There are some resources inNo Man’s Sky’s nearly infinite universe that are barely ever needed, while other resources are nearly constant necessities. For more than one reason, copper is a resource that you’re going to be on the almost-constant lookout for.

Copper is useful in a variety of ways, and can be obtained in plenty of different ways, too. While you’re going to need a lot of it, it is a relatively easy resource to collect a huge amount of at one time, as long as you know how to refine your search to get the most out of your time.

Copper in the inventory in No Man’s Sky.

How To Get Copper

Copper can be found very regularly on planets, as long as those planets have one consistency.

Gathering Copper From Planets With Yellow Stars

Copper isspecifically found on planets that are orbiting yellow stars. Planets orbiting different class stars are going to have different resources, and so those metals won’t generally be present on planets where copper is.

Star colorscan be determinedfrom the Galaxy Map, before you actually jump to a new system.

Buying copper from the Galactic Trade Terminal in No Man’s Sky.

Forplayers that require color-blind settings, head toOptions > Accessibility > Galaxy Map Colour Filterto apply a filter to properly display the colors for you.

Once on a planet orbiting a yellow star,use your visor to scan for resource deposits. Once located, you can pin the location on your HUD. At the resource deposit,use your Terrain Manipulatorin Mine modeto gather the copper.

A cave in No Man’s Sky, with minerals that possibly contain copper.

Buying Copper From Galactic Trade Terminals

SomeGalactic Trade Terminals will offer Copper for saleat a standard price of slightly more than 56 Credits. This is a relatively inexpensive price in systems where the price isn’t inflated, but as easy as copper is to gather, it’s usually better for you to gather it yourself unless you’re in a hurry.

Secondary Elements In Mineral Extraction

Certain minerals on planets,especially in caves, can havecopper available as a secondary mineral. This is not going to be a regular or consistent way to get copper, because instances of this are pretty rare; but, when it happens, it can be a great way to get a good amount of unexpected copper for the next time you need it.

To see whether a mineral will provide copper,scan it with your visor. The elements that the mineral provides will be revealed, and once you’ve spent some time on a planet, you’ll be able to quickly identify which minerals will be useful and which to skip.

Using the analysis visor to see what a planet contains in No Man’s Sky.

How To Gather Copper Automatically

You can also gather copper with bothAutonomous Mining UnitsandMineral Extractors. These both require finding resource nodes of their own respective types, but both passively provide copper while you’re able to do other things.

In the case of theMineral Extractor, you’ll need to find aDeep-Level Mineral Depositwith the Survey modification on your Analysis Visor, as opposed to theabove-ground resource nodesfor theAutonomous Mining Unit,which you would otherwise gather with your terrain manipulator.

Copper in the catalogue and guide of No Man’s Sky.

How To Make Copper In A Refiner

Copper can also be made at a Refiner, though this is not a particularly effective method for doing so. However,if you happen to have an abundance of chromatic metaland want to double the amount of copper you have, you’re able to use this recipe to do so:

Chromatic metal is generally more useful overall than copper, so in most cases, you’ll do better to simplyfind more copper than spend your chromatic metal doing this, unless you find yourself in a situation where finding copper is more difficult than usual.

Refining chromatic metal from copper in a refiner in No Man’s Sky.

What Is Copper Used For?

Copper is used in a lot ofcrafting recipes. Many upgrades using copper are for certain modules attached to your suit or your multi-tool, but there are other things you’re able to craft too, likeBronze Statuesand other very specialized items, like the first AtlasPass.

Copper can also be refined into other things; individually,you canturn copper into chromatic metal, as well as combine copper with other metals of the same type to make chromatic metal in a different way.

An AtlasPass v1 in the inventory in No Man’s Sky.

Unlikeplatinumandgold,copper cannot be gathered from asteroidsby blasting them with your spaceship.

x150 Oxygen + x60 Silver +x75 Copper

Magnetised ferrite in the inventory in No Man’s Sky.

AtlasPass v1

x200 Copper+ x1 Microprocessor

x15 Pure Ferrite + x15 Copper

x150 Phosphorus + x60 Silver +x75 Copper

x50 Pugneum +x100 Copper

x10 Carbon +x10 Copper

x150 Uranium + x60 Silver +x75 Copper

x150 Dioxite + x60 Silver +x75 Copper

x150 Ammonia + x60 Silver +x75 Copper

x2 Copper

x1 Gold +x1 Copper+ x1 Silver