How to Get Quartz Ore in StarRupture: Complete Mining Guide

If you’ve been progressing through StarRupture and working your way up the corporation ranks, you’ve probably hit a point where the recipes start asking for some unusual materials. Quartz Ore is one of those resources that doesn’t just pop up on the surface like Calcium or Wolfram. Nope—this stuff is buried deep underground, and getting to it requires a bit more planning than your standard mining operation.

Here’s the thing: Quartz Ore is classified as a “valuable” resource rather than a standard ore. That designation isn’t just for show—it means it’s rarer, harder to access, and typically locked behind some environmental mechanics you need to understand. But once you know the trick, farming Quartz becomes a regular part of your resource gathering routine.

Let me walk you through everything you need to know about finding and mining Quartz Ore in StarRupture, including when to go, where to look, and how to stay alive while you’re down there.

Where to Find Quartz Ore in StarRupture

Unlike surface ores that you can spot while exploring the overworld, Quartz Ore is exclusively found in underground caves. You won’t see it just sitting on a hillside or scattered around your base. You need to actually enter underground caves to get your hands on it.

The tricky part? Those caves aren’t always accessible. The entrances are blocked by thick, fleshy veins that you can’t destroy with conventional weapons or your mining device. You can shoot at them all day and they won’t budge. So how do you get in?

The Heat Wave Method: Your Window of Opportunity

This is where StarRupture’s environmental hazard system becomes crucial. You need to wait for a heat wave to hit Arcadia-7. When a rupture occurs and the planet’s surface gets scorched, those organic veins blocking the cave entrances burn away along with everything else on the surface.

Once the heat wave passes and the veins are gone, you have a comfortable window to explore the caves before new veins grow back. This gives you time to get in, mine what you need, and get out safely.

Pro tip: Keep an eye on your environment indicators. When you see signs of an incoming rupture, start preparing. Stock up on healing items, ammunition, and make sure your inventory has space for the Quartz you’re about to collect.

How to Mine Quartz Ore in StarRupture

Once you’re inside an underground cave, finding Quartz is straightforward. Look for the distinctive crystalline deposits—they’re pretty hard to miss once you know what you’re looking for. They glow slightly and have a clear, gem-like appearance that stands out against the cave walls.

Mining Quartz works exactly like mining any other ore: equip your mining device and shoot the Quartz deposits. Each deposit you destroy yields around 5 Quartz Ore, which is a decent haul considering how valuable this stuff is.

The caves aren’t infinite, but they usually contain multiple Quartz deposits, so a single cave run can net you a solid stack if you’re thorough about exploring every tunnel and chamber.

Using Geo Scanners to Find Caves

If you’re serious about farming Quartz efficiently, you need to make activating Geo Scanners a priority. These devices are scattered across Arcadia-7’s map, and when activated, they reveal large sections of the terrain—including underground cave locations.

Here’s how to make the most of Geo Scanners for Quartz farming:

1. Unlock the map by activating Geo Scanners in different regions
2. Look for the revealed underground cave systems on your map
3. Mark the caves closest to your bases for efficient farming runs
4. Prioritize caves in areas where you’ve already established a presence

The more Geo Scanners you activate, the more caves you’ll have access to, which means more consistent Quartz farming without having to search blindly.

Combat Considerations: Staying Alive Underground

Here’s the thing about underground caves in StarRupture: they’re not empty. Hostile aliens lurk in these dark spaces, and they’re not thrilled about you stripping their caves of valuable resources.

Activating Geo Scanners Safely

Even before you get to the caves, you’ll face resistance. Aliens will attack you while you’re trying to activate Geo Scanners. Come prepared with:

• Good weapons: Make sure you’ve unlocked some decent firepower
• Plenty of ammunition: Running out of ammo mid-fight is a death sentence
• Healing items: Stock your MedTool and bring backup healing supplies
• Grenades if you’ve unlocked them—they’re great for crowd control

Underground Cave Combat

The caves themselves are even more dangerous. Narrow passages, limited visibility, and aggressive enemies make for some tense encounters. A few tips:

• Clear enemies before mining: Don’t try to multitask. Secure an area first, then mine
• Watch your positioning: Getting cornered in a tight tunnel is bad news
• Bring plenty of healing: Underground excursions tend to be longer than surface mining runs
• Consider bringing modded weapons for better combat efficiency

If you’re still learning the combat system or working on your character builds, maybe hold off on deep cave dives until you’re better equipped. There’s no shame in preparing properly before tackling tougher content.

Protecting Your Base While You Explore

Here’s a mistake I see newer players make all the time: they set off on a long cave expedition and come back to find their base infected. When you’re deep underground mining Quartz, aliens on the surface don’t stop spawning—and they will attack your undefended base.

If enemies reach your Base Core and infect it, you’ll have to fix the infected Base Core before you can use any of your structures again. It’s annoying, time-consuming, and completely avoidable.

Defense Setup Before Exploring

Before heading out on any extended cave run:

• Build automated defenses: Set up Defense Turrets or Defense Towers around your Base Core
• Stock your turrets with ammo: If you’re using basic turrets, make sure they’re loaded
• Check your power grid: Defenses don’t work without proper power
• Consider multiple defensive rings: Overlapping fields of fire prevent enemies from slipping through

The upfront investment in a solid defense system pays for itself the first time you return from a successful mining run to find your base intact instead of overrun.

What to Do With Quartz Ore

Once you’ve got a good supply of Quartz, what’s it actually used for? Quartz Ore is a crafting component in several advanced recipes, particularly those tied to higher corporation levels and specialized equipment.

You’ll need it for:

• Advanced building components that unlock as you progress
• Specialized crafting recipes from corporation missions
• High-tier equipment upgrades for both weapons and structures

Because it’s classified as a “valuable” resource, Quartz often appears in recipes alongside other rare materials like Ignitium, Sulfur, or Helium. These are the recipes that gate your progression into late-game content, so stockpiling Quartz when you can is always smart.

Efficient Quartz Farming Strategy

Once you’ve got the system down, Quartz farming becomes a reliable loop:

1. Monitor for heat waves and prepare your gear beforehand
2. Head to mapped cave locations as soon as the veins burn away
3. Clear caves systematically, mining all Quartz deposits
4. Return before new veins grow back and block the entrances
5. Store your haul and repeat during the next heat wave

If you’re managing multiple bases across the map, consider establishing a forward base near a cluster of caves. This cuts down on travel time and lets you respond faster when heat waves open up new mining opportunities.

You can even set up a small defensive perimeter and storage near cave entrances, turning it into a dedicated Quartz farming outpost. Just make sure it’s well-defended—losing a remote base to alien attacks is frustrating, especially when you’re hauling valuable cargo.

Additional Tips for Cave Exploration

Bring a light source: Caves are dark. If you’re having trouble seeing, adjust your display settings or make sure you’re exploring during better lighting conditions in-game.

Don’t rush: Quartz isn’t going anywhere once the caves are open. Take your time, clear enemies methodically, and mine thoroughly.

Mark explored caves: Use your map to note which caves you’ve already cleared. This prevents wasting time revisiting empty locations.

Watch for other resources: While you’re down there hunting Quartz, keep an eye out for other valuable materials. Caves often contain multiple resource types, so you might as well grab everything while you’re there.

Plan your escape route: Know how to get out quickly if things go south. Getting lost in a cave system while low on health and ammo is a bad time.

FAQs

And there you have it everything you need to know about getting Quartz Ore in StarRupture. It’s definitely more involved than surface mining, but once you understand the heat wave timing and cave mechanics, it becomes just another part of your resource gathering routine.

The key is preparation: good weapons, plenty of supplies, automated base defenses, and a mapped-out network of cave locations. Do that, and Quartz farming becomes efficient rather than stressful.

For more help with resource gathering and base management, check out our guides on automating ore extraction, getting basic building materials, and our full beginner’s guide if you’re still learning the ropes. Happy mining!