You're standing on a radioactive rock, your hazard protection is screaming at you, and you just need some No Man's Sky platinum to fix your ship or maybe refine some nanites. It's frustrating. Honestly, if you are still mining individual asteroids for fifteen minutes just to get a handful of dust, you are doing it wrong. I've been there. We've all been there, hovering in space, shooting space rocks until our fingers hurt, wondering why the yield is so pathetic.
Platinum is one of those "prestige" materials in No Man's Sky that feels rare until you realize the game basically hands it to you if you know where to look. It’s a concentrated neutral element. It’s essential for high-end crafting, specifically for things like the Pulse Drive upgrades or certain freighter technologies. But let's be real: most people want it because it's a gateway to Nanite Clusters.
Why Platinum is the Secret to Infinite Nanites
Nanites are the true currency of the universe. Forget Units. Units are easy to get by crashing the Cobalt market or farming Storm Crystals. Nanites? They take work. Or they used to.
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If you take platinum and shove it into a refiner, you get Nanite Clusters. The ratio isn't amazing—it’s 35:1—but when you’re sitting on stacks of 9,999 platinum, those numbers add up fast. Most veteran players don't even call it platinum anymore; they just call it "unrefined nanites."
But wait. There’s a better way.
If you combine Platinum with Gold and Silver in a Large Refiner, you get a much better yield. You can also refine Gold and Silver together to make Platinum. It's basically space alchemy. Specifically, 1 Gold + 1 Silver = 1 Platinum. If you've got a freighter with a few frigates, you likely have more Gold and Silver than you know what to do with. Stop selling it for Units. Turn it into Platinum, then turn that Platinum into the upgrades that actually make your ship feel like a beast.
Where to Find No Man's Sky Platinum Fast
Stop mining asteroids. Just stop.
Sure, the large, spiked crystalline asteroids give you platinum, but the time-to-reward ratio is garbage. You're better off pulsing through space and looking for "Anomalous Subspaces" or just heading to the nearest Space Station.
The Galactic Trade Terminal Shuffle
This is the "lazy" method, and honestly, it’s the most effective. Rich economies (Opulent, Wealthy, High Supply) almost always have NPCs landing in the docking bay who carry platinum. Don't check the wall terminal first. Talk to the pilots. They usually carry larger quantities. You can fill a Hauler's cargo hold in about ten minutes just by standing still and throwing money at every pilot that lands.
Deep Space Crystals
If you absolutely insist on the "pure" way, look for the rare, giant spiked asteroids. They look different from the lumpy potato-shaped ones. They are more metallic, more geometric. Shooting these will net you a decent amount of platinum directly, along with the occasional Gold or Silver nugget.
Frigate Expeditions
If you aren't sending your fleet out every day, you're missing out on the passive platinum income. Industrial and Combat expeditions are notorious for bringing back "dirty" metals that refine directly into platinum or just giving you the pure stuff as a reward for "defending a local trade route." It’s free real estate.
The Refiner Recipes You Need to Memorize
The game doesn't explicitly tell you how to be efficient. It wants you to struggle. But if you have a Medium or Large Refiner, the world opens up.
- Gold (1) + Silver (1) = Platinum (1): This is the baseline.
- Platinum (35) = Nanite Cluster (1): The classic "I have too much money" conversion.
- Pugneum (25) + Platinum (15) = Nanite Cluster (1): This is a weird one, but if you've been fighting Sentinels, it's a way to burn through your Pugneum stash.
- Tritium (5) = Platinum (1): Never do this. Tritium is for fuel. Using it for platinum is a waste of resources unless you are literally stranded.
Dealing with the "Grind" Perception
There’s this idea that No Man's Sky is a grindy game. It is, if you play it like it's 2016. In 2026, the game is about systems. You shouldn't be "farming" platinum; you should be acquiring it as a byproduct of other activities.
For example, when you're out exploring planets, look for "Depots." You can blow these up from your ship. Often, they contain high-value alloys like Lemmium or Geodesite. What do those do? They refine into... you guessed it, Platinum (and other things).
One Geodesite refines into 250 Platinum. One. If you hit a depot and get five of them, you’ve just made 1,250 platinum in about thirty seconds of strafing run. That's way better than shooting rocks in a vacuum.
The Misconception About "Rare" Metals
People often think they need to find a "Platinum Planet." Those don't exist. You won't find a platinum deposit like you find Copper or Emeril. It’s an orbital or loot-based resource. If you see someone claiming they found a "platinum farm" on a planet surface, they’re probably talking about a complex refiner loop or a bug. Don't waste your time searching for a mineral node that isn't in the game's code.
Why You Actually Need This Stuff
Aside from Nanites, platinum is a component in several crucial blueprints. If you’re trying to max out your starship’s pulse drive for those long jumps, or if you're building high-tier base decorations, you’ll need a steady supply.
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It’s also used in the Magnetic Resonator, which is a prerequisite for a lot of mid-game tech. If you're tired of buying Resonators at a 20% markup, just keep a stack of platinum and some magnetized ferrit in your high-capacity storage.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Session
If you need platinum right now, don't go to an asteroid belt. Do this instead:
- Check your freighter. If you have Gold and Silver sitting in your storage containers from frigate missions, toss them into a refiner together. It’s a 1:1 conversion.
- Find a Pirate System. Go to the space station and check the mission board. Frequently, the rewards for easy "bounty" missions or smuggling runs are high-value alloys like Iridesite. Refine those. They melt down into massive amounts of platinum.
- Buy from Pilots. If you have the units, go to a 3-star economy system, stand in the space station, and buy every scrap of platinum from every pilot that lands. It's the fastest way to stock up for a massive Nanite refining session.
- Stop mining by hand. Use your ship’s weapons if you must mine asteroids, but prioritize the large, crystalline ones. The small rocks are mostly just Tritium and Silver.
Platinum isn't the rarest thing in the universe, but it is one of the most useful. Treat it like a secondary currency rather than just another mineral. Once you stop looking at it as "shiny rock dust" and start seeing it as "potential nanites," your entire approach to the No Man's Sky economy will shift. Stay focused on the high-yield alloys and the 1:1 Gold/Silver refiner loop, and you'll never have to shoot an asteroid for "fun" again.