Hobbies And Interests
Types
The two most common types of Thorium Veins are Small Thorium Veins and Rich Thorium Veins. The latter type yields, on average, more Thorium Ore than the former type and has a higher chance of yielding an Arcane Crystal in addition to the ore. A third, more rare type, called Ooze Covered Thorium Vein, can rarely be found within the silithid hive in Un'Goro Crater. Except for the name, this type of vein is identical to the more commonly found Small Thorium Vein. A fourth type of vein, called Ooze Covered Rich Thorium vein, used to exist within silithid hives in Silithus. This type of vein had a slightly increased chance to yield various types of gems. However, these veins were removed with the "Cataclysm" expansion and replaced with normal Small Thorium Veins.
Locations
Both Small and Rich Thorium Veins can be found in the Winterspring, Silithus, Un'Goro Crater, Swamp of Sorrows and Blasted Lands zones; Un'Goro Crater also hosts a small amount of Ooze Covered Thorium Veins. If you are trying to gather large amounts of Thorium Ore, moving in loops around the edges of Un'Goro Crater is probably the most efficient way if you only have access to a ground mount, while Winterspring may be more efficient if you have access to a flying mount due to the geography of the zone. The Silithus zone also hosts a large amount of both Small and Rich Thorium Veins; moving in loops around the edges of the zone can be quite efficient as long as you avoid caves and silithid hives and have no competition.
Skill Requirements
Gathering from Small Thorium Veins and Ooze Covered Thorium Veins requires a mining skill of 200 or above, while Rich Thorium Veins require a skill of 215 or above. Smelting the Thorium Ore into Thorium Bars also requires a mining skill of 200 or above and will occasionally grant skill points up to a skill of 290. Prospecting Thorium Ore with the jewelcrafting profession to obtain gems requires a skill of 250.
Yield
All Thorium Veins will always yield a small amount of Thorium Ore and Dense Stone when mined. If you mine a Thorium Vein and only find Dense Stone, this means somebody else mined the vein before you and took the ore while leaving the stone behind. Thorium Veins are the only source of Arcane Crystals, a special type of gemstone used as a reagent by alchemists to transmute Thorium Bars into Arcanite Bars. Additionally, Thorium Veins may occasionally yield other gemstones, such as Star Rubies, Large Opals, Huge Emeralds, Blue Sapphires and Azerothian Diamonds.