Motherlode Mine

The Motherlode Mine is a members-only Mining training area that was added to Old School RuneScape on 24 April 2014, and expanded upward on 9 April 2015. It is located in the Dwarven Mine and was discovered by Prospector Percy. Players can enter the caverns from the southern portion of the Dwarven Mine under Falador and Ice Mountain. A Skills necklace may be used to teleport here.

There is no quest necessary to enter this area. Players must have at least level 30 Mining to mine in the lowest level, and at least 72 Mining to mine in the upper level of the Motherlode Mine.

Mining
Players can mine the ore veins within the mine. Players will collect pay-dirt, which can be mined for 60 experience each. A maximum of 24 may be mined in one vein.

Players with level 72 Mining may pay Prospector Percy a one-time fee of 100 golden nuggets to be granted permission to mine in the upper level of the mine, which contains an additional 64 ore veins. The upper level is accessible via the ladder near the bank chest. An interesting note about the upper level is that when your player climbs up the ladder, you do not actually move up a plane in the game, rather the terrain on the upper level is simply raised up from the ground on the plane your player is standing on so you will be able to see players and NPCs on both levels (just like the mechanics in Castle Wars).

Cleaning
When finished mining, players can clean the pay-dirt by depositing it into hopper at the water circuit. The player will be able to see their pay-dirt flowing toward the sack at the other end of the water circuit; note that if the player logs out or change worlds before their pay-dirt reaches the sack, it is NOT lost. After cleaning the pay-dirt, players receive Mining experience for cleaning the ore, which can then be retrieved from the sack. Players can receive ores that range from coal to runite, depending upon their level. Ores are determined when the ore is mined, so a player can receive ore above their current level if they use a mining boost such as a dwarven stout or the dragon pickaxe's special attack while mining, NOT when cleaning. Also, if you walk away to keep mining more pay-dirt, you will still receive the exp from cleaning your previous load, even if you are not in render distance of the sack when it is cleaned.



Once the sack is filled with 84 pay-dirt, the player may no longer deposit pay-dirt and must first begin emptying the sack before more can be deposited. The sack can hold 107 pay-dirt if you do one inventory of 26 pay-dirt and three inventories of 27 pay-dirt with one space for a hammer and one space for a gem bag (or without, you need two occupied spaces for the first inventory). A player is UNABLE to add more pay-dirt to the sack after the third deposit of 27 or fourth deposit of 26, whereafter the message "The sack is getting full." appears.

Fixing broken struts
Occasionally, the water wheels may break; players must carry a hammer to fix them. Hammers can be found in several of the crates, which surround the machine. Fixing the machine gives players Smithing experience equal to 1.5 times their level (e.g. A player with 50 Smithing will gain Smithing experience for fixing). Carrying a hammer in your inventory can save valuable time wasted searching for a hammer. Alternatively, you can get a hammer out of the crate closest to the hopper. Simply deposit your pay-dirt, take the hammer, repair the wheels, then drop the hammer. This saves a spot in your inventory which, over long periods of time, can easily add up.

Rock falls
Occasionally in certain areas of the mine, there may be rock falls blocking the players way. These can be mined granting 10 experience without costing an inventory space, but more will fall soon, and if the player is in the way, the player can take 1-4 damage based on their hitpoints level.

Shortcut
There is a shortcut on east side of the Motherlode Mine, which leads to the middle. To use this shortcut, players require an Agility level of 54 and completion of the medium Falador Achievement Diary.

Golden nuggets
Golden nuggets are obtained by searching the sack after cleaning the pay-dirt at a rate of 2.74% per pay-dirt, independent of mining levels. They are the currency used at Prospector Percy's Nugget Shop. Percy will sell players the prospector kit, the coal bag, the gem bag, and soft clay packs, which contain 100 soft clay. After a bug patch shortly after the release of the Achievement Diaries, clay packs can no longer be sold for nuggets back to Prospector Percy.


 * - 40 golden nuggets
 * - 60 golden nuggets
 * - 50 golden nuggets
 * - 30 golden nuggets
 * - 10 golden nuggets
 * - 100 golden nuggets
 * - 100 golden nuggets
 * Upper floor access - 100 golden nuggets (and 72 Mining)

Experience and profit per hour
Note: All rates are rough estimates and may vary, based on Mod John C's forum post on 22 April 2014.

Motherlode Mine versus other methods

 * Note: Rates are compared with other methods in which iron ore and granite are power-mined. Also, the Blast Mine rates are based on Price Checks &amp; Improvements.

Consistency milestones
There are certain levels where you will see a noticeable mining speed improvement, even in comparison to the previous level. Assuming you're using the best pickaxe for your level, these levels are known to be: 58, 66, 74, and 85.

Trivia

 * On the western side of the mine, there is an NPC named Runite Minor, who is named after the designer of the Motherlode Mine and winner of the 2014 Player Designed Content.
 * When you examine a miner to the north-east inside Motherlode Mine, it will say: "Secretly, he'd like to save princesses and eat mushrooms", which is a reference to the popular Nintendo game Super Mario Bros.
 * In the middle of Prospector Percy's machine there is a baby mole with the examine text 'Moooole'. This is most likely a reference to a scene from the film Austin Powers in Goldmember.
 * When you examine Prospector Percy, it will say: "He smells a bit.", which is a reference to Stinky Pete, also known as Stinky Pete the Prospector, a character from Toy Story 2.
 * When you examine some miners, it will say: "Professional miners don't actually whistle while they work". This may be a reference to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, where they whistle and sing while mining. Also, professional miners are superstitious. Like in many other professions; whistling is believed to bring bad luck as it draws the attention of evil spirits.