In Runescape 3, Mining is fantastic. Ore boxes, gem bags, extremely AFK-able. What more could you want? But Mining in OSRS? That thing scares me.
Since the beginning of time, or at least since the beginning of Runescape, Mining has been one of the most painfully slow skills to train to 99. To say Mining is boring would be an understatement. But alas, Mining comes in handy, so we have to get it done; as quickly as possible for our sanity's sake. That's where we come in. Grab your pickaxe and hard hat. We have some Mining to do. This OSRS Mining Guide will try to take you from 1-99 as efficiently as possible, as impossible as that seems at first.
F2P Mining Training 1-99
Levels 1-10: Doric's Quest
Doric's Quest is easy and gets you straight to 10 Mining. With how slow Mining is to train, especially as a F2P, take advantage of this.
Levels 10-15: Copper/Tin Ore
After you reach level 10 Mining, grab your pickaxe and mine 64 copper or tin ore to get to 15 Mining. It's up to you whether you drop them or not. At this early stage in the game, you can go ahead and bank them. Varrock West Bank is close enough to Varrock West Mine.
Levels 15-99: Iron Ore
Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you; F2P Mining options are so barebones that you gain access to the best training option at just 15 Mining.
If you only care about experience, then Al-Kharid Mine is the best option. Be careful if you're low-level Combat, as level 14 scorpions will attack you. Bring some food and kite them around until they stop being aggressive. There's a perfect spot where you can mine three iron ore veins without moving. Open your settings, toggle on the option to use shift, and left-click to drop items in your inventory. Mine an inventory of iron, drop them and repeat. With efficiency, you can get around 45,000-50,000 exp/hour. Yeah, that's not great. But it's Mining, and it's F2P. That's a double whammy.
If you want Mining exp and profit, you should head for Rimmington Mine. It's not as good as Al-Kharid, but bank deposit boxes are nearby at the Port Sarim docks. Mine an inventory of iron, bank at Port Sarim, and repeat. The exp rates drop to around 20,000-30,000/hour. Whichever method you choose, you'll need to mine over 372,000 iron ore to reach 99 Mining.
Levels 14-99 Barronite
Training Mining can be a soul-draining grind. If you want to take a break, barronite might be for you.
Completing Below Ice Mountain gives you access to the Ruins of Camdolzaal. With at least 14 Mining and Smithing, you can mine barronite ore veins. Mining here is extremely AFK-able. That's especially the case if you're a F2P player since you can't obtain every drop. You'll mostly receive barronite shards, which are stackable and barronite deposits. You'll only need to leave your spot when barronite deposits clutter your inventory.
When that happens, head to the anvil near Ramarno to break the deposits down into shards. Rinse and repeat. The Mining exp isn't good, but you do it because it's AFK. And if you plan on becoming a member, stacking up barronite shards is great for items like Imcando's hammer.
Levels 70-85: Adamantite Ore
While OSRS is aesthetically like the Runescape of old, many things have changed. Especially the prices of items. Adamantite ore isn't what it used to be and isn't great for moneymaking. But, if you want to do it, head for the Mining Guild or the Dwarven Mine at 70 Mining.
Mining adamantite ore will be slow for a while since you're doing this as soon as you unlock the ore. Mining and banking iron ore would be better. But if you're looking for a quick buck and need some emergency GP, adamantite is alright. Just mine the ore veins, hop worlds, and repeat. If you want to mine adamantite up to 85 Mining when you unlock runite, you'll need to mine over 20,000 adamantite ore. And if you have the patience for that in F2P, you're a saint.
Levels 85-99 Mining: Runite
Runite is the king of the rocky castle in OSRS and still good money. Unfortunately for F2P players, it's also risky. The only place F2P players can mine runite is in the deep wilderness. Not only is mining runite extremely slow, but if you get PKed, you get nothing.
I really can't recommend this. If you want to mine runite ore for profit, try getting a bond and membership first. From 85 Mining, it will take over 78,000 runite ore to reach 99. Has any F2P player done this?
P2P Mining Training 1-99
Levels 1-37 Questing
P2P has many benefits over F2P, one of them being more quests.
There are a lot of quests that give Mining experience. Here are six you want to jot down and complete:
- Doric's Quest
- The Lost Tribe
- The Dig Site
- Plague City
- The Giant Dwarf
- Another Slice of H.A.M.
These quests all have low-level requirements, Combat or otherwise. Completing them will get your Mining level to just under level 38. More quests give out Mining exp, but the requirements get significantly higher. Completing them will depend on the player. But 37 is enough of a head start anyway.
Levels 37-40/37-45/37-70/37-75: Iron Ore
Even in P2P, iron ore is still an excellent training method. How long you stay here depends on how good you are at tick manipulation. If you're good at tick manipulation, leave after reaching 45 Mining. If you're bad at it, stay until 70-75 Mining. If you're interested in profit, you can move on after hitting 40 Mining.
The Al-Kharid mining spot still works great. Once you hit level 60 Mining, go to the P2P area in the Mining Guild. It's close to a bank chest, and the respawn rates are better than at Al-Kharid.
Exp rates vary depending on your tick manipulation skills. If you don't use tick manipulation, you're still looking at 45,000-50,000 exp/hour. With three-tick manipulation, you can peak at around 80,000 exp/hour. Tick manipulation is hard to master and dull to utilize, but worth the effort if you want to maximize efficiency.
Levels 45-99: Granite
Only use this method if you're good at tick manipulation. Otherwise, it isn't worth it.
Granite mining will take you into the desert, so you need protection from the desert heat. You ideally want a Desert amulet 4 as it provides complete protection from the desert heat. Acquiring it requires the completion of the Elite Desert Tasks. Chances are someone with 45 Mining doesn't have those done.
Head for the Quarry and get to work. At level 45 Mining, you can get 65,000-70,000 exp/hour with tick manipulation. From level 70, you can get around 85,000-90,000 exp/hour. At level 90 and beyond, exp rates can soar to 115,000-130,000/hour. But again, this is only with three-tick manipulation. Without it, you shouldn't expect to see more than 60,000-70,000 exp an hour. And there's no reason to be here for those exp rates.
Levels 70-99: Volcanic Mine
If you want some better exp rates, head for the Volcanic Mine. You'll need to do a few things first. You must complete the Bone Voyage quest and have at least 150 kudos at the Varrock Museum.
You also need to set up a Museum Camp on Fossil Island and claim at least five unidentified fossils from Peter. I also recommend bringing a team that knows what they're doing, or your exp rates will suffer. World 323 is the official world for Volcanic Mine.
You can expect around 65,000-75,000 exp/hour with a dragon or crystal pickaxe at level 70 Mining. I strongly recommend a crystal pickaxe once you hit 90 Mining, as the exp disparity between it and the dragon pickaxe becomes significant.
At level 90+ Mining with a crystal pickaxe, you can get 90,000-94,000 exp/hour. Profit will only be in the 200K-300K/hour range, but you're here for the experience.
Levels 75-99: Blast Mine
Before you can use the Lovakengj Blast Mine, you need 100% favor with Lovakengj. You need at least 43 Mining to play this minigame. As you may have guessed from the name, Blast Mine is about explosive mining. You'll be using dynamite, chisels, and tinderboxes here. It is relatively click-intensive, requires you to pay attention, and uses up a lot of energy. Coming here without a Graceful outfit isn't a good time. If playing efficiently, you can get around 50,000-55,000 exp an hour at 75 Mining. From level 90-99, the rates hover between 65,000-75,000 exp an hour.
The Blast Mine has the unique effect of giving players access to rocks ten levels before the level requirement. The money from this minigame only starts to kick in at 75 Mining for access to runite, and I don't recommend coming here before that. You should be able to get between 300K-400K GP/hour. It's not as good as gem rocks, but the exp rates are better if tick manipulation isn't your thing.
Levels 40-99: Gem Rocks
The remaining methods are less about optimal exp gains and more about profit, AFKability, or both.
Gem rocks are arguably the best Mining moneymaking method in OSRS. If you're good at tick manipulation, it's arguably the best-balanced training method between profit and exp rates.
The best place to mine gem rocks is in Shilo Village. You need to complete the Shilo Village Quest to access their mines. You ideally want to have completed the Karamja Hard Diary and have a gem bag from Motherlode Mine. I'll be operating under the assumption you've at least completed the Diary.
Head for the Shilo Village Mine underground and go to town on the gem rocks. Level 70 Mining and below, and you can expect exp rates of around 40,000/hour with no tick manipulation. At level 80, this increases to about 50,000, and at level 90+ goes up to 60,000. There's a bank deposit box down here. Fill up your inventory and gem bag, deposit your gems, and repeat. The profit is around 600K-800K GP/hour. Not too shabby.
With tick manipulation, profit/hour and the exp rates go up. You can achieve as much as 80K/exp an hour doing this. Combined with the profit, you have an excellent training method. If you want more pets on your account, Mining gem rocks is the fastest way to get the rock golem Mining pet.
Levels 70-99/72-99: Motherlode Mine
Motherlode Mine in Falador can net you a motherlode of GP if you head here as soon as you have access to it at level 30 Mining (I don't recommend doing this as the exp rates are atrocious at that level). It helps to have 54 Agility and completion of the Falador Medium Diary Tasks for access to a helpful shortcut.
Getting the most out of Motherlode Mine first requires unlocking the upper level. You can do this by paying a one-time fee of 100 golden nuggets to Prospector Percy. You also need 72 Mining to access the upper level.
The exp rates aren't great, even at higher levels (Especially if you don't have a crystal pickaxe). The benefits of the Motherlode Mine are the profit and relaxed vibe of the minigame. Most high-level Mining training methods get pretty sweaty, but Motherlode Mine is something you can do at a leisurely pace.
From level 70 onwards, you can expect around 30,000-45,000 exp/hour. This training method caps at around 50,000 exp/hour. Again, not a lot of exp, but you can make a ton of GP here in the long run. Prospector Percy also has numerous valuable items you can buy, like the gem bag, coal bag, or Prospector kit pieces.
Levels 92-99: Amethyst
Have you been on a hardcore Mining grind up to 92 Mining and looking to take a breather? Say hello to amethyst crystals.
Amethyst is exclusive to the Mining Guild. To get the most out of this, complete the Elite Falador Diary. After doing so, speak with Belona to gain access to an amethyst mining location west of the bank chest.
Sit back, mine the wall, and take it easy. Amethyst mining is to Mining what redwoods are to Woodcutting. It is extremely AFK. It's got a decent profit of about 350K-450K GP/hour.
The exp rates are nothing to write home about. You'll only get around 20,000-25,000 exp/hour doing this. But you aren't doing this for the experience anyway.
Levels 10-99 Crashed Stars
Remember that celestial ring I mentioned at the beginning of the guide and how to get it? Well, that activity is perfect for the most casual of miners.
Crashed stars are simultaneously the most simple and complex training method on this list. Before you can do any training, you have to first one. Join the Shooting Stars grouping chat to have an easier time with this. Shooting stars crash land roughly every two hours. You'll need access to many transportation methods to do this effectively.
It would be best if you had at least level 10 Mining to mine a crashed star and a maximum of 90 Mining for the highest tier. Once you find one, it's just a matter of mining it. Depending on how many players are mining it with you, you can mine a crashed star for as little as several minutes or as long as half an hour. The exp rates and profit are equally terrible. At level 70+ Mining, it's a good day to get 15,000-20,000 exp an hour. I can only recommend this to players who want to periodically hop on OSRS throughout the day and get some Mining training done.
Training Mining Isn’t for Everyone in OSRS
For me, Mining is easily the worst skill to train in OSRS, this is true for both F2P and P2P. Neither the best exp rates nor the best GP/hour rates are incredible are especially great, comparatively speaking. And it is just so dull. The most trouble in achieving 99 Mining for me is maintaining the motivation to do it. But if you push through, you can feel proud of yourself, knowing you achieved one of the more challenging accomplishments in OSRS.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to do some Mining in RS3 to remind myself that Mining is only awful in OSRS.
