Pay-to-play Mining training

This article provides an overview of strategies used to train the Mining skill.

1 Equipment

1.1 Pickaxes
1.2 Prospector kit
1.3 Varrock armour
1.4 Other

2.1 Levels 1–37: Questing
2.2 Levels 1–15: Copper/Tin ore
2.3 Levels 15–45/70: Iron ore

2.4 Levels 45–99: Granite

2.4.1 Setup and tips

3.1 Levels 30–99: Motherlode Mine
3.2 Levels 40–99: Gem rocks
3.3 Levels 41–99: Calcified rocks
3.4 Levels 60–99: Crashed stars
3.5 Levels 70–99: Volcanic Mine
3.6 Levels 75–99: Blast Mine
3.7 Levels 92–99: Amethyst

Equipment [ edit | edit source ]

The only item required to mine is a pickaxe. A certain Attack level is required to wield one, but players are still able to use the pickaxe to mine without the Attack level requirement. Players should use the best pickaxe available for the fastest mining speed.

Using an infernal pickaxe is recommended if using the fastest training methods. Mining rocks with it will give a 1/3 chance for the ore to automatically combust, which will consume the ore. This reduces the number of ores that need to be dropped, and also grants some passive Smithing experience. Making an infernal pickaxe requires level 85 Smithing, and it can be charged with dragon pickaxes or smouldering stones. The former are usually cheaper, but using the infernal pickaxe can still be somewhat expensive for some players.

For other methods, the crystal pickaxe performs better, and it should be used if the player has enough crystal shards for it.

Pickaxes [ edit | edit source ]

Higher tiers of pickaxes take less time between rolls while mining. Each tick is a period of 0.6 seconds. When the allotted time passes, the game will roll whether or not you mine something successfully. The chance itself is affected by your Mining level and the tier of pickaxe you use.

			Shop price	Weight	Ticks between rolls
Bronze pickaxe	1	1	1 coin at Nurmof and Bob	2.267 kg	8
Iron pickaxe	1	1	140 coins at Nurmof	2.267 kg	7
Steel pickaxe	6	5	500 coins at Nurmof	2.267 kg	6
Black pickaxe	11	10	Not sold	0.01 kg	5
Mithril pickaxe	21	20	1,300 coins at Nurmof	1.814 kg	5
Adamant pickaxe	31	30	3,200 coins at Nurmof	2.721 kg	4
Rune pickaxe [1]	41	40	32,000 coins at Nurmof	2.267 kg	3
Dragon pickaxe [2]	61	60	Not sold	2.4 kg	2.83 [3]
Infernal pickaxe	61 [4]	60	Not sold	2.4 kg	2.83 [5]
Crystal pickaxe	71 [6]	70	Not sold	1.36 kg	2.75 [7]

^ The gilded pickaxe is functionally equivalent.
^ The 3rd age pickaxe, dragon pickaxe (or), and dragon pickaxe (upgraded) are functionally equivalent.
^ 3 ticks by default, 1/6 chance to be 2 ticks.
^ Also requires 85 Smithing to use.
^ 3 ticks by default, 1/6 chance to be 2 ticks.
^ Also requires 50 Agility to use.
^ 3 ticks by default, 1/4 chance to be 2 ticks.

Prospector kit [ edit | edit source ]

Main article: Prospector kit

The Prospector kit obtained from Prospector Percy in the Motherlode Mine or from the Volcanic Mine Reward Shop provides a total of 2.5% bonus Mining experience when worn. The outfit is not worth getting timewise if the player is going for 99 Mining using the fastest methods. However, it is a requirement for a master clue step and a hard task in the Falador Diary, so the player might want to get it anyway.

The full set costs 180 nuggets or 120,000 Volcanic Mine reward points in total. Getting 180 nuggets takes around 10 hours on average.

Varrock armour [ edit | edit source ]

Completing task sets from the Varrock Diary grants the player Varrock armour, which gives the player 10% chance of mining 2 ores at once while worn. For the methods below, Varrock armour 1 provides this effect for mining iron, Varrock armour 2 for mining granite, and Varrock armour 4 for mining amethyst. However, the Varrock armour does not work at Motherlode Mine, Blast Mine, Volcanic Mine, or on gem rocks.

The Varrock armour 4 also works as a prospector jacket.

Other [ edit | edit source ]

Wearing a celestial ring, obtained through the Shooting Stars activity, provides an invisible +4 boost to the Mining skill. This will boost experience rates slightly. The uncharged ring is worth getting if the player is going for level 99 Mining using the methods below.

There are also mining gloves available in the Mining Guild. The expert mining gloves are worth getting if mining amethyst crystals.

Fastest experience [ edit | edit source ]

To gain Mining experience most efficiently, players should always drop the ores they mine (also known as “powermining” or “dropmining”). This can be done by holding the shift key and clicking on the ore once shift drop has been enabled in the options. Mobile users can toggle the tap-drop option.

Levels 1–37: Questing [ edit | edit source ]

Early levels can be skipped by completing quests that give Mining experience. Completing Doric’s Quest, The Dig Site, Plague City, The Giant Dwarf, The Lost Tribe and Another Slice of H.A.M. grants a total of 27,525 Mining experience, which will get the player from level 1 to 37. All of these quests have fairly low requirements, and completing them allows the player to use an adamant pickaxe right from the start.

Levels 1–15: Copper/Tin ore [ edit | edit source ]

From level 1 to 15, players should mine copper or tin. This can be done anywhere, though the Lumbridge Swamp mining site is debatably the easiest due to its relative lack of players and aggressive monsters, and its collection of copper and tin rocks.

Levels 15–45/70: Iron ore [ edit | edit source ]

Mining iron offers the fastest experience from level 15 to 45. At level 45, 3-tick mining granite becomes faster assuming good performance, however this method is much easier and offers relatively fast experience at higher levels. Players who are inexperienced with tick manipulation methods, or do not plan to use tick manipulation at all, are advised to mine iron up to level 70 (before switching to the Volcanic Mine).

Wearing Varrock armour 1 or higher increases the overall experience rate for this method, as it gives the player 10% chance to mine 2 ores at once while worn.

From level 15 to 60, players should mine iron at a location that has three iron rocks in a triangle, as such a formation that allows the player to mine all three rocks without moving. Drop the ores while waiting for the rocks to respawn. There are twelve such locations available at this level:

Legends’ Guild Mine
Al Kharid Mine
Piscatoris Mine
Lovakengj Mine
Verdant Valley
Mount Karuulm Mine
Resource Area (level 51 Wilderness)
South Mor Ul Rek mine
Isle of Souls
Sisterhood Sanctuary Mine
Stranglewood mine
Cam Torum Mine

If using tick manipulation, the best place to mine iron is in the Legends’ Guild mine or the Isle of Souls, which has 4 iron rocks close to each other in the eastern part. Start the 3-tick cycle with a herb and tar (or other suitable items) while moving between rocks, and drop the ores between mines. This method is faster than using a triangle spot, but because this method is much more advanced and significantly harder than using a triangle spot, it is only recommended for players who plan on 3-tick mining granite from level 45 onwards.

From level 60 onwards, the pay-to-play area of the Mining Guild becomes the best option, as the respawn time for rocks mined in this area is halved. This makes it so the players do not have to wait for the rocks to respawn or use tick manipulation; with correct timing and accurate clicks, players can drop the ore between mines and keep mining continuously.

Players can expect to gain up to around 45,000–55,000 experience per hour below level 60 when not using tick manipulation. From level 60 and above, the maximum experience rate in the Mining Guild caps at around 70,000–80,000 experience per hour, depending on performance and the pickaxe used.

Banking the ores is not recommended as this slows down experience rates a lot and the iron ores are usually not worth very much. Ironmen who wish to bank their ores are advised to use the pay-to-play area in the Mining Guild, which has a triangle spot near to the bank chest. For those below level 60, an alternative location to bank iron ores is the Monastery Mine, using the Ardougne cloak to teleport to the mine and then a bank teleportation method such as the Ring of dueling teleport to Castle Wars to bank your ore.

Levels 45–99: Granite [ edit | edit source ]

3-tick mining granite (commonly referred to as “3t4g”, 3-tick 4 granite) at the Quarry offers the fastest Mining experience from level 45 onwards. 3-tick mining is done by using swamp tar on a clean herb (or other suitable items) to set up the 3-tick cycle and then moving to a granite rock to mine it. When timed correctly, the player will skip the delay from moving to the granite rock and has a chance to receive a rock every three ticks. The player will need to move between four granite rocks to continuously keep up the 3-tick cycle.

While 3-tick mining granite offers the fastest experience, it is very click-intensive and can be hard to learn. This method is not worth doing without tick manipulation, as the experience rates would be much lower. Players who are new to tick manipulation methods may find it worthwhile to train with iron before attempting to train with granite, as mining iron offers relatively high rates at lower levels.

Experience rates are shown in the table below. The rates assume wearing the Varrock armour and an uncharged celestial ring, and the Mining cape at level 99. At maximum efficiency, it is possible to gain up to 134,000 experience per hour at level 99, though players are more likely to see rates closer to around 120,000–125,000 experience per hour when including some mistakes. When using the infernal pickaxe, players will also gain around 7,000–10,000 passive Smithing experience per hour depending on the Mining level. Without tick manipulation players can only gain around 63,000 experience per hour at best.

level	XP/h
45	86,000
55	94,000
65	100,000
75	106,000
85	113,000
95	118,000
99	125,000

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