Mining

Introduction

Mining is the skill used to get ores from rocks. To mine, you have to wield a pickaxe. On the tutorial island you'll get a bronze pickaxe. The higher your mining level, the better the rock you can mine. In addition, you mine faster with better mining level and/or better pickaxes. Better rocks are of course more valuable. You can find rocks to mine on "mining sites", which are all over the RuneScape world. The ores can be used in Smithing to make bars, which can then be forged or crafted into various items.

To see which ore a rock contain, you can right click on it and select "Prospect". To mine it, simply click on the rock once and wait until you get some ore. Once you have obtained the ore, there will be no ore in the rock for some seconds, depending on the type of ore it contains. When you have mined a rock, you can wait or move to another rock. If someone else mine the rock before you, then the ore will disappear too. You should see the smithing guide too for smelting and smithing details.
NOTE: In the tables, cells with white background are free, while darker background is members-only!

Guide links:


Pickaxes

You can buy pickaxes from Numorf the Dwarf, he's in the Dwarven Mine. Below, there is a table with information about the different pickaxes.

Picture Name Needed level Shop price
Bronze pickaxe Bronze pickaxe 1 1 gp
Iron pickaxe Iron pickaxe 4 137 gp
Steel pickaxe Steel pickaxe 6 490 gp
Mithril pickaxe Mithril pickaxe 21 1300 gp
Adamant pickaxe Adamant pickaxe 31 3200 gp
Rune pickaxe Rune pickaxe 41 32000 gp (32K)
Inferno Adze 41 none
Dragon pickaxe 61 4000000gp

Mining Ores / Rocks

Here is a list with the ores you can obtain with some information.

Picture Name Mined pic Level needed Earned XP Respawn Time Info
Rune Essence Rune essence 1 5 0 Used in the Runecrafting Skill
Clay Clay 1 5 1 sec Used in low level crafting to make pottery
Copper Copper ore 1 17.5 5 sec Used with tin to make bronze
Tin Tin ore 1 17.5 5 sec Used with copper to make bronze
Limestone Limestone 1 26.5   Used to make Limestone Bricks.
Blurite Blurite ore 10 17.5 10 sec Used in the Knight's Sword Quest, untradeable.
Iron Iron ore 15 35 10 sec Used to make iron and steel bars
Silver Silver ore 20 40 2 min Used in crafting
Elemental Elemental ore 20 40 2 min Used to make Elemental Shields, after completing Elemental Workshop I.
Coal Coal 30 50 1 min Most used ore, used in all medium and high level smithing (steel and better)
Sandstone 35 30-60 5 sec Used during the quest Enakhra's Lament.
Gold Gold ore 40 65 2 min Used in crafting to make necklaces, amulets and rings
Gem Rocks 40 65 2 min Used for getting Opal, Jade, Red Topaz, Sapphires, Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds
Granite 45 40-75 6 sec Used during Enakhra's Lament and King's Ransom and to make Granite Crab pouches.
Mithril Mithril ore 55 80 4 min Used to make Mithril bars
Adamantite Adamantite ore 70 95 8 min Used to make Adamantite bars
Runite Runite ore 85 125 20 min Used to make Runite bars


Mining Sites

There are mining sites all over the RuneScape World: In the members only part, free part, dungeons, wilderness. They're spread all around the world. To see more info about the mining sites, check out our Mining Sites pages in the Atlas.

Below, we have info on locations of the different rocks (italic locations are members only):
Picture Name Location
Rune Essence Unknown. Look at our Runecrafting Guide for teleporters.
Clay Crafting Guild, Dwarven Mine, Al-Kharid Mine, Rimmington, Southwest Varrock, South of Taverley, Port Khazard
Copper Dwarven Mine, Edgeville Dungeon, Southeast Varrock, Southwest Varrock, Al-Kharid Mine, Rimmington, South of Taverley, Port Khazard
Tin Dwarven Mine, Edgeville Dungeon, Southeast Varrock, Southwest Varrock, Al-Kharid Mine, Rimmington, South of Taverley, Port Khazard
Blurite Ice Dungeon
Iron Dwarven Mine, Southwest Varrock, Southeast Varrock, Al-Kharid Mine, Edgeville Dungeon, Hobgoblin Mine, Rimmington, East Ardougne, South of Ardougne, South Taverley, Mage Arena, Port Khazard, Tai Bwo Wannai, Entrance to monastery south of Ardougne, Air Obelisk Mine, Desert Camp, Lumbridge Dungeon
Silver Crafting Guild, Al-Kharid Mine, Edgeville Dungeon, Southwest Varrock, Grand Tree Roots, Tai Bwo Wannai
Elemental Elemental Dungeon
Coal Mining Guild, Desert Mine, Crandor, Al-Kharid Mine, Lumbridge Swamp, Hobgoblin Mine, Edgeville Dungeon, Skeleton Mine, Coal Trucks, Tai Bwo Wannai, Entrance to monastery south of Ardougne, Mage Arena, East Ardougne, Desert Camp, Hero's Guild, Grant Tree Roots, Port Khazard, South of Taverley.
Sandstone Desert Granite/Sandstone Quarry
Gold Crafting Guild, Al-Kharid Mine, Crandor Isle, Dwarven Mine, Rimmington, Karamja Volcano, Brimhaven, Grand Tree Roots, Both Keldagrim Mines
Gem Rock Shilo Village
Granite Desert Granite/Sandstone Quarry
Mithril Al-Kharid Mine, Dwarven Mine, Mining Guild, Crandor Isle, Lumbridge Swamps, Edgeville Dungeon, Hobgoblin Mine, Port Khazard, Tai Bwo Wannai, Hero's Guild, Mage Arena, Grand Tree Roots
Adamantite Al-Kharid Mine, Dwarven Mine, Edgeville Dungeon, Hobgoblin Mine, Lumbridge Swamps, Hero's Guild, Tai Bwo Wannai, Grand Tree Roots, Mage Arena, North Keldagrim Mine
Runite Level 46 Wilderness, Mining Guild Hidden Mine, Lava Maze Dungeon, Hero's Guild, Mourning's End Part 2 Quest Dungeon, North Keldagrim Mine

Gems

Regular Gems
When mining, you can randomly get gems. You will get 65 XP to your mining level, and the ore will stay in the rock. These gems can be used in Crafting to make rings, amulets and necklaces. Read more about this in our Crafting Guide.
When wearing an Amulet of Glory (members only), the chance of getting a gem while mining will increase.
Regular Gems
Uncut sapphire Uncut emerald Uncut ruby Uncut diamond
Sapphire Emerald Ruby Diamond


Shilo Gems
Shilo Gems can just be mined from Gem Rocks in Shilo Village, and it's members only. To enter Shilo Village, you will have to do the Shilo Village quest.

Shilo Gems
Uncut opal Uncut jade Uncut red topaz
Opal Jade Red Topaz


Additional Items

The Coal Bag can be purchased from the Dungeoneering trader just outside of Demonheim. The cost is 4k tokens, but the bag itself will hold 27 coal at a time. This is a good item to have if mining large amounts of coal ores due to the reduced trips to and from the bank. There are no required levels for use of this item.

The Gem Bag can be purchased from the Dungeoneering trader just outside of Demonheim. The Cost is 2k tokens, but the bag itself will hold 100 gems at a time. The bag will hold Sapphires, Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds. The required levels for use of this item are 25 Dungeoneering and 25 Crafting.
Guide credits
Written by: Aliensvortex
Special thanks to: 1337Jedi, Mike, Shane, O M G Guasto, Syntax Error, Illicit_Rage, wackycats
Last update: 17-Oct-2010 21:58 by Deathen Shada
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