Iron ore is unrefined iron. A player with a Mining level of 15 or higher can mine iron ore from iron rocks found in various mines, granting 35 Mining experience for each ore mined. It takes 5.4 seconds (9 game ticks) for each ore to respawn within an iron rock.
Lower level players often train Mining by mining iron ore because of the moderate experience, low respawn time, and relatively low required level to mine and smith. If done fast, mining and dropping iron ores can result in 45,000 experience per hour and above which is one of the fastest methods to train until 75 Mining for granite mining.
Shortest distance to bank mined iron ore is the Ardougne Monastery (no requirements) or for experienced miners the Mining Guild (60 Mining required).
In the Ardougne Monastery there are 6 rocks in total, all very close to each other. A player can teleport here quickly with at least an Ardougne Cloak 1 which offers infinite teleports here, and then either run the distance to the Ardougne south-bank or teleport to a bank using a jewellery teleport method, and finally use the Cloak teleport once again to return.
Dorgesh-Kaan mine is also a good place to mine iron in case a person wishes to bank the ores. This requires doing the first subquest of Recipe for Disaster for the bank chest in Lumbridge Castle cellar and The Lost Tribe to gain access to the mine. A light source is needed, the best option is the Kandarin headgear as only the easy tasks are required and it is worn, saving inventory space. Alternatively, the Fight Arena mine fares well also since the player can use Yanille bank, which is a relatively short distance south.
Another spot is just west of Falador at the West Falador mine, across the Agility shortcut. If players have level 5 Agility, they can mine the iron rocks there and zip back to the bank over the wall many times. It is recommended to switch worlds if there is already a miner on the rocks.
Another spot is just south-east of Varrock at the south-east Varrock mine.
Another easy way to get iron is to go to the small mine between East Ardougne and the Legends' Guild, which contains three iron rocks close together. The bank in the southern part of East Ardougne is also a very short walk away. There are a number of level 21 grizzly bears in the area who will attack players below 43 Combat.
Similar in setup to the Legends' Guild mine is the Piscatoris mine as it also has three iron rocks close together. After completion of Swan Song, players can bank their iron at the Piscatoris Fishing Colony.
The Museum Camp also contains 7 iron ore and has a bank a couple of seconds south of it, provided you have built it.
You can get 150 iron ores with a 2.75% chance from the Crystal chest using a Crystal key.
They are also a random item given from thieving from H.A.M Members.
Smelting[]
Players with 15 or higher Smithing can smelt iron ore into an iron bar by using it on a furnace, granting 12.5 Smithing experience, although there is only a 50% chance that you will be able to get a bar out of it unless smelted while wearing a ring of forging, using the Superheat Item spell from the standard spellbook, or using the Blast Furnace, in which case the chance will be 100%. Note: The chance of successfully smelting a bar of iron unaided is 50% regardless of level. A player can only smelt 140 iron ores while wearing a ring of forging before it melts; however, the cost of the ring is easily offset by the increased experience and profit from successful smelts.
Trading[]
Iron ore usually sell for between 150 – 170 coins, and it's easy to purchase large amounts of them from other players as they are a very common ore. The Ore Seller, run by Ordan in Keldagrim, sells iron ore for 25-75 coins each and can be found downstairs in the Blast Furnace factory in the eastern side of Keldagrim. As with most ores in Ordan's stock, it is sold for much lower than its GE price, and tends to be out of stock except on skill total worlds.
Dropping monsters[]
Monster Combat level Quantity Rarity Dark warrior 8; 145 1 Common Barbarian 9; 10; 15; 17 1 Common Dwarf 10 1 Common Desert Lizard 24 1 Common Rockslug 29 1 Common Jungle horror 70 1 Common Lanzig 48 5 Common Lizard 42 1–2 (noted) Common Flesh Crawler 28; 35; 41 1; 3–10 (noted) Common Lizardman shaman 150 24–35 (noted) Common Rock Crab 13 1 Uncommon Skeleton 13; 21; 22; 25; 42; 45; 60; 68; 77; 85 1 Uncommon Banshee 23 1 Uncommon Giant Mole 230 100 (noted) Uncommon Dagannoth Rex 303 150 (noted) Uncommon Skeletal Wyvern 140 200 (noted) Uncommon
Mining rocks and sources |
Copper • Tin • Essence • Clay • Chocolate • Blurite • Limestone • Iron • Daeyalt • Elemental • Silver • Ash • Coal • Sandstone • Gold • Gem rocks • Granite • Mithril • Lunar • Lovakite • Adamantite • Runite • Amethyst |
Ores |
Copper • Tin • Blurite • Iron • Daeyalt • Elemental • Silver • Coal • Gold • Blasted • Mithril • Lunar • Lovakite • Adamantite • Runite |
Salts | |
Other mineables |
Clay • Soft clay • Chocolate chunks • Pay-dirt • Unidentified minerals • Granite • Limestone • Soda ash • Volcanic ash • Sandstone • Uncut gem • Rune essence • Pure essence • Dense essence block • Volcanic sulphur • Amethyst |
Pickaxes |
Bronze • Iron • Steel • Black • Mithril • Adamant • Rune • Dragon (or) • Infernal |