Coal



Coal is a type of ore that can be obtained through Mining coal rocks in various places around RuneScape. It is one of the most important mined materials in RuneScape.

Coal can be mined with a pickaxe by players with a Mining level of 30 or higher, granting 50 Mining experience. After being mined, a coal rock takes an average of 42 seconds to respawn. Mining coal may have a higher chance of giving gems than other rocks. Coal is one of the requirements for steel, mithril, adamantite, and runite bars.

Obtaining coal
While the Mining Guild is a good source of coal for those with the required mining level to enter, it can still get very busy, leading some miners to take on the risky Southern wilderness mining site, or the even riskier Bandit camp mining site, although this is redundant as it is located in very deep wilderness (Levels 34-36), filled with level 28 aggressive Hobgoblins and also exposed to revenants. If the player would rather face tough monsters than revenants, then Crandor Island is available after completing the Dragon Slayer quest. However, it is a long way back to a bank, though the Tzhaar Bank isn't too far for members. The West Lumbridge Swamp mining site is the best for lower levelled players, as it isn't crowded. Another good place is the Barbarian Village. At higher levels, the mining guild is best as coal rocks take an average of 30 seconds to respawn. The coal mine in Keldagrim north-east mine is somewhat far from a bank, but by wisely using energy, players manage to use this mine effectively due to its general lack of players. This mine is also close to the Blast Furnace. The Dwarven Mine is popular, but those under combat 65 may want to avoid it as they may be attacked by King Scorpions. The clear advantage of the Mining Guild is its proximity to a bank.

The Coal Trucks in Kandarin may be a good solution for members without the required mining level for the Guild, since they can mine and store 120 coal (up to 196 while wearing Seers' headband 3) in the trucks at the mine, then retrieve it from the trucks by Seers' Village. This allows players four and a quarter full loads of coal in one trip, or five and a quarter full loads if they carry one load with them.

If members have completed the The Grand Tree quest, the Grand Tree mine can be very useful for mining coal (11 coal rocks) as it is usually empty and is very close to the bank in the second floor of the Grand Tree.

Another easy way to get coal is to go to the small mine between East Ardougne and the Legends' Guild, which has 12 coal rocks and is usually abandoned. The bank in the southern part of East Ardougne is also a very short walk away.

Coal can also be obtained by having the subjects of Miscellania gather it for you. In oder to gain the Coal players must put a number of coins in the coffers and set the subjects so that they will be mining. They will automatically mine coal and a few gems.

At level 77 players can mine concentrated coal deposits in the Living Rock Caverns. At high levels, this is a very fast method of obtaining coal, as you can mine more than one coal at once, and coal rocks contain a large number of coal rather than just one. A bank deposit is also very close to the coal rocks. However, this method requires a high combat level, because of the semi-aggressive level 120-200 monsters which inhabit the dungeon.

Value
Coal is usually not mined for money in member worlds, since mining pure essence is faster and lies within a similar cost range with coal. The market price of coal was previously stable at around 165 coins each but is now rising each day. However, at one point the price of coal was at around 290 coins, but since then, there has been a major price drop, sending the price of coal crashing down to around 230 coins. Players may prefer to mine iron ore instead of coal, because its much faster, and there is a very small price difference.

Making money
Coal is a great way to make money because of its high demand at the Grand Exchange. Unfortunately, coal is always under competition from other miners and can be guarded by monsters such as hobgoblins at the Hobgoblin Mine.
 * Miners can mine coal from a large quantity of coal rocks in the Mining Guild, which requires level 60 Mining to enter (59 with Dwarven stout; 58 with mature Dwarven stout).

Trivia

 * In real life coal is used in the furnace as a heat source. Coal is not a part of the refined metal. Jagex's justification for requiring coal may be that it would be used to introduce carbon into the metal, thereby making it stronger. (Steel, by definition, has carbon in it. During the late medieval period Runescape is very loosely based on, steel was generally made with charcoal from wood, but modern steelmaking does in fact use a purified product of coal. Whether mithril, adamant, and runite benefit from equivalent processing would be difficult to determine from the real world.) Coal could be used to fire the furnace and further remove impurities. However, during In Aid of the Myreque, when players need to fix Burgh de Rott, players are asked to fix the town furnace. The player first fixes the furnace, and then place coal inside it and lights it with a tinderbox, implying that all of Runescape's furnaces are run by coal.
 * In the game, mining coal gives a higher chance of receiving gems than other mining spots. In real life it is the same, as coal beds can usually supply the needed pressure and carbon for gems to form.
 * Examining coal will yield this message: "Hmm, a non-renewable energy source!". However, in RuneScape, coal rocks will renew themselves every 30–60 seconds.
 * Another way to obtain coal is to explore for treasure using dwarven squads during a Mobilising Armies round. You can also get it as a spoil of war.
 * Some people might call this an ore but coal is not an ore. An ore would require extraction to obtain the element from, whereas coal is found in its usable form.