I'm not really a forum contributor, but I lurk a lot. I'd like to say thank-you to our Illustrious Leader, Cherubae, whose advice, and this website, has been invaluable to me since way back in the days of Harvest Moon 3. I still play that on my oldsmobile GBC so the info is still precious. I had to import it from the States, though T_T.
I was unable to find mining information elsewhere on the board (if it's out there already, please notify me and/or delete this thread), so I thought I might put my Japanese powers to use for a change and offer up some info both translated from the Japanese wiki and confirmed by myself.
[EDIT]
Spoiler:
A few notes about the mine:
- The mine is opened by playing the tune 'Ganseki Dance' 岩石ダンス - Boulder Dance. The HS Sokura will ask you to look for it after you have built and placed the Doctor's Surgery, where you will find it on the first (ground) floor, at the top of the screen, by the desk if I recall correctly. (?)
- The mine entrance is in the Forest Area, on the Western side. Occasionally you'll find Scrap Ore, Iron, or Copper lying around outside, even before the mine opens. Hoard that stuff, you'll need a lot of it, especially the Scrap Ore.
- Inside the mine, you will find a few common items scattered around the floor; Scrap Ore, Iron, Copper, Silver, Shiny Stone, Glass Stone, and Brick, along with Stone, Black Stone, and Coin. Sometimes there's nothing, though. I can only assume that Tina takes it, as it always coincides with her days visiting the mine.
There are three mining points, each of which requires a different Hammer before it can be mined:
- The Blue area can be mined by any kind of Hammer.
- The Green area can be mined by the Steel Hammer or better.
- The Red area can only be mined with the red Master Hammer.
Each area has a limited number of hits per day, between 2 and 5.
HOWEVER~!
You can Save and Reload your game to reset what you find. Save before you strike the wall with your hammer (don't forget to have a snack, too), strike, and then either Save if you want to keep your find, or Reload to have another go. This is tedious, but invaluable if you're collecting 30 Glass Stone for that Blueprint you need to progress the story. What an evening I had. It's also great for gathering Silver and Gold to power up your tools ASAP. (Hoard Silver. Hoard Silver!)
Edit: This S/R trick does NOT reset items found on the mine floor, or the number of available strikes. However, these can be reset by using S/R the day before. Thanks to Cher for confirming!
Basic Metal Ores (Gold, Silver, Copper) can be found in all three patches, but other items are more selective. For example, you will find Stones and Black Stones in the Blue and Green areas, but none in the Red. Similarly, Fluorite (ほたる石) only appears in the Blue, Sand Rose only in the Green. To my knowledge there is nothing exclusive to Red only.
Occasionally, you'll dig up a Blueprint or Recipe, too. The ones found in the mine are set; you won't find them anywhere else.
Thanks to the Japanese Wiki, the full list of mineable items, recipes, and blueprints is already out there, along with each item's location and shipping value. If the good folks of the FOGU Forum would like me to translate that too, I'd be delighted. I need the practice. -_- I haven't played an English HM since AWL, though, so I can't promise my translations will match up with official localised names.
Mine info at the Japanese Wiki: http://wikiwiki.jp/bokuhazi/?%B9%DB%BB%B3.
Just went to the website, and clicked on the mining link.
