Always water your crops before venturing into the mines. You've essentially got to keep going back until you can either afford to buy copper ore to combine with what you've found, or have enough coal to craft the bars (1 coal per bar). Always follow any rails you see in the mines. ...
The Copper Pan is a tool used to gather ore (and other items) from bodies of water. One is received from Willy after the Glittering Boulder at the bridge just west of the mine entrance is removed, revealing a stream in its place. This is accomplished by