How to find Laterite and Aluminum in Astroneer

Laterite and Aluminum are two crucial resources in Astroneer, but the game doesn’t really do a good job of explaining where you might find them.

In fact, Aluminum can’t be obtained directly, which makes it essential to get Laterite from its natural source. Finding the resources will be vital to clear a few of the available missions before you get to “A Core Concept” (a must if you want to reach the Aeolux system). Let’s find out how you can find these two resources in Astroneer and what the most efficient way of farming them is.

How to get Laterite in Astroneer

Laterite is the raw ingredient used to produce Aluminum in Astroneer. To find this resource, you’ll have to explore Sylva’s cave systems. You’ll specifically want to look for red-blue-colored nodes popping off the ground. This resource is found in the caves of every available planet, including where you start.

The biggest difficulty in mining laterite is the depth. You’ll have to go deep to find them, and there’s the risk of running out of Oxygen. You’ll want to carry a lot of Resin to avoid that, which will help you create some emergency Oxygen cylinders. But it’s also pretty easy to get lost in the caves, as it can be extremely dark.

The best thing to do is to create a line of tethers and extend them from your base. Ideally, you’ll want to carry them on your backpack and create a tunnel from the surface. Make sure to create the space properly to quickly get back up to the surface. Falling from a height could also kill you, so you’ll want to avoid that.

Once the network of Tethers is established, you c𒆙an mine a lot of Laterite. Once you discover a spot inside the caves, you can then use your terrain ꦍtool to get the resource.

How to find Aluminum in Astroneer

Once you have found Laterite, you can convert it to Aluminum using the Smelting Furnace. That’s the best way to farm Aluminum, which is required to produce different types of items. You can also obtain this resource using the Trade Platform, but that’s not a sustainable method.