OSRS Mining Guide - Training 1-99 Fast (F2P & P2P Methods) (2024)

Mining is both a P2P, and an F2P OSRS skill, allowing you to mine various rocks to obtain ores. These ores can be turned into bars or just sold for profits to the Grand Exchange. You also have a chance to mine Gems and this chance increases the higher your Mining level. This OSRS mining guide aims to teach you everything you need to know to level 1-99 efficiently, as well as learn the ins and outs of mining in your OSRS journey!

Mining is mainly used for making money, but this can be very profitable only after level 85, where you can start mining Runite ores – the most profitable ores in the game. Generally, the higher yourMining level, the faster you can mine the ores – hence faster XP and money making.

Mining training is not expensive at all as you don’t even use any ingredients, you just need a pickaxe and a good mining spot – it’s actually quite repetitive and kinda click-intensive. So in this guide, we will focus on how to reach 99 as fast as possible in addition to explaining some money-making methods that might help.

Make sure to check out all 23 OSRS skills in our relevant guide.

How to Mine – Using Pickaxes

A pickaxe is a tool that you need to be able to mine any rock in the game. There are many pickaxes, the better the pickaxe you can use, the faster you can mine the rocks and the faster XP you can get. Using a pickaxe is depending on your Mining level so you can’t use a higher tier of pickaxe without having its required Mining level.

Pickaxes generally can be used to mine rocks with just having it in your inventory, without the need to wield it. But this will take one slot of your inventory, which can decrease your Mining XP in the long term. This means wielding the pickaxe is much more efficient, but each pickaxe requires a specific Attack level, so the Attack level is also important when it comes to Mining training.

To see the different Pickaxes you can use and its requirements, check the table below.

Pickaxe	Mining level	Attack Level
Bronze pickaxe	1	1
Iron pickaxe	1	1
Steel pickaxe	6	5
Black pickaxe	11	10
Mithril pickaxe	21	20
Adamant pickaxe	31	30
Rune pickaxe	41	40
Dragon pickaxe	61	60
Infernal pickaxe	61	60
3rd age pickaxe	61	65
Crystal pickaxe	71	70

There is one exception in the table above, the Crystal pickaxe requires having level 50 Agility and the completion of Song of the Elves Quest to be used.

To Mine the rocks, you only have to left-click it while having a Pickaxe in your inventory (or wielding it). After mining a rock, it will be depleted for a while depending on which kind of Rocks it is. The Rock will be depleted after mining one Ore from it unless you are using the Expert mining gloves.

The higher the Ore you mine, the longer the depletion time.

Important Items for Miners

Prospector kit

It is a very important and useful outfit that boosts your Mining XP by a total of 2.5% upon wearing the complete outfit. It can only be obtained from the Prospector Percy’s Nugget Shop in the Motherlode Mine after collecting the required golden nuggets (180 golden nuggets) to buy it through mining in the Motherlode Mine.

It is very useful to have this outfit, but most of the players just ignore it since it takes a very long time to obtain the required golden nuggets.

Varrock armour

The Varrock armour gives you a 10% chance to Mine 2 Ores at once instead of 1 Ore. It can be obtained after completing any of the Varrock diaries. Each diary gives a different tier of the Armour.

The Easy diary gives tier 1 and its effect is only applied on Rocks up to Coal. The Medium diary gives tier 2 and its effect is applied on Rocks up to Mithril. The Hard diary gives tier 3 and its effect is applied on Rocks up to Adamant. The Elite diary gives tier 4 and its effect is applied to any Rock in the game (except Gem rocks).

Note that this effect doesn’t work in the Motherlode Mine, Volcanic Mine, and/or while Blast mining.

This armour is very useful since you still get the XP of the 2 Ores mined at once, which kinda boosts up your Mining XP. Also, it increases your profits while mining Runite ores. But generally, you will only need Varrock armour tier 1 to follow our training guide.

Mining gloves

These gloves decrease the chance of non-depletion of the rock you mine. This can be useful when you want to AFK more while mining, and also gives more profits when Mining Runite Rocks to make money.

The Mining gloves work only on Silver rocks up to Gold, but you can buy the Superior mining gloves to make the effect works on Mithril rocks up to Runite. You can also combine the two gloves to make Expert mining gloves that work on Rocks from Silver up to Runite.

Buying Mining gloves or Superior mining gloves can be done throughthe Mining Guild Mineral Exchange after collecting enough unidentified minerals (60, 120 respectively). The best way to collect unidentified minerals is by mining Iron in the Mining Guild.

But generally, you will only need the Superior mining gloves for the Runite money-making method since its the best Rock to mine in terms of profits.

Gem bag & Amulet of glory

These 2 items are only useful if you are mining Gem rocks for making money. The Gem bag allows you to store up to 60 uncut Gems for each of the Free-to-Play Gems in addition to the Pay-to-Play Dragonstore Gem. It can be bought from the Prospector Percy’s Nugget Shop for 100 golden nuggets.

The Amulet of glory (charged) increases the chance of getting gems while mining non-gem rocks from 1/256 to 1/86. It will also speed up the mining of the Gem rocks. This item can be bought directly from the Grand Exchange or crafted and enchanted by yourself.

All Mining Quests

Completing some of these quests will be helpful to pass the first few low Mining levels, do it if you find it easier than the regular mining.

Quest	Experience reward	Mining requirement	Other Requiremenets
The Forsaken Tower	500	–	20%
Doric’s Quest	1,300	–	–
Plague City	2,425	–	–
The Giant Dwarf	2,500	–	14 , 12 , 16 , 33
Heroes’ Quest	2,575	50	55 , 53 , 53 , 25
Another Slice of H.A.M.	3,000	–	15 , 25
The Lost Tribe	3,000	17	13 , 13
Between a Rock…	5,000	40	30 , 50
Enakhra’s Lament	7,000	45 -optional	50 , 45 , 43 , 39
Making Friends with My Arm	10,000	72	35 , 66 , 68
The Dig Site	15,300	–	10 , 10 , 25
Dragon Slayer II	18,000	68	200 , 75 , 70 , 62 , 60 , 60 , 50 , 50
Song of the Elves	20,000	70	70 , 70 , 70 , 70 , 70 , 70 , 70

Mining Training – Level 1-99

Follow the guide below to get your Mining skill to level 99 in the most efficient way in Old School Runescape.

Mining Level 1-15

• Mining Tin Ores (17.5 XP / Ore).

Use the best Pickaxe you can get and begin to mine Tin ores from the 3 known Tin rocks in the Lumbridge Mine. This spot is the best one as you can mine quickly the 3 rocks while standing between them so your character won’t have to walk and waste time between rocks.

The rock takes 2 seconds to respawn which means a rock will almost respawn right after mining the 3rd rock and you will never have to stop for more than 1 second.

It is advised to drop all the ores once you have a full inventory of them since they are so cheap and it is more efficient to drop them experience-wise.

Mining Level 15-75

• Mining Iron Ores (35 XP / Ore).
• Before level 60: 40K XP/Hour
• After level 60: up to 70K XP/Hour

Use a good pickaxe, the best you can obtain, and begin to mine Iron ore just like the Tin ores. There are some spots where you can find 3 Iron rocks in a triangular shape, but the one with less traffic is located in Al Kharid mine. Just like mining Tin ores, stand between the Rocks and mine them in a circle, once you finish mining the 3rd Rock, another Rock will respawn in less than 2 seconds.

It is recommended to use this spot until level 60 Mining as you will gain access to the Mining Guild where the respawn time is halved in addition to gaining an invisible mining boost of 7 levels which will speed up the mining process.

The respawn time halved means the XP rates will be boosted, so from level 60 until 75 you will start noticing higher XP rates. Also, the spot is very close to a bank chest which means depositing the ores is much faster than dropping them one by one and you will be making money at the same time. This method is click-intensive, so the XP rates depend on how fast you can do it.

Mining Level 75-99

• Mining Granite ores (50~75 XP / Granite).
• 75~90K XP/Hour

Mining Granite ores is just like Iron and Tin, but the XP you get is depending on the size of the Granite ores you mine. It requires level 45 to start mining them, but its recommended to do it only once you reach level 75.

Size	XP
500g	50
2kg	60
5kg	75

The Granite ores can be mined in the Desert Quarry located south of the Bandit Camp in the Kharidian Desert. In the Desert Quarry, you will find a spot that has 4 Granite Rocks which is the best spot to mine, basically just an advanced version of mining Iron ores.

Note that you will need to have waterskins or since the Quarry is located in the Desert so you don’t die from the desert heat. It is also advised to drop the ores to get the best possible XP rates per hour. This method is also very click-intensive.

Alternative Mining Training Methods

Motherlode Mine

• Recommended level: 72+
• Required Items: Use your best Pickaxe.
• XP/Pay-dirt: 60

The Motherlode mine is a good place for AFK-mining but it has pretty low XP per hour at the average rate of 25K/Hour. It’s also useful to start collecting golden nuggets to buy the previously mentioned Prospector kit.

To access the Motherlode Mine, you will need at least level 30 Mining, but it is not recommended to do it at this very low level. The recommended level should be at least above level 72, so you can unlock the upper level of it which is closer to the bank chest and the hopper. But note that you will need 100 Golden nuggets to unlock the upper level by talking to Prospector Percy.

Mining there can be done by using a pickaxe on one of the ore veins so you can mine pay-dirt. It will take time to get the pay-dirt mined and you can get multiple of them from one vein thus it is a semi-AFK method.

After collecting a full inventory of the pay-dirt, you will have to deposit them into the hopper to get cleaned so you can collect them from the sack. The pay-dirt will be converted to random ores and a chance of getting Golden nuggets, so it’s also a profitable Mining method. Note that in the lower level of the Mine veins have a higher chance of depleting than the upper level.

Each time you mine pay-dirt you will get 60 Mining XP in addition to the XP bonus you get once you collect the ores from the sack. The bonus XP is depending on what kind of ore you get and this is depending on your Mining level. To check the rates, see the table below.

Ore	Level	XP Bonus
Coal	30	0
Golden nugget	30	0
Gold ore	40	15
Mithril ore	55	30
Adamantite ore	70	45
Runite ore	85	75

Note that the bonus XP is only gained once you collect the ores from the sack.

When you deposit the pay-dirt into the hopper, sometimes the water wheels can be broken, to fix them you will have to use a hammer and it usually can be obtained from any nearby crate.

The sack capacity can be extended by paying 200 golden nuggets to Prospector Percy, this will allow you to deposit more amounts of pay-dirt into the hopper without having to empty the sack first.

To get there, you can use a Skilled necklace teleport to the Mining Guild then enter the gate to the Motherlode Mine.

Gems Mining

• Recommended level: 75+
• XP/Hour: 30~40K
• Completion of: Karamja Hard Diary
• Required Items: Use your best Pickaxe
• XP: 65 XP/Gem

Gems mining is not the best way to train Mining and it’s not also a Semi-AFK method, but instead, it gives a decent amount of Gold per Hour in addition to average XP rates. You need level 40 Mining at least to start mining gems, but its recommended to do it at level 75 or higher.

The best spot to mine gems is at the underground gem mine in Shilo Village. The surface spot is not the best as it has only 7 rocks and not as close as the underground area to the bank chest. So 100% you should get the Karamja gloves tier 3 after completing Karamja Hard Diary to access to the underground area.

Wearing the previously mentioned Amulet of glory (charged) is also very important so you can speed up your mining and increase your profits.

Amethyst Mining

• Required level: 92+
• XP/Hour: 20K
• Required Items: Use your best Pickaxe
• XP: 240 XP/Ore

Mining Amethyst is the most AFK mining method in the game, it gives pretty low XP rates, but it is a decent way to make money while AFK training your mining.

You need at least level 92 to start mining Amethyst and it is located inside the Mining Guild. The Mining guild gives an invisible boost of 7 levels, which means you will be able to mine faster inside the guild, but the boost won’t allow you to mine rocks above your actual Mining level.

The southern part of the Mining Guild is where you can find Amethyst Rocks, all you have to do is left-click on the rocks to mine them, its just the best way to AFK Mining.

Making Money With Mining

Mining Basalt & Salt

• Required level: 72+
• GP/Hour: 550K
• Required Items: Use your best Pickaxe
• Completion of: Making Friends with My Arm Quest

Mining Basalt & Salt is a good way to make money through Mining as you can make up to 700K GP/Hour, but the XP rates are very low as you get only 5 XP per basalt.

To be able to start mining Basalt & Salt, you will need at least level 72 Mining and the Completion of Making Friends with My Arm Quest. The Basalt Rocks are located underneath the Weiss in the Salt Mine and it is just like mining any other rock but it doesn’t deplete after mining one ore.

There are 3 different types of salt and they have 3 colors: blue, red and green. You can see their colors through the Basalt rocks, so choose any kind of them to mine. The Black rocks are only going to give you basalts.

Basalts can be sold for much higher coins than salts, so you better focus on mining them.

The Salt is stackable and the Basalt is not, but you can still convert the Basalt to notes by speaking to Snowflake who is located outside the mine.

This method is only good for making money while being Semi-AFK, so don’t expect decent XP rates at all.

Mining Volcanic Ash

• Recommended level: 67+
• GP/Hour: 450K
• Required Items: Use your best Pickaxe
• Completion of: Bone Voyage Quest

Mining Volcanic ash is another good method to make money through Mining, but it has pretty low XP rates as you only get 10 XP per Volcanic ash. To start mining Volcanic ash, you need to have at least a Mining level of 22 in addition to the completion of Bone Voyage quest which gives you access to the Fossil Island where you can start mining Volcanic ash near the Fossil Island Volcano.

Mining Volcanic ash is simple, you only have to left-click on the Ash piles and your character will start mining them until they deplete. The number of Volcanic Ashes you get from 1 Ash pile is depending on your Mining level, the higher level you are the more ashes you can get.

Level	Ash Obtained
22	1
37	2
52	3
67	4
82	5
97	6

Also using a good pickaxe will speed up the whole process, thus more GP per hour. It is highly recommended to do that at the level of 67 Mining to get decent money.

Mining Runite Ores

• Required Level: 85+
• GP/Hour: 250K~700K
• Required Items: Use your best Pickaxe

Mining Runite is probably the best Mining money-making method for the high-level players as the Runite ore is the most expensive ore in the game. The competition between players to mine it is probably the only issue, as you will have to switch between worlds to find a non-depleted ore.

The place to mine Runite ores is in the Mining Guild due to the invisible Mining boost which makes it faster to mine the rock. Also, the effect that makes the respawn time of any rock halved which only happens inside the Mining Guild.

The best way to mine Runite is by switching between the different worlds instead of waiting for the rock to respawn. Using a good pickaxe is also very important alongside a Varrock armour tier 4 as well as the Superior mining gloves.

Mining a Runite ore gives 125 XP, but it is still very bad training method as the cooldown of a Runite Rock is 12 minutes, making it very slow to gain XP compared to the other methods.

Mining Runite is only good for making money, so don’t go there thinking that you will get some good XP rates.

All OSRS Ores

Each ore in OSRS has a required level and a specific XP gained when mined, to see these numbers, check the table below.

Mining Level	Item	Mining XP
1	Clay	5
1	Rune essence	5
1	Copper	17.5
1	Tin	17.5
10	Limestone	26.5
10	Blurite	17.5
15	Iron	35
20	Elemental	0
20	Daeyalt	17
20	Silver	40
22	Volcanic ash	10
30	Pure essence	5
30	Coal	50
30	Pay-dirt	60
35	Sandstone	30-60
38	Dense essence block	12
40	Gem rocks	65
40	Gold	65
42	Volcanic sulphur	25
45	Granite	50-75
55	Mithril	80
60	Lunar	0
65	Lovakite	10
70	Adamantite	95
70	Soft clay	5
72	Salts	5
85	Runite	125
92	Amethyst	240

Overall

Mining is a very repetitive skill to train as most of the time you will have to click continuously to get good XP rates. So it’s advised to start using the money-making methods only at the high levels so you can do it more efficiently.

If you’ve found my OSRS mining guide userful, make sure to check the rest of our skill guides for Old School Runescape!