Mining

Mining is a skill that allows players to obtain ores from rocks. With the ores, a player can then either smelt and smith them or sell them for a great profit. Mining is also one of the most popular skills in RuneScape as many players try to earn a profit from the skill.

How to mine
To mine, a player will first need a pickaxe. Pickaxes are sold by Nurmof in the dwarven mines, though new players are given one when they complete tutorial island. When a player has obtained a pickaxe, they next need to find a mine. When these two tasks are complete, the player can then find a rock in the mine and click on it, making them mine the rocks with their pickaxe. As a player is mining a rock, they will eventually obtain an ore. This ore can either be used in the smithing skill or it can be sold. Selling ores can give players a good profit.

Mining is a skill largely based on a player's luck, which is totally random in RuneScape. Luck affects mining in this way: the player will mine the rock, but when they hit the rock, it might take eight to twenty hits to obtain an ore. Another player may mine the same rock and get an ore in just one hit. Using a pickaxe of a higher metal will allow players to obtain ores faster, though luck will still play a key role.

Pickaxes
Pickaxes, or 'picks', are needed to mine rocks. They can be equipped as a weapon, giving players some more space in their inventory. However, pickaxes cannot be smithed. Pickaxes can either be bought from Nurmof in the dwarven mines or from other players. Nurmof's shop in the dwarven mines is labelled on the mini-map as a gold pickaxe.

A player's mining level determines the type of pickaxe they can mine with. The higher a level needed to use a pickaxe, the better it is than the ones below it. For example, a rune pickaxe will mine rocks faster than an adamant pickaxe.

The prices in the table below are from Nurmof's store when there is only one of that kind of pickaxe in stock. If a player breaks the pickaxe's head from a rock with smoke coming out of it, then they will have to bring their pickaxe to Nurmof and ask him to fix it, for a price.

Ores and rocks
Ores are obtained from the different types of rocks. These rocks can be found in mines. On the mini-map, mines are labelled with a gray pickaxe. The colour of a rock corresponds to the ore's colour, so a black rock will yield coal ore, a blue rock will yield mithril ore, etc.

When players click on a rock, they will hit it with their pickaxe and try to get the ore out. The higher level rocks, such as mithril and adamant, take longer for players to mine an ore out of them, making the player require patience.

After the ore has been mined, the rock will turn gray for a while. Eventually another ore will respawn and the rock will regain its colour. Players can only mine a rock when ore is available. Ore respawn times differ with the difficulty of the rock. For example, rune rocks take over 20 minutes to respawn while iron rocks take about 3 seconds.

Mine table
At the moment, only free-to-play mines have been added.

Free-to-play mines
All players have access to these mines.

Misthalin mines

 * Barbarian Village Mine
 * Al-Kharid Mine
 * Edgeville Dungeon Mine
 * Lumbridge Swamp mine
 * East Varrock Mine
 * West Varrock Mine

Asgarnia mines

 * Crafting Guild Mine
 * Dwarven Mine
 * Ice Caves Mine
 * Mining Guild
 * Rimmington Mine

Island mines

 * Crandor Mine
 * Karmaja Volcano Mine

Wilderness mines

 * Hobgoblin Mine
 * Wilderness Rune Mine
 * Steel Mine
 * Wilderness Skeleton Mine

Members mines
Only members can access these mines.

Asgarnia mines

 * Hero's Guild Mine

Random events
Random events are events that happen at random times. They were introduced to stop autoers, or people who use a program to do their work. Some random events include NPCs wanting players to do a task for them and rewarding them if they are successful or a monster that will attack the player. In mining, there quite a few of random events.

Rock golem
While mining, a Rock Golem may appear and will begin attacking a player. The combat level of the golem depends on the player's combat level, but it will always be stronger. The Rock Golem's combat level varies from level 14 to 170. The player can either kill it or run away from it. If a player kills a Rock Golem, it can drop drop ores, stouts, pickaxes, an uncut gem, or nothing.

Exploding rock
When a player mines a rock, smoke or gas bubbles may emerge from it. If a player continues mining this rock as this is happening, the rock will explode, dealing minor damage to the player and destroying the head of their pickaxe. To repair it, players have to bring it to Nurmof, the dwarf who sells pickaxes in the Dwarven Mine, for a price.

Lost pickaxe head
While mining, the player's pickaxe head might fly off. The head will land somewhere nearby, usually 3 to 10 squares away. When this happens, the player has to find the pickaxe head quickly before someone else sees it and grabs it. When the player has found the pickaxe head, they can use it with their handle to put the pickaxe back together.

Tips
Here are some tips to help a player mine.

Power mining
Also known as drop mining, this is where a player fills their inventory with ores, drops them all, and repeats. While this method of mining allows players to raise their mining level quickly, dropping a whole inventory of ores can take some time. Also, by doing this method, a player would be missing out on smithing.

Wield the pickaxe
Players are strongly recommended to wield their pickaxe. This way, they'll have more inventory space to allow them to carry more ores.

Wear light items
Players are strongly recommended to wear few items or nothing at all other than their pickaxe. Members are advised to wear the boots of lightness, obtained by completing the quest Temple of Ikov, so that their weight is smaller. Wearing fewer items allows a player to run longer. If they are wearing armour, then their weight would be quite large, making them lose a large amount of energy in a short amount of time.

Wilderness mine tips
Wearing armour gives players good defence against the monsters. A high defence level also helps. Leather armour also offers fairly good protection. Players could either only bring their pickaxe to the wilderness, or bring full leather, a wooden shield or an anti-dragon shield, and an amulet of defence. Fortunately, if a player dies with all these items, they'll keep their pickaxe, the amulet, and the leather body or an ore, depending on what kind it is.

Training
Here are possible ways for a player to raise their mining level.


 * Level 1 to 15: Mine copper and tin rocks.
 * Level 15 to 60: Mine iron rocks. Iron can be obtained quickly, making it a valuable rock to use when leveling up.
 * Level 15 to 99: Mine iron rocks. Iron can be obtained quickly, making it a valuable rock to use when leveling up.
 * Level 60 to 85: Mine coal rocks in the Mining Guild.
 * Level 85 to 99: Mine rune rocks in the Wilderness.

Temporary boosts

 * Dwarven Stout - Drinking this will raise a player's mining and smithing level by 1 for a short time. Dwarven stouts can be bought in Falador. They are also a common drop from dwarves, and can be bought in several places in members areas, as well as brewed using the cooking skill.
 * Mature Dwarven Stout - Members only. Drinking this will raise a player's mining and smithing by level 2. Players recieve two mature dwarven stouts as a reward for completing the quest Forgettable Tale, plus they can be brewed.