The borderlands 4 cursed mine is one of the longer side missions in the Ironvein region — four stages, two micro-puzzles, and a respectable legendary at the end. Search interest is up across the last 90 days as more players hit the mid-game. We are an unofficial fan site, and this guide is verified against Patch 1.4 (2026-04-22).

Type: Side mission
Region: Ironvein Lowlands, mine entrance south of Slag Junction
Level range: Lv 28-34
Recommended Vault Hunter: Rafa
Estimated time: 35-50 minutes

How to start

Look for the NPC Old Greaves sitting on a dynamite crate at the entrance to Slag Junction. He only spawns after main-story chapter 3 is complete — if he is not there, you are too early. Talk through both ECHO logs (skipping locks you out of one chest later), accept the mission, and drive to the mine entrance marker. The mission cannot be activated mid-combat, so clear any patrols on the road first.

Step-by-step walkthrough

  1. Stage 1 — The Collapse. Enter the mine, follow the rail track to the cave-in. Detonate the marked charge. Two Crystallines spawn behind you — face the entrance.
  2. Stage 2 — The Rune Door. Past the rubble, you hit a rune-locked door. Three lit braziers in the room. The puzzle: light them in the order shown by the cracked wall mural (left of the door). Default solution: center, right, left.
  3. Stage 3 — The Drill Run. Hop on the abandoned drill cart. It moves automatically. Shoot the four red support beams as you pass — missing any beam means a longer cave-in detour.
  4. Stage 4 — The Cursed Vein. Final chamber. Three waves of Hexed miners, then the mini-boss Foreman Krell. Krell uses corrosive grenades; bring an adaptive shield.
  5. Loot. The reward chest is behind Krell’s spawn point, not the obvious one in the center. The borderlands 4 cursed mine has two extra hidden chests — see below.

Hidden chest locations

  • Chest 1: After detonating the stage 1 charge, drop down the side gap to your right. Easy to miss.
  • Chest 2: During the drill run, jump off at the second platform (between beams 2 and 3). You can re-board from the alcove.

Puzzle: rune brazier order

The mural pattern resets per save file. The default playthrough order is center, right, left, but if you see four braziers instead of three, your save rolled the alt seed — order is far-left, center, right, near-left in that case.

  • Vault Hunter: Rafa, melee/explosive tree (the tight corridors favor Rafa’s gap-close)
  • Primary: Corrosive AR for the crystalline mobs
  • Secondary: Adaptive shield, ideally Pangolin
  • Grenade: Tesla or any chain-shock for clearing groups in the drill stage
  • Class mod: Reload speed; you reload between every brazier light

See Build Planner for a Rafa explosive preset.

Rewards

  • Hexbore — Legendary AR, ~100 percent chance from final chest in the borderlands 4 cursed mine. Corrosive, sticks projectiles to enemies.
  • Eridium — 140 guaranteed
  • Cosmetic skins — 3 weapon skins, “Curse” series
  • Old Greaves’ favor — unlocks his vendor at Slag Junction

Common mistakes

  • Skipping Old Greaves’ second ECHO log. You lose access to the second hidden chest.
  • Lighting the braziers in the wrong order. Three wrong attempts spawns a Hexed Brute that is overlevel for most players doing this side mission.
  • Staying on the drill through the whole run. You miss Chest 2 if you do not jump off at platform two.
  • Bringing fire into the Hexed wave. Hexed miners reflect fire damage in 1.4.

Watch the run