Subnautica 2 Silver & Gold Guide: All Locations & How to Access
Where to find Silver and Gold in Subnautica 2. Best farming locations, access requirements, and crafting uses for both metals on planet Zezura.
Silver and Gold: The Mid-Game Metals
Silver and Gold are the metals that separate early game from mid-game in Subnautica 2. Silver unlocks Wiring Kits and Air Tanks — both required for deeper exploration. Gold opens up Advanced Wiring Kits and Thermal Plants — the backbone of late-game base power.
Neither is as easy to find as Titanium or Copper. Silver hides in deep caves that need real swimming range to reach. Gold sits in volcanic areas that will kill you without the right adaptation. Here’s where to find both and what you need before you go looking.
Finding Silver
Silver clusters in deep caves, and it does something helpful: once you find one piece, there’s almost certainly more nearby. Silver nodes group together, so a “silver cave” will have 5-10 deposits rather than just one.
Best Silver Location: North Cave (400-500m North of Lifepod)
Swim north from your Lifepod for about 400-500 meters, past the Coral Dome, until you find a concealed cave entrance on the right side beneath a rocky overhang. Look for Jelly Lei plants (purple hanging vines) near the entrance — they’re a reliable indicator of silver caves.
Inside, small silver nodes line the walls. This cave is the most accessible silver source in early-to-mid game.
Camp One Caves (240m North-Northeast)
Camp One sits about 240 meters north-northeast of the Lifepod. Below the cliffs to the northeast of the northernmost building, you’ll find a cave entrance leading to silver-bearing tunnels.
You’re probably visiting Camp One anyway for blueprint fragments (Biobed, Dining Chair, and other base furniture blueprints are here). Hit the caves on the same trip.
Geothermal Vent Outskirts (East of Lifepod)
On the outskirts of the geothermal vents biome, east of the Lifepod, silver deposits appear in caves. These are deeper and more dangerous than the northern locations, but the yields are higher.
How to Spot Silver Caves
Two plants signal silver nearby:
- Dangling Salps — Purple flowers hanging from cave ceilings
- Jelly Lei — Purple hanging vines near cave entrances
If you see either of these near a cave, go inside. Silver is almost certainly on the walls. Alongside unnamed green and pink flowers that frequently co-locate with silver and copper deposits.
What Silver Crafts Into
| Item | Silver Needed | Other Materials | Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wiring Kit | 1 | 1 Copper Wire | Fabricator |
| Standard Air Tank | 2 | 2 Titanium, 1 Rubber | Fabricator |
| Silver Ingot | 3 | — | Processor |
| Wakemaker | 1 | 1 Wiring Kit, 1 Grease, 1 Basic Battery | Fabricator |
| Tadpole Dock | via Silver Ingot | 2 Titanium Ingot, 2 Copper Wire | Habitat Builder |
The Wiring Kit is the big one. It feeds into almost every mid-game and late-game recipe. You’ll want at least 10-15 silver to build a comfortable supply of Wiring Kits.
Finding Gold
Gold is harder to access than silver. It’s found exclusively in volcanic areas with extreme heat, and entering those zones without preparation will drain your health fast.
Prerequisites: Heat Tolerance Adaptation
Before mining gold, you must acquire the Heat Tolerance adaptation. Here’s how:
- Locate the Angel Comb — the massive pink/purple pylon structure approximately 150-200 meters north-northeast of the Lifepod.
- The Angel Comb is infested with Bloom — a parasitic growth that blocks access.
- Use the Sonic Resonator to destroy the Bloom Biofilm, Bloom Cankers, and eventually the Bloom Core.
- Cleansing the Angel Comb grants the Heat Tolerance adaptation and the Digestion adaptation.
Without Heat Tolerance, swimming into the lava biome causes rapid health loss. Don’t skip this step.
Best Gold Location: Lava Biome (250m South-Southeast)
Head south-southeast from the Lifepod, compass centered on the 120 marker, for approximately 250 meters. You’ll enter a volcanic area with rising heat and visible lava vents.
Continue southeast for another 100 meters and look for Radiator Corals — large blackened coral formations. Gold spawns densely around these structures.
Gold appears as golden perforated spheres. Small ones can be picked up by hand or broken. Larger deposits require the Sonic Resonator to extract.
Yield: A single Sonic Resonator run through the Radiator Coral area can produce 40+ gold. This is by far the most productive resource run in the game by volume.
Cicada Wreck Area
The Cicada Wreck crash site, further east, also has gold deposits nearby. If you’re already exploring the wreck for blueprint fragments, check the surrounding volcanic formations.
Sulfur Spawns With Gold
Sulfur deposits appear alongside gold in the same volcanic areas. Always grab sulfur when mining gold — you’ll need both for Strong Acid (1 Sulfur + 1 Gold) and Advanced Wiring Kits.
What Gold Crafts Into
| Item | Gold Needed | Other Materials | Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Wiring Kit | 1 (via Strong Acid) | Silver, Copper Wire | Fabricator |
| Thermal Plant | varies | Titanium, other | Habitat Builder |
| Strong Acid | 1 | 1 Sulfur | Processor |
| Gold Ingot | 3 | — | Processor |
Scanner Station Trick
If you’ve built a Scanner Station base module, it can detect gold deposits within a 300-meter radius. Build one in your base and it will show you every gold node in range on your HUD. This eliminates the guesswork from gold farming entirely.
Farming Strategy: Silver First, Then Gold
Here’s the progression path I’d recommend:
Phase 1: Silver (As Soon as You Have Basic Tools)
- Build a Scanner and Flashlight.
- Swim north 400-500m to the silver cave (look for Jelly Lei plants).
- Collect 8-10 silver on your first run.
- Craft Wiring Kits and a Standard Air Tank immediately.
- The Air Tank lets you reach deeper caves for more silver and other resources.
Phase 2: Gold (After Sonic Resonator + Heat Tolerance)
- Build the Sonic Resonator (requires Lead from the Cicada Wreck area).
- Cleanse the Angel Comb to get Heat Tolerance.
- Swim south-southeast to the lava biome.
- Farm 20-40 gold in one run with the Sonic Resonator.
- Grab Sulfur at the same time.
- Craft Advanced Wiring Kits and Thermal Plants.
Phase 3: Metal Farms (Late Game)
- Build Metal Farms at your base.
- Seed them with Silver or Gold.
- Power them with Hydroelectric Turbines or Thermal Plants.
- Harvest with Sonic Resonator when nodes grow.
- Never manually mine silver or gold again.
Quick Tips
- Silver clusters. One node means more are nearby. Don’t leave a silver cave after finding just one.
- Gold requires prep. Never rush into the lava biome. Heat Tolerance + Sonic Resonator + full health + Air Tank are minimum requirements.
- Both metals respawn. Marked caves and lava areas will refill over time. Set up a rotation.
- Carry extra batteries. The Sonic Resonator drains battery power. Bring 2-3 spares on a gold farming run.
- Co-op gold runs are safer. One player watches for threats while the other mines.
- Silver Ingots (3 Silver) and Gold Ingots (3 Gold) are needed for advanced base parts. Stockpile beyond your immediate crafting needs.