Welcome to Elderfield Rusty Pickaxe Guide

Quick answer: Start Molly's Helping Molly task in the Town Outskirts to receive the Rusty Pickaxe. Mine one Copper Ore in the nearby local mine, return it to Molly, and the task unlocks the Workshop. The recovery system introduced in v1.0.1 can return bug-lost tools through Primary Storage, inventory, or an original shop where applicable; check those locations after installing the latest update.

Start Helping Molly before shopping for a pickaxe

The Rusty Pickaxe is recorded as the starting reward for Molly's Helping Molly task. If you are searching stores first, stop and check your journal: the intended route begins with Molly in the Town Outskirts, not with a random item drop. Starting the task matters because it establishes both the tool and the next objective in the same progression chain.

After talking to Molly, look for the newly received Rusty Pickaxe in your inventory before leaving the area. This guide does not assume that tools must be equipped in a separate slot; use the game’s normal interaction for the matching resource. If the task does not appear, speak to Molly again and confirm that you are following the current journal stage rather than an older video route.

This is why an apparent “missing pickaxe” can sometimes be a progression mix-up. A Basic Pickaxe is a later Mall Mine shop item, while the first Rusty Pickaxe is tied to a task. Buying a later tool cannot repair a journal stage that was never started.

Mine the Copper Ore Molly asks for

The task reference directs you to the local mine near Molly's home or shop. Look for the rock with orange markings, use the Rusty Pickaxe with the normal mining action, and keep one Copper Ore in your inventory for the hand-in. Do not smelt that first piece or sell it while Helping Molly is still active; the task asks for the ore itself.

Copper Ore is also recorded in the Workshop Mine, Mall Mine, and Old Woods Mine. Those later sources are useful after the task, but they are not a reason to cross the map when the local mine can complete the first step. A short route makes it easier to tell whether you have the correct objective and prevents an early expedition from becoming a search for unrelated materials.

When you have the ore, return directly to Molly and talk to her again. If the hand-in does not trigger, read the task text word for word, make sure the ore remains in the active inventory, and check whether a previous dialogue prompt still needs to be completed. Avoid selling, processing, or moving the only ore until the journal updates.

What completing the task unlocks

The current task reference lists Workshop access, a Furnace, and the Furnace crafting blueprint after Helping Molly is complete. That is the practical reward: it opens a production step rather than merely replacing one weak pickaxe with another. Treat the Workshop as your next destination, especially if a later recipe asks for processed materials.

The page does not publish a fixed forging cost or shop price because the available community item and shop references do not agree on every price field. Your current Mall Rat shop panel is the authority for what a Basic Pickaxe costs in your build. This is a better decision rule than spending gold based on a screenshot taken before a balance change.

When you do reach the Mall Mine, the official Wiki records the Basic Pickaxe at the Mall Rat shop. That is a later upgrade route, not proof that every player should rush there immediately. Finish Helping Molly, learn the Workshop loop, and buy an upgrade only when the in-game requirements and your current goal make the purchase useful.

Do not confuse the pickaxe with other tool progress

Tools advance through different tasks and locations. A developer reply specifically says the Basic Axe comes from a task rather than from converting a Rusty Axe with a Whetstone. That is a helpful warning for players who see a crafting ingredient and assume it upgrades every tool. Read the item description and the task reward before spending gold on a material with a different purpose.

Likewise, Copper Ore becomes more flexible only after the Workshop route is open. Keep your first required ore for Molly, then decide whether later ore should be smelted, stored, or used for a recipe. Separating the “task item now” decision from the “crafting material later” decision prevents a common early-game dead end.

For the larger first-day loop, use the How to Play guide. It explains why handling a named task tool before exploring a different region is usually more productive than trying every object in town.

What to do if the Rusty Pickaxe really is gone

Update v1.0.1 added an official failsafe for unique tools lost because of bugs. Check these locations in order:

1. Primary Storage: open the main storage attached to your normal home or farm loop.
2. Inventory: clear enough space and check every inventory section, not only the active hotbar.
3. Original shop: where the tool had a shop source, check that shop for a replacement.

This is our search checklist. The official notes name three possible destinations without assigning a strict order to every tool, and do not promise that Molly's reward becomes a normal shop item. Do not buy an unrelated Basic Pickaxe before checking whether Helping Molly is still waiting for its original Rusty Pickaxe or Copper Ore hand-in.

If all three checks fail, record the active task stage, exact missing tool, last place you used it, and the game version shown by Steam. Take screenshots of the journal, inventory, and Primary Storage. Keep the affected save unchanged and report those details in the official Steam discussion or bug-report area; do not delete a save, edit files, install an unofficial mod, or overwrite a cloud copy to force the task to restart.

Install the latest Steam update first. v1.0.2 also fixes Bug Catching Nets not being replaced by tool protection. If you need Adrian's task-reward axe rather than Molly's pickaxe, use the Basic Axe route.

Sources and version boundary

The normal route was checked on September 19, 2026 against the developer-recognized Tasks page, Items page, and Shops page. The possible recovery destinations come from the developer's v1.0.1 announcement. Community pages can lag behind a patch, so current in-game task text and the official announcement take priority when they differ.

The point about the Basic Axe comes from a developer Steam reply. For a different question—where to obtain fishing supplies—see Bait Locations.