
Mining used to be one of the slowest, most tedious skills to train… but with recent updates, mining became a lot easier. We saw changes to shooting stars, there was duke mining, changes to the motherlode mine, as well as the introduction of calcified rocks, overall decreasing the effort required to level the skill.
Guide Contents
If you would prefer to watch a video of this guide, you can watch below. Otherwise keep scrolling to read the 1-99 mining guide.
Why Train Mining?
So why should you train your mining?
Well mining is one of, if not THE most useful non-combat skill for raiding.
Both the chambers of xeric and the tombs of amascut have mining components.

Having at least level 85 mining lets you deal sufficient damage in the Tombs of Amascut. And the higher your mining, the higher you hit on guardians within the Chambers of Xeric.

Along with that, mining is required for a broad range of essential quests. For example, lunar diplomacy has a 60 mining requirement, and song of the elves requires 70…
You need level 70 mining to get the quest cape, and level 85 mining for the achievement diary cape.
Aside from unlocks and upgrades, mining is a profitable skill.

Depending on the pathway you choose, youll make a substantial amount of gp on your journey to 99.
Mining XP Boosts
With mining, its important to know about the xp boosting items and equipment.
By trading in 2000 stardust from shooting stars, you can get the celestial ring, which gives a +4 Invisible mining boost, essentially increasing your mining speed.

If you charge the ring with stardust, it gives a 10% chance to mine an extra ore up to adamant, giving the full amount of experience. This is essentially 10% more xp per hour - excellent for methods like powermining iron.
Varrock armour, which is rewarded from the varrock achievement diary, also gives a 10% chance to give double the ores, again giving around a 10% xp increase overall.

Every tier of varrock armour works up to a certain type of rock, and paired with the celestial ring, you can get 20% more xp per hour at some methods, which saves a lot of time on getting 99.
With level 60 mining, you can access the mining guild.

Inside, the rocks regenerate faster, and additionally, you get an invisible plus 7 mining level boost while in the guild.
While mining inside the guild, you can find unidentified minerals.

These can be traded for 3 types of Mining Gloves with varying benefits. When equipped, they give a chance to prevent depleting the rock that you mine, which is useful for rocks that regenerate slowly, like runite and amethyst.
While training in the motherlode mine, you find golden nuggets, and with 180 nuggets you can purchase the full prospector's outfit.

This set gives a 2.5% mining xp boost, and most players should aim to get this outfit, although, it takes 10 to 20 hours to get the full set.
With the medium falador diary, plus 50 agility...

You can use the shortcut within the motherlode mine to more efficiently deposit your pay dirt.
With level 57 mining, plus 100 golden nuggets, you get access to the upper level of the motherlode mine.

This gives increased xp per hour, as well as more afk time.
You should always be using and upgrading to the best pickaxe possible, up to the dragon pickaxe.

Starting from bronze, you have a chance of getting ore every 8 gameticks. That goes down to 3 ticks with rune, but with dragon, theres a 1 in 6 chance that your mining action becomes 2 ticks.
The best for the fastest experience is the crystal pickaxe. This requires the song of the elves quest, and is ideal for higher level mining training. The crystal pick has a 1 in 4 chance to have a 2 tick mining action, slightly better than the dragon pickaxe.
While you're mining, you can use the dragon, crystal or 3rd age pickaxe special attack to get a plus 3 mining level boost, which improves your mining speed.

Even if you don't have the mining level for a Dragon Pickaxe, you can still benefit from the Special Attack, as long as you have level 60 Attack.
Pathways To 99
The fastest way to reach 99 mining is by using tick manipulation, and by following this pathway you can go from level 1 to 99 in around 130 hours.

It includes 3 tick 4 iron and granite where you’ll mine granite for the majority of your experience.
The fastest pathway to 99 without tick manipulation is going to take 180 to 200 hours.

You could choose between training at the volcanic mine, blast mine or by defeating zalcano.
Some popular AFK mining pathways to 99 include mining shooting stars, or at the motherlode mine, or at calcified rocks.

In terms of money making, ill be showing Blast Mining, Zalcano, Runite Rocks and Amethyst.
Low Level Mining
Now lets move into the low level mining training section…
Questing (Low Level Training)
At a low mining level, questing is the fastest way to level up.
Every regular player should aim to complete doric's quest to go from 1 to 10 mining very quickly.

You need iron ores to finish the quest, so ironmen can either get them from killing dwarves, or by pickpocketing ham members.
You can then do the plague city quest to get to level 18, which is a short easy quest.

Then lastly, you can complete the digsite quest to reach level 33.

You will need some extra stats to do this quest though, but having level 33 means you'll be able to powermine iron fairly effectively.

There are a few more quests that give mining experience, but they have higher requirements.
Copper & Tin (Low Level Training)
If youre not into questing, the regular way to train your mining at a low level is copper and tin powermining.

This can be done in a variety of places across Runescape, but some easily accessed places are the lumbridge swamp mine, and both the south east and south west varrock mines.
You should be upgrading to the next available pickaxe as you unlock it because it dramatically increases your mining speed. So you should buy all of the pickaxes before you start training.
To reach level 15 from level 1, you need to mine 138 ores, which is going to take about 15 minutes… Technically, you can 3 tick copper and tin for faster xp rates, where you start a 3 tick action before mining each rock.

Using tick manipulation can almost double your mining speed in some cases, and tick manipulating is the only way to reach above 100k mining xp per hour in the entire game.
Fastest Methods
Now ill cover the fastest mining methods, and ill be showing iron, granite, the volcanic mine, blast mine, and gem rocks.
Powermining Iron (Fastest Methods)
First up is powermining iron, and from level 15 when you unlock it, all the way to level 70, powermining is the fastest experience without tick manipulation.

The xp rates start at around 15k per hour when you unlock it, scaling up to over 60k per hour with a dragon pickaxe.
Varrock armour is an important unlock with iron mining, since it effectively gives a 10% xp boost.

When youre training, you should mine at a 3 iron rock location, where you don’t have to move while having access to 3 rocks.

Above is every 3 rock location, where the noteable ones are alkharid and the isle of souls.
However, once you reach 60 mining, its strongly suggested to go to the mining guild 3 rock locations.

This is because rocks respawn faster here, and you get unidentified minerals.
So the process of powermining iron involves mining and dropping without moving.

On runelite, you can move your inventory closer to the rocks so that you don’t have to move the mouse as far to drop the ores.
You can mine and drop after each rock, or alternatively you can mine all 3 around you, then drop all 3, and repeat.
3 Tick 4 Iron (Fastest Methods)
3 ticking 4 iron rocks is the fastest experience in the game between levels 15 and 45, and it involves movement and tick manipulation to get very high xp rates.

Instead of the usual 15k youd get from powermining at level 15, you can get over 30k xp per hour with 3 tick 4 iron. This is because you spend no time waiting for rocks to respawn..

This method can only be done at certain locations where there are 4 iron rocks closeby to eachother.
My favourite place for this method is on the isle of souls, which any members account can access.
To 3 tick, you will need something that starts a 3 tick cycle, and that could be herb tar, teak log and knife or kebbit vambraces…

So you start by doing a 3 tick action and mining an iron rock. Then as soon as you receive an ore, you start another 3 tick cycle, then click on a nearby rock, and repeat.
You have to move every 3 gameticks as well, so even if you don’t successfully mine a rock, you have to move onto the next one to keep up the 3 tick actions.

It’s recommended to swap the iron ore to left click drop, and once youre comfortable, you can click to drop right after starting the 3 tick cycle.
While youre learning any 3 tick method, you may need to start your cycle again since mistakes will stop you from getting ores until you restart the cycle.
3 Tick 4 Granite (Fastest Methods)
3 ticking 4 granite rocks is the fastest method from 45 all the way up to 99 mining, although it also involves movement and tick manipulation to get the highest xp rates.

You can expect up to 85k xp an hour at level 45 with 3 tick 4 granite, all the way up to 125k exp an hour at level 99.
The only place for this method is mining in the quarry deep in the desert, where there are 4 granite rocks close together.

You will need some waterskins, a circlet of water or the Desert Amulet 4 to protect yourself from the desert heat.
Similar to 3tick4iron you will need something that starts a 3 tick cycle, herb and tar, teak logs and knife or kebbit claws and vambraces.

3tick 4 granite can be tough at first, but once you get the rhythm of it you can consistently see over 100k xp an hour starting at level 65.

So you start by doing a 3 tick cycle action, then click to mine a granite rock. As soon as you receive the xp drop, you start another 3 tick action and click on the next rock, going in clockwise order.
Its important to keep moving every 3 ticks even when you dont get an xp drop, and once again, you can use left click drop on the granite so you can drop inbetween mining.
Volcanic Mine (Fastest Methods)
One of the fastest methods in the game, without tick manipulation, is partaking in the volcanic mine.

This is on Fossil Island, requiring 50 mining and having the Bone Voyage quest completed. 40 prayer is also recommended for protect from ranged.
While you can start this activity at level 50 it is recommended to start doing the group method after level 70 mining.

At 70, you can expect up to 70k xp per hour, scaling up to 85k at 99.
To enter the Volcanic Mine you will need to pay 30 Numilite, and its recommended to take food and a prayer pot.
The primary goal in the minigame is to mine the Huge Rock in the lava channel, as it moves downstream players mine it where it stops.

You receive ore fragments when mining the Huge Rock and these fragments can be exchanged for rewards. You also have to monitor the mines stability and interact with the various vents to keep the mine from collapsing.
So there are 3 main methods that you can do in the volcanic mine, known as capping, fixing and the group method.
Capping in the volcanic mine involves taking the large rocks near the gas chambers, checking on the vents and repeatedly blocking and unblocking the chamber until you have 406 points.

Capping gives a lot of reward points, and can give around 50k mining xp per hour. This is a great way to get some volcanic mine shop items for ironmen including the canteen.
The other solo method, “fixing”, involves managing the vents, while mining the huge rock.

While this method is more afk it will get you up to 20k xp an hour at level 50 all the way up to 60k at 99.
Now, the fastest volcanic mine method in terms of xp rates is going as a group… In teams consisting of 4 or 5 players there are four designated roles.

The roles for each player consist of a combination of checking, fixing and mining the boulder. I could make an entire guide for this method so im not going to explain it here - if you want an in-depth volcanic mine guide, go here.
Blast Mine (Fastest Methods)
Next is the blast mine, which provides competitive xp rates as well as profit.

The blast mine is a great way to get higher level ores than your mining level by using dynamite, which will allow you to receive ores up to 10 levels higher than your mining level.

This means you can get Adamant ores at level 60 and even Runite ores at level 75. You can start mining here at level 43 but it is recommended to wait until level 45 to unlock mithril ores at least.
For the best experience, start at level 60 where you can expect up to 45k xp an hour going all the way up to 90k at level 99. Your profit from the blast mine increases greatly after 75 mining when Runite ores are unlocked.
Weight reducing clothing like graceful is strongly recommended over the prospectors outfit while mining, and if using stamina potions, you can also consider using a ring of endurance too.

The process involves Mining out a section of wall, placing the Dynamite in, and lighting the fuse.

By moving on to the next section and following a pattern you can avoid all explosions and receive the best xp an hour possible. The optimal spot for training is to the north east.
Zalcano (Fastest Methods)
After a recent update, the Zalcano boss is now one of the fastest mining training methods in the game without tick manipulation.

To receive more exp, you can toggle loot off at Rhiannon which boosts the mining xp to 55k starting at level 70, all the way up to 100k xp an hour at 99.

While you don’t receive loot, you still have a chance at the Zalcano pet.
Zalcano is normally ran in groups between 2 and 5 players.

Wearing weight reducing clothing and health regenerating items is recommended, like the bracelet or hitpoints skillcape. As far as inventory goes, it’s recommended to bring 3 staminas and some hp restoring items, most people bring 4 to 8 saradomin brews for extended trips.

Killing Zalcano involves mining rock formations in one of the four corners and refining the tephra you receive at the furnace to the east.

You then imbue it into imbued tephra at the altar on the western side. Throwing these allows you to attack Zalcano and any golems summoned.
Standing under a blue demonic symbol will increase your accuracy and damage when throwing imbued tephra. Saving your tephra until there are blue symbols to stand on is highly recommended, reducing how many you will have to craft each run.
When the armor is depleted, Zalcano drops to the floor and becomes vulnerable allowing you to mine.

After 12 to 16 seconds have passed, Zalcano will stand up and reset to 300 hitpoints. You repeat this process until your team has defeated the boss.
3 Tick Gem Rocks (Fastest Methods)
At 40 mining, a notable method that gives high xp rates, is 3 tick gem rock mining, located in Shilo Village.

For this method to be practical it is recommended to be level 61+ to use a dragon pickaxe and you MUST wear an Amulet of Glory which will triple your likelihood of mining the gem rock.

You will also need the Medium Karamja diary unlocked to be able to mine non-stop without world hopping in the Underground Gem Mine. There is a bank chest nearby to put your gems in each time you complete a lap around the room.
You can expect to get up to 55k xp an hour at 61, and up to 105k xp an hour at 99.

For this method we move around the room counter clockwise. To begin we use the 3 tick items on each other and move onto the rock directly next to you.
As you get more comfortable you can drop unwanted gems right after using your 3tick items allowing you to collect more each lap. When your inventory fills you can deposit all at the deposit chest.
AFK Training
There are various AFK mining methods in Oldschool, and ill be showing Shooting stars, the Motherlode Mine, Calcified Rocks and the passive mining xp you get from zeah runecrafting.
Shooting Stars (AFK Method)
A method that has gained popularity for its downtime in between clicks is Shooting Stars which have an average afk time of 7 minutes per layer.
While these are unlocked at level 10 it is recommended to start at level 50 mining so you can access stars sooner instead of waiting. Each star drops and is tiered 1 through 9.

These are the requirements for each tier and the average xp rates when mining. You can see that the rates are fairly slow, but for 7 minutes of afk time, you can’t really expect high xp rates.
In terms of items, your best pickaxe, the Prospectors outfit and teleports to get around the world are recommended.

Below are all of the recommended teleports you should have to quickly access stars.

Some of these have fairly high requirements, but you dont need all of them.
To find stars many people join the in game shooting stars friends chat through the group finder, although i would recommend using the star miners map website.

It shows exactly where each active star is located on the runescape map, and tells you how long they approximately have left before they disappear.
So to mine a shooting star, you firstly locate a star, then you choose a teleport closeby. Once you reach the star, you just click the star to mine it and you’ll be able to afk for up to 7 minutes.

When one star layer depletes, it moves onto the next tier, where you can click once to continue mining for another 7 minutes. Once the star depletes, you find a new star with the star chat or with the star miners map, then repeat the process.
Motherlode Mine (AFK Method)
One of the most popular AFK methods is the motherlode mine which is unlocked at 30 mining.

It can be accessed by going down the eastern Falador mine entrance and through the cave tunnel or by using a skills necklace.

Once inside you will be able to mine the paydirt from the walls and deposit them in the Hopper. When the sack is full you can loot it for various ores and golden nuggets.

Starting on the ground floor the paydirt when mined lasts between 23 and 27 seconds from when the first paydirt is mined.
On the upper floor, ore veins will last between 36-40 seconds allowing you to spend longer without interacting with the client.
Starting at level 30 on the lower floor players can expect 13k xp per hour, which increases towards 35k as you approach 60.

Once on the upper floor players can expect to receive 45k xp at level 60 all the way up to 65k at 99.
As for unlock order it is commonly recommended to unlock the rewards in this order.

Now ill take you through one inventory at the motherlode mine. Starting from the bank, I run to a nearby pay dirt deposit.
Then I click on the Ore Vein in the wall.. And Once its mined, i move onto the next wall deposit and repeat until i have a full inventory.

To clean the paydirt, Place it in the hopper, on the north side of the waterwheels loop.
You will receive an xp drop when the paydirt reaches the sack at the end of the water flow. If the water isn’t flowing you will need to repair the wheel by using a hammer with it.

Once the ore sack is full, you can loot the ores and gold nuggets by left clicking the sack. Deposit it all at the bank or bank deposit box, then you go back to mining pay dirt.
Calcified Rocks (AFK Method)
A method introduced after partial completion of the Perilous Moons quest is Calcified Rocks, and these require level 41 mining.

These rock veins are similar to the motherlode mine but instead of ore you receive blessed bone shards which can be used to get prayer xp.
With an average afk time of roughly 70 seconds you can expect to receive mediocre xp rates, but you do get bone shards at the same time which can be used to train prayer.

To access the Mine you will have to travel to western Varlamore, south of Ralos Rise. While in the room, every 1-2 minutes some rock veins will leak water.
Mining these specific rocks increase the success rate of mining by 15%, but they deplete faster. If you world hop while in the mine your pickaxe won’t work until you wait for the next ore cycle or leave and come back.
Zeah Runecrafting (AFK Method)
If you plan to train your runecraft at Zeah Arceuus Blood Altar you will receive over 1.2 million mining xp from 77-99 runecrafting. It can be a great way to save hours of mining elsewhere if you plan to do this method.

You can afk up to 3 minutes at a time at higher mining levels but, you can expect only 4k mining xp per hour, but it is somewhat passive. So essentially, if you plan to get 99 runecrafting at zeah, you should do that before you get 99 mining.
Profitable Methods
Now ill cover the most profitable mining methods, where we will see the blast mine, Zalcano, Runite rocks and Amethyst rocks. The motherlode mine and shooting stars could also be considered to be money making methods however they are better for afk training.
Blast Mine (Profit Method)
In the blast mine, because you receive ores 10 levels earlier than your unboosted level you can expect a higher amount of gp at an earlier level.

While it is quite click intensive you can expect to make 180k gp an hour at level 45.

The profits scale up to 620k an hour at level 90 and eventually reaches 800k at level 99. Going from level 45 to 99 mining at the blast mine, you can expect to make over 100 mil in profit.
Zalcano (Profit Method)
Defeating Zalcano is the most profitable mining money maker in the game, requiring level 70 mining and completion of song of the elves..

If you toggle loot on at zalcano, you can earn up to 2 mil gp per hour, however, the mining xp is quite low, reaching a maximum of only 15k per hour.
If you did zalcano from when you unlock it, all the way to 99 mining, you would profit over 1.5 bil, but its going to take over 500 hours.

Zalcano has a range of rune and noted resource drops, including ores, bars, high level gems and even onyx bolt tips. Every kill you get has a 1/200 chance of hitting the Crystal Tool seed drop as well as guaranteed Crystal Shards each kill.
Runite Rocks (Profit Method)
At level 85 mining, you unlock the second most profitable mining method in the game, mining rune rocks.

Each rune ore is worth 10k, and its possible to mine over 60 of them per hour, which translates to a bit over 600k gp per hour. There are 15 different mining locations for runite, and while the ones closer to a bank are usually the most profit per hour, you’ll find that those ones are usually crowded with other players.

So if you want to mine rune, you should choose a spot that not many players go to, regardless of how far the bank is. With mining runite, varrock armour 4 boosts your profit and xp by 10%.
Amethyst (Profit Method)
At level 92 mining, you can mine amethyst in the mining guild. This brings in around 300k gp in profit per hour, and is a very afk method of mining.

It’s strongly recommended to have mining gloves while mining here to increase your afk times, and varrock armour and the celestial ring do not work with amethyst.
Ironman Methods
As an ironman, there are a few methods that are more viable than others. Mining at places like sandstone and gem rocks are beneficial, providing both decent xp rates and decent rewards.

Ironmen can use all of the regular training methods ive shown in this video, however I will go into more detail about which ones are useful for ironmen.
Sandstone (Ironmen)
Unlocked at 35 mining, sandstone is the best way to gather sand for crafting training, netting over 2 thousand buckets of sand per hour.

The xp rates reach up to 45k per hour at higher levels, which isnt that fast, but its still decent since you’re collecting crafting supplies.
Sandstone is mined in the desert quarry, deep in the kharidian desert, and here, there are sandstone and granite rocks. Once you mine a full inventory of sandstone, you can run west to the sand grinder.

Each different weight of sandstone gives a different amount of sand buckets, and you can then claim all of the buckets in noted form from Drew, costing 50 coins each.
Gem Rocks (Ironmen)
Gem rocks are another inviting option for ironmen, where you can just mine them normally, or you can 3 tick for the fastest rates.

You can get over 12 hundred gems per hour at a higher mining level, and bringing along a gem bag can store the regular gems you get.
Shooting Stars (Ironmen)
As an iron, shooting stars can be an excellent way to get clay packs and gem packs, useful for making teleport tablets and for making jewellery.

This is only really viable for irons if you want to train AFK, since the overall output of clay packs and gem packs is pretty slow.
Amethyst (Ironmen)
Amethyst is a key unlock for ironmen to create powerful amethyst ammunition.
Many ironmen choose to train their mining this way since its fairly afk, but it is slow experience.
Zalcano (Ironmen)
And the final ironman method is zalcano, which is excellent for resources if you toggle rewards on. You’ll get a wide range of rewards, including runes, ores, bars, crystal shards and bolt tips.

If you opt out of rewards, zalcano is one of the fastest mining training methods in the game without tick manipulation.
Overall, ironmen can partake in the same methods that regular accounts follow, but they may choose to train mining with the aim of gathering resources, and thats where sandstone and gem rocks are used.
F2P Methods
To finish off the guide, I'd briefly like to cover free to play mining training.
Fastest 1-99 Mining in F2P
The absolute fastest way to 99 mining in free to play is firstly completing dorics quest, then powermining copper and tin, then from 15 to 99, powermining iron is the fastest xp in the game.

Shooting stars do work in free to play, however they give reduced experience.

They can be a decent way to train though, but you wont be able to get any rewards since the shooting stars reward shop is members only.
Mining barronite deposits after the below ice mountain quest is another decent mining training method for free to play.

Its pretty low effort, and you can take the barronite to an anvil to gain some smithing experience. You can also purchase the charm of mining for 2.5 thousand barronite shards, which gives a 10% increased success rate when mining barronite rocks.
In terms of profitable training methods in free to play, you can access adamant and runite rocks to make some money.

Adamant will make around 115k gp per hour in free to play, with 70 mining, while runite can earn over 500k gp per hour, but thats very hard to achieve since the runite rocks are usually occupied in free to play.

The only rune rocks for free to play are also deep in the wilderness, making it a less inviting method.
Thanks for reading! To skip to any section of this guide, use the table of contents below:
Guide Contents
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