Mining is a a skill where you use a pick axe to hit rocks and obtain ores from the rocks. Selling the ores or bars that you can make from smithing can make a very good profit, thus making mining a good money-making skill.
Intro
If you want to mine, you'll need a pick axe, also known as "picks". Picks cannot be smithed. Instead, they can only be bought from the dwarf in the Dwarven Mines (his shop is labelled on your mini-map with a gold pick axe icon) or bought from players. Picks can be equipped as a weapon, giving you one more space in your inventory.
To mine, all you have to do is click on a rock. Rocks are located across RuneScape and are shown on your mini-map with a pick axe icon. When you've found a rock, you can then prospect it to see what ore that rock contains or just mine it right away. However, you need different mining levels to mine different rocks. Also, rocks are colour coded, meaning each rock has a different rock colour, depending on what the ore is inside the rock.
Mining is a random skill, just like all things in RuneScape. When you click on a rock, your player will hit the pick axe on the rock. You'll soon get an ore. It's random, meaning you could be hitting a rock 5 times before you get an ore, or even just once.
Pick Axes
Pick axes are what you need to mine. To buy them, you either have to go to the dwarf's store in the Dwarven Mines, located underneath Ice Mountain, or buy pick axes from other players.
Pick axes can also be broken. A random event, which is used to stop autoers (people cheating with programs), will make some rocks smoke. If you mine that rock while it is smoking, your pick axe will break, and you will have to get it repiared by talking to the dwarf who sells the picks located in the Dwarven Mines.
Below is a table with info about pick axes. "Lvl Needed" means what level you need to use that pick axe. For example, you need a mining level of 41 to use a rune pick. "Cost" is how much the pick axe costs in the store that sells them, located in the Dwarven Mines. The price was based on how many picks were in stock, so they may be different if you try to buy one, as the cost to buy goes up if there's few, but the cost goes down if there are many. And "Repair Cost" means how much you have to pay if your pick breaks.
| Pick | Lvl Needed | Cost | Repair Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 1 | 1 gp | Free |
| Iron | 1 | 137 gp | Free |
| Steel | 6 | 500 gp | 17 gp |
| Mithril | 21 | 1,300 gp | 43 gp |
| Adamant | 31 | 3,200 gp | 107 gp |
| Rune | 41 | 32,000 gp | 1100 gp |
It is important to note that there is no black pick axe or dragon pick axe.
Ores
Ores are located in mines throughout RuneScape. On your mini-map, mines are identified with a pick axe icon.
You need certain levels to mine different rocks. Below is a table with info about ores. When you have an ore, you can then sell it or smelt it and then smith.
"Lvl Needed" means what level you need to mine that rock and "Exp" means how much exp you get from getting an ore from that rock.
| Rock | Lvl Needed | Exp | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rune Essence | 1 | 5 | Used in runecrafting. |
| Clay | 1 | 5 | Used for crafting. |
| Copper | 1 | 17.5 | Smelt with tin to make a bronze bar. |
| Tin | 1 | 17.5 | Smelt with copper to make a bronze bar. |
| Limestone | 1 | 26.5 | Members only. |
| Blurite | 10 | 17.5 | Used in the quest The Knight's Sword. |
| Iron | 15 | 35 | Smelt to make an iron bar. |
| Silver | 20 | 40 | Used for crafting. |
| Coal | 30 | 50 | Used with iron, mith, addy, and rune ores to make bars. |
| Gold | 40 | 65 | Used for crafting. |
| Gem | 40 | 65 | Members only. Mining it gives you a random gem, used for crafting. |
| Mithril | 55 | 80 | Smelt with 4 coal ores to make a mith bar. |
| Adamant | 70 | 95 | Smelt with 6 coal ores to make an addy bar. |
| Rune | 85 | 125 | Smelt with 8 coal ores to make a rune bar. |
Making Money
Mining can be a very good skill if you have patience. It might take a long time to get ores, but you can sell them for good prices. Sell your ores to other players, not to General Stores or the dwarf who owns the ore store in the Dwarven Mines. Iron and coal are the best ores to sell as many people want them to make steel bars. Listed below are street prices for ores.
Please note that these are rough prices and are not exact. Prices may change over time.
- Clay Ore: 1 to 5 gp
- Copper/Tin Ore: 5 to 10 gp
- Iron Ore: 50 to 100 gp
- Silver Ore: 200 to 400 gp
- Coal Ore: 120 to 200 gp
- Gold Ore: 120 to 200 gp
- Mithril Ore: 300 to 500 gp
- Adamant Ore: 700 to 1,000 gp
- Rune Ore: 10,000 to 12,000 gp
So if you have 1,000 coal and sell them all at 200 each, you've just made 200k. However, it takes time to mine coal, so it will be slow.
Mines
There are many mines in RuneScape. However, they have their pros and cons. For example, some mines have many rocks but many enemies as well, while other mines have few rocks and no enemies.
Some of the more popular mines are:
- Dwarf mines: Located below Falador, they contain all kinds of rocks except runite, they are guarded by scorpions (level 14) and king scorpions (level 32). They also contain the mining guild which has 5 mithril rocks and about 38 coal rocks, beside these great plusses, it also lacks scorpions. Both the normal mining area and the guild are for both members and nonmembers.
- Crafting guild: Located southwest of Falador, this is the best place to mine silver and for nonmembers it is the best place for gold as well. A brown apron and 40 crafting are required to get in. There are 7 gold rocks and 6 silver rocks. Due to its popularity, disputes over who gets to mine the gold rocks will often arise. It usually works to offer to take 3 rocks and let the other player have 4, even if they are a much higher level, they will tend to agree to this kind of deal.
- Arzinian mines: the dream of every gold hunter. The "between a rock" quest is needed to access them, players find out during the quest how to enter the mines. All you have to do after finishing is talk to the dwarf again while wearing the gold helmet to get to the mines. They are filled with both gold veins and rocks. The highest number I've personally seen are 10 mining spots to one room, without counting the hallway leading out of it. Mine 27 gold and then remove the helmet to leave. As you walk back to the ferry, you may notice that the dwarven boatman has shifted places. He will now take your gold (not you) to the bank in return for a small part of the gold that you ask him to move for you. While wearing the ring of charos (U) from the "garden of tranquility" quest, this amount is halved and you also won't have to pay for the ferry either while waering it. These mines are usually empty but if there are other people it shouldn't be a problem, there's too much gold to cause any arguments.