Many aStardew Valleyplayer has found themselves with a chest full of minerals and gems they just don’t know what to do with. Minerals are plentiful in Pelican Town: they may be found in the mines, the Skull Cavern, the quarry, or even just in random rocks lying around town. Some are, of course, rarer than others, but often the rarest ones are also the most useful.
NoStardew Valleyplayer would shy away from collecting such an abundant resource, but the problem is thatthere are too many types of minerals. With 53 minerals in the game, one of each is more than enough to fill a small chest, so many players run out of room before they can complete their collections. It’s easy to see the utility ofQuartzandEarth Crystalfrom the very beginning, but is it really necessary to keep all these other gems around?
Some Minerals Are Great For Crafting & Bundles
Which Minerals To Keep In Stardew Valley
A handful of gems and minerals are actually pretty useful in crafting, even if the player doesn’t have the requisite recipes unlocked yet. As for early-game minerals that can be found on the upper floors of the mine,players should always make a point of hanging onto Quartz and Earth Crystals for their crafting utility. Quartz can be placed into aFurnaceto turn it intoRefined Quartz, which is used in a variety of different crafting recipes, including the Farm Computer, Lightning Rod, and Quality Sprinkler. Players will also need ten Refined Quartz to build a Slime Hutch.
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Earth Crystals, on the other hand, are mostly only good for one thing: crafting aMayonnaise Machine. However, Mayonnaise Machines are invaluable for any farmer raising coop animals, like chickens or ducks. Even at the lowest size and quality level, Mayonnaise sells for much more than the eggs required to make it. And despite their appearance on easier floors of the mine,Earth Crystals are surprisingly rare. As a result, players should always save them for Mayonnaise Machine crafting later. In a similar vein, Fire Quartz should always be saved to craftSlime Egg-Presses.
Minerals inStardew Valleyare divided into three types: those that can be found as forage, like Quartz and Frozen Tears; those that can be found inside rocks, like Diamonds and Rubies; and those that can only be found in geodes, like Opal and Dolomite.
Prismatic Shardsmake up somewhat of a unique case, asthey’re not particularly useful in crafting, but can still be used to obtain a wide variety of items. First and foremost, they’re necessary for enchanting tools. Also, if the player holds a Prismatic Shard in their hands, and stands between the three pillars in the Calico Desert, it will disappear and be replaced with a Galaxy Sword. This can later beforged into the Infinity Blade, arguably the best sword inStardew Valley.
Prismatic Shards are also needed to complete the Missing Bundle, which unlocks the Movie Theater after the Community Center is finished. They can be used in asewing machine to make unique prismatic clothing pieces, or given to the Desert Trader for a piece ofMagic Rock Candy. Prismatic Shards also serve as universally loved gifts (by everyone except Haley), and perhaps most importantly, can be crafted into Wedding Rings to propose to a villager. Suffice it to say that,exceedingly rare and infinitely useful, Prismatic Shards should always be saved.
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Players will also need four specific gems to complete the Geologist’s Bundleif they’re attempting tofix the Community Center. They’ll need one piece each of Quartz, Earth Crystal,Frozen Tear, andFire Quartz. Besides that,all mined gems (Emerald, Aquamarine, Ruby, Amethyst, Topaz, and Jade) should always be keptfor their utility in forging weapons.
Other Minerals Make Good Gifts
Which Minerals You Should Give Away In Stardew Valley
And while some gems and minerals are directly useful in crafting,others can help increase the farmer’s affinity with some of the locals. Again, Prismatic Shards are universally beloved, but certain villagers also have preferred gems that players can give them for easy hearts. The following table matches each villager with their favorite minerals.
Prismatic Shard
Everyone except Haley
Note thatClint, the Dwarf, and Emily seem to like most minerals. It makes sense; the former two are miners, innately familiar with the beauty of crystalline structures. Emily is also known to believe in the healing power of crystals, as evidenced by the Special Order “Rock Rejuvenation,” in which she asks for a Ruby, Topaz, Emerald, Jade, and Amethyst to use in a ceremony.
Abigail will infamously sometimes say, “Hey, how’d you know I was hungry? This looks delicious!” even when given non-food items, like Amethyst. Although this was initially a programming error, Abigail’s apparent craving for minerals became an in-joke among the fandom, and was left in the game.
Diamonds are also well-liked by much of the town, and make for a pretty reliable gift. They’re not loved by everyone, but they’re at least liked, and if the player can secure a regular supply of diamonds, they can come in handy when a villager’s birthday sneaks up unexpectedly.
Diamonds Can Make You Lots Of Money
How To Set Up A Profitable Diamond Business In Stardew Valley
It’s also worth saving a single Diamond in order to set up a profitable, automated operation that ensures a steady income over time. Once players have unlocked theCrystalarium(either by donating 50 different minerals to the museum, or completing the 25,000g bundle at the Community Center),they can place a Diamond inside, and it will be infinitely replicated. Each Diamond can be sold for 750g each, making it the most valuable replicable mineral in the game.
Each mineral takes a different amount of time to produce a copy in the Crystalarium. Diamonds take the longest, at a total of five in-game days. However, they’re also the most valuable, so they still average out to the highest profit at 150g per day. That’s not much in and of itself, but it quickly adds up;players can earn 16,800g extra each year from a single Crystalarium. This can be multiplied with more than one Crystalarium, making for a highly profitable Diamond replicating operation with almost no input from the player.
You Can Donate Or Sell The Rest Of Your Minerals
Most Other Minerals Are Useless
Any minerals that don’t appear above can be immediately donated to the museum, or simply soldfor cash. As a general rule, it’s a good idea to donate the first piece of each mineral the player finds to the museum (except for Prismatic Shards), since donating certain combinations and numbers of items provides useful, often unique, rewards. Once the player has found a duplicate, however, they can just throw it into the sale box the first opportunity they get.
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Do note, though, thatsome villagers and fish inside Fish Ponds may randomly request otherwise useless mineralsfrom time to time. As a result, it may be best to save a handful of them, just in case they’re requested.
So, while not all minerals are immediately useful, some of them are part of valuable crafting recipes that players may discover later. Others are great for gifting, and still others aren’t good for anything but selling. Knowing what to do with gems and minerals can help players turn a tidy profit inStardew Valley.
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is a charming indie farming scene that took the world by storm. After inheriting a run-down farm from their grandfather, the player moves to Stardew Valley to start a new life away from the city. Grow crops, raise animals, befriend the villagers, and discover the secrets the valley has to offer.
