Metal is referred to as "Iron" in the Primitive Plus DLC
| “ | A lump of unrefined metal ore, mined from rocks usually found high on mountains, or in caves. Can be refined in a Forge. | „ |
Stone Pick
Metal Pick]] [[ Stone Pick Metal Pick| Stone Pick Metal Pick]]
Ankylosaurus]] [[ Ankylosaurus| Ankylosaurus]]or
cheat gfi Metal 1 0 0
or
cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_Metal.PrimalItemResource_Metal'" 1 0 0
Overview
Metal is an important resource in ARK: Survival Evolved. It is used to craft many different tools and structures, but must be refined into ingots for most of these.
Obtaining
Metal is mined from many types of rocks. It is possible to obtain it from normal rocks, but these rocks have a very low yield of metal. Certain rocks hold substantially larger amounts of metal. These metal rocks usually look smoother and more golden than usual rocks. Generally, metal rock density is higher in areas that are dangerous or hard to reach, such as mountain tops, caves, rivers, coves and deep water sources.
In Aberration the golden colored metal rocks can be found, but blue veined black rocks (found in the Luminous Region) also yield large amounts of metal.
The rocks are mined with either a pickaxe, preferably a Metal Pick as it yields a lot more metal per rock, or the most efficient way, with an Ankylosaurus with its Melee Damage boosted, which also makes carrying the mined ore easier. The general mechanics for resource harvesting are presented in Renewable resources.
Crafting
Metal is smelted using a 
Refining Forge or 
Industrial Forge into 
Metal Ingots, which are an essential crafting ingredient. Two pieces of Metal Ore are needed to make one Metal Ingot, taking 20 seconds in the Refining Forge and 1 second in the Industrial Forge.
Metal is also needed to craft the following items:
Locations
Rich Metal Occurrences. The size of the dot is indicative of the concentration of metal nodes.
See the interactive Resource Maps for all occurrences in the official maps as well as some Mod maps.
 |
| Locations on The Island |
On The Center metal nodes are spread all over the map. Some you can find not far from the beach but mostly they are in higher regions.
Gathering
Below is a list of creatures and tools that can be used to gather metal.
Doedicurus can harvest metal from some but not all 
Obsidian rocks.
Strategy
- If you have another player with you, he can pick you and your Ankylosaurus up using a Quetzal. He simply then flies you next to metal rocks on a mountain, and you can harvest them without even touching the ground. This strategy allows for higher mobility and higher carry weight since a Quetzal can carry much more than an Ankylosaurus.
- Carrying the opposite gender Ankylosaurus provides a mate boost to the one you're gathering metal with, providing a 33% bonus in damage, and thus increasing the yield of metal. This other Ankylosaurus can be a low level so if it somehow clips and falls, you will not have to worry about losing it.
Weight Reduction
The following creatures reduce the weight of Metal by the listed amount while it is in their inventory:
| Creature | Reduction by |
|---|---|
| Ankylosaurus |
75% |
 Argentavis |
50% |
 Ravager |
50% |
Notes/Trivia
- The Frozen Tooth at 35 latitude and 55 longitude has extremely high quantities of metal rocks at and around the summit. However caution is advised while attempting to descend the mountain, as it is extremely steep and quite easy to trip and fall.
- Low level characters can go to a small mountain in the Southern Islets at around 76 latitude and 44 longitude which has a decent number of metal bearing rocks (100+ units with a metal pick) at its summit, along with a small supply of crystal. The eastern side of the mountain is easy to climb and scattered with more metal bearing rocks, and the area itself is fairly benign, hosting mostly low level herbivores with the occasional Raptor or Carno.
Screenshots Gallery
The richest of metal rocks, often found on the mountain peaks
Regular metal rocks
Round rocks on and around the river shore line with good metal yields
Common rocks with almost no metal at all
External links
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