addition to the gems you were expecting. If you're saving a particular ore for another recipe, move that supply out of the bags you are working from before processing the rest.

Fix a cast that won't start

If clicking the stack fails, make sure you activated Prospecting first and that you have five pieces in the stack you are targeting. Combine matching partial stacks and try again. Read the error if the ore still doesn't work. It can point you to the ore's skill requirement or tell you that the item can't be prospected.

If the action itself is missing, revisit the trainer and check your Jewelcrafting skill. Confirm that you're in Burning Crusade Classic, since original Classic Era doesn't have the same Jewelcrafting system. Once your first batch works, put the ability on a utility bar if you use it often, and keep the ore you intend to smelt separate from the ore you intend to prospect.