Coarse Ore is one of those resources in Outbound that the game never really points you toward. Most early materials show up naturally as you explore, but this one sits in a tucked-away alcove that your van probably can't even reach. Miss it and you'll hit a hard wall in progression, since it sits at the start of a crafting chain that eventually lets you leave the first area entirely.
Where is Coarse Ore in Outbound?
Coarse Ore spawns in the northeast corner of the first map, directly northeast of the vehicle lift and south of the blocked tunnel that leads out of the starting area. That blocked tunnel is probably what brought you here in the first place.
To reach it, head to the fork in the road just north of the vehicle lift and look for a dirt path cutting between the rock cliffs that slopes upward. The path is on foot only. Even with the first engine upgrade installed, the camper van won't make it up the incline, so park up and walk.
Once you're up top, the surrounding ground is littered with scrap metal, which makes it easy to overlook what you're actually after. Coarse Ore nodes look distinct: each one has three black shards jutting out from the top. Walk up to any node with a pickaxe in your inventory and interact with it. Each node gives you 3 Coarse Ore.
Coarse ore map location
This is also the only location in the first biome, so there's no alternative farming spot to fall back on. Grab everything you see.
What is Coarse Ore used for in Outbound?
Coarse Ore sits at the beginning of a two-step crafting chain that unlocks your path out of the starting area. Here's how the progression works:
The Metal Smelter is the first thing you build with Coarse Ore (5 Coarse Ore and 6 Rocks). Once it's running, you can feed Scrap Metal into it two at a time to produce refined Metal. That Metal goes into crafting Reinforced Planks, which are the key ingredient for the Pickaxe Level 2.
The Pickaxe Level 2 does two things. First, it breaks down the Mossrock boulders blocking the northeast tunnel, which is the main exit from the first area. Second, it opens up the mines in the southeast section of the map, south of the waterfall, for additional resource gathering before you move on.
Metal Smelter recipe screen
Why does the game hide Coarse Ore so well?
The short answer is that the path to the alcove looks like terrain rather than a navigable route. The dirt slope between the rock cliffs doesn't signal "go this way" the way a road or a path marker would. Combined with the fact that your van gets stopped at the bottom, plenty of players assume the area is inaccessible and move on, then spend time wondering why the Mossrock boulders won't budge.
Don't confuse the black-sharded Coarse Ore nodes with the scrap metal pieces on the ground nearby. Scrap metal lies flat; Coarse Ore nodes have the distinctive upright black shards. Grabbing scrap by mistake and missing the ore nodes is a common source of confusion in this area.
How does Coarse Ore fit into the bigger picture?
Once you've cleared the Mossrock boulders with your Pickaxe Level 2 and moved into the second area, Coarse Ore stops being a bottleneck. But the Metal Smelter you built to get here stays useful. Refined Metal keeps appearing in crafting recipes as you progress, and having the smelter established early means you're not scrambling to build it later when you need it for something else.
If you're still working through the early crafting chains and want a broader look at how the starting area fits together, the Outbound ultimate beginner's guide covers the core loop, Signal Towers, and van upgrades in detail.
For everything else the first area throws at you, the full Outbound guides collection has you covered, from fixing broken bridges to getting fiber and repairing the windmill.