Wondering what the deal is with Stardew Valley gems and minerals? They're not as complicated as they might seem. Sure, your inventory will be filled to the brim with these things early on, with their uses practically unknown. But by the end of this article, you'll know where to get select gems and minerals, what they're good for, and which are worth simply selling for gold.
With dozens available through a variety of different activities, minerals and gems are good for more than just donating to the town's historical preservation efforts: which is great given you can only donate one of each this way to free up your storage.
For more Stardew Valley guides, our fishing hub can help you become an expert angler. And if you'd rather focus on the farming aspect of your job, here's how to build a barn, how to milk cows, and how to feed chickens, too.
How do you get gems and minerals?
Minerals and gems in Stardew Valley are accumulated almost passively, with most activities outside of direct farming having the chance to produce minerals and gems one way or another.
For this reason, you'll want to have plenty of available storage space to keep any unknown gems and minerals you think might be worth holding onto.
Most are only good for selling to vendors for decent change, with others being used in crafting, producing, and even dyeing.
Where can I find gems and minerals?
Gems and minerals can be found in a variety of locations; most deliberately through the mining of rocks in the Mines, Quarry, and Skull Cavern areas, or in crates and barrels.
Geodes dropped this way can also be a great way to supplement your random gem and mineral foraging through Geode Crushing.
Other methods of finding gems and minerals stem from defeating enemies, fishing up chests, obtained as villager gifts, from the passing train, and the Statue of Endless Fortune.
Once unlocking, Panning in water can also produce a small selection of minerals and gems like coal, emerald, aquamarine, and ruby.
What do I do with gems and minerals?
Gems and minerals can be used in a bunch of different ways. Most notably, coal is a common fuel used to power furnaces, forges, or Geode Crushers to aid in refining and processing other resources.
Every gem and mineral can be sold in the usual ways, with a Gemologist paying a premium. Each can be used in the Sewing Machine to create and dye clothing. Many are also used as part of quests or village gifts and requests.
Gems and minerals as gifts
The following table shows the Stardew Valley gems and minerals that are considered "Loved Gifts" to specific characters.
Item | Character |
|---|---|
Obsidian, Frozen Tear | Sebastian |
Lemon Stone | Dwarf |
Prismatic Shard | Everyone (except Harley) |
Diamond | Evelyn, Gus, Jodi, Krobus, Marnie, Maru, Penny, Willy |
Jade, Topaz, Aquamarine, Emerald | Clint, Dwarf, Emily |
Amethyst | Abigail, Clint, Dwarf, Emily |
Omni Geode | Clint, Dwarf |
Geodes and omni-geodes
The following covers the locations and contents of Geodes and their rarer counterparts — Omni Geodes.
Geodes
On occasion, mysterious geodes can be found at looted treasure, monster drops or, most commonly, when mining rocks both above ground and below it in the mines.
Geodes don't do anything on their own beyond being occasional quest items for the Fish Pond, but most typically act like treasure chests, containing a single item from a wide table of valuable treasures, ores, and minerals.
Geode loot table
Here are the items you can get when opening Geodes:
How to use Geodes
You can break open Geodes to loot their contents either by paying 25g per Geode to Clint in the Blacksmith Shop, or by using your own Geode Crusher obtained through a crafting recipe supplied by Clint himself after completing the Cave Patrol Special Order request.
For bulk geode crushing, Clint is the best option if you have the cash to spare.
Omni Geodes
Omni Geodes, found solely through mining, can be broken up in the same way to reveal a few additional items on top of the standard geode loot table. They can also be used as currency to purchase unique items from the Desert Trader in Calico Desert.
Omni Geode loot table
Item | Worth | Via |
|---|---|---|
Magic Cowboy Hat | N/A | Desert Trader (Odd days - x333 Omni Geodes) |
Magic Turban | N/A | Desert Trader (Even days - x333 Omni Geodes) |
Hay | 0g | Desert Trader (x1 Omni Geode) |
Green Turban | N/A | Desert Trader (50x Omni Geodes) |
Warp Totem: Desert | 20g | Desert Trader (3x Omni Geodes) |
Artifact Trove | N/A | Desert Trader (5x Omni Geodes) |
Prismatic Shard | 2,000g | Crushing (only after crushing 15 total Geodes) |
Dwarvish Helm | 100g | Crushing |
Drawf Gadget | 200g | Crushing |
Ancient Drum | 100g | Crushing |
Gems and minerals in sewing machine
Like fish and many other items, gems and minerals have another purpose in Stardew Valley -- as alternatives to bottled dyes, and even as crafting reagants for certain appropriately-coloured items.
By placing particular gems or minerals into the sewing machine on their own, they'll produce a dye you can use to alter the colour of certain items. And by combining them with a pre-made garment, you can apply the colour of the gem or mineral immediately.
The items used in the dyeing process are consumed on use. Be careful of that before putting in any valuable materials. Given you only need one per dye or item, however, it's a relatively low-cost solution to changing up your outfit.