Free-to-play Mining training

Mining is a fairly tedious skill to train, giving slow experience and having competition over rocks from other players. However, it can be a very rewarding skill in terms of money.

It is highly recommend that you teleport whenever possible - this lowers the amount of running time (especially with heavy loads).

Consider teaming up with friends. One mines; the others are the mules. This is quicker overall.

Equipment
Pickaxes are the main tool required in mining. It is recommended to get the best pickaxe available for your level as it is worth it in the long run. Having respective attack levels save one inventory space as the pickaxe can be wielded.

Free players now have the option to purchase a coal bag for storage of extra coals. It takes 1 inventory space and holds 27 extra coal. Filling the bag during mining earns 1350 experience per bank trip. It requires 35 mining and 35 Dungeoneering (costs 4000 tokens) to be bought and used.

Mining urn is also recommended to carry along for XP boost it gives.

Quests

 * Doric's Quest, a quest that gives 1,300 Mining experience. However, you will need to obtain 2 iron ores that cannot be mined until level 15 Mining. You can buy the iron ores though.

Level 1 to 15
Tin and Copper are the main ores mined at this level. They give decent experience (17.5 experience per ore) and profit and can be smithed.

Clay gives 5 experience per ore. Clay is a good money-maker for new players but is slower. You can also train on rune essence (5 XP each) if you have completed Rune Mysteries.

Tin and Copper Locations:
 * South-east Lumbridge Swamp mining site where the Mining Tutor was previously located.
 * South-east Varrock mining site, which is near a bank.
 * Dwarven Mines
 * Gunnarsgrunn mining site (only tin rocks)
 * South-west Varrock mining site (only tin rocks)

Clay Locations
 * South-west Varrock mining site
 * Dwarven Mines
 * Rimmington mine south of Falador
 * South Gunnarsgrunn mining site

Level 15 to 30/99
Iron is a fast method of mining which yields a fairly good profit and gives good experience (35 per ore). This is a very good method of power mining from Level 41. With the aid of a Rune pickaxe, you are able to mine iron ores very quickly, taking less than 1 second each. Power mining with urns grants about 45000 XP per hour; the fastest mining XP in the free game. At high levels of mining, mining Iron is a fast way to make money, resulting in a profit of around 200,000 coins per hour.

Good locations for this are:
 * South-east Varrock mining site (consider Teleporting back to Varrock to reduce running time).
 * Al-Kharid Mine.
 * Rimmington mine south of Falador(consider Teleporting to Varrock or Falador, banking, then using Explorer's Ring 3 to teleport.)
 * Dwarven Mine.
 * South-west Varrock mining site (3 rocks)

A good way to stray from rountine is to multi-task while Mining: High Alchemy while mining in the Dwarven Mine (3 rocks). The idea is to mine the first iron rock, click on the second iron rock and while your character is turning/running (for the third rock which is far than the 2 adjacent rocks) click High Alchemy on the item you wish to convert, and keep on repeating those 3 basic steps. A full load of iron ore plus High Alchemy in between takes about 2 minutes. Once your full, deposit your iron ore in the Deposit-Bank. and repeat. This way you can get Magic/Mining xp at the same time.

It's roughly:

35*26 = 910 xp / 2 min (Mining)

65*18 = 1170 xp / 2 min (Magic)

Only con is you might be losing a bit of money while Alching if you buy Natures/Item To Convert for high. But that shouldn't be a problem because the small loss could be retrieved by selling the iron ores you are mining. So basically it's for free.

Level 20 to 30
Silver ore can be mined at level 20, however, it is not recommended past level 30 mining where coal can be mined. Silver ore is currently one of the most expensive ores on the Grand Exchange bringing in coins per ore. This is a good way to gain money for lower level players.The Mining XP earned is 40 per ore.

Locations:
 * South-West Varrock Mine (has 4 rocks). The trip back to Varrock Bank can be shorted by using Varrock Teleport.
 * Al Kharid Mines, although there are Level 14 Scorpions that attack you until they become tolerant. Also a considerable round trip to Al Kharid bank and back again. Teleport is not an option for F2P.

Level 30 to 40
Coal can be mined at level 30. This ore is crucial to smithing and therefore it is a very good method if you bank ores as you can make good money from this. Coal gives 50 experience per ore. Teleport spells that are near banks make the process of banking faster.

Good locations for this ore are:
 * Dwarven Mine (It is recommended to get 15 Dungeoneering to get access to the bank deposit in the resource dungeon for quicker banking.)
 * Gunnarsgrunn is close to the bank in Varrock and Edgeville.
 * West Lumbridge Swamp Mining Site is good if you are a member so you can have Lumbridge teleports.
 * Edgeville Dungeon (Recommended for only power levelers) They have many coal ores there, and barely anyone goes there. However, beware of skeletons and the occasional hobgoblin.
 * Southern wilderness mining site. For those with higher combat level, this is recommended since getting ore is almost guaranteed because the mine is not crowded. There is a danger from other players, but it's relatively low.

Level 40 to 70
Gold ore can be mined at level 40 mining. Gold ore gives 65 experience apiece. This used to be a valuable ore which many people mined for the money. Nowadays, Gold Ore is worth even less than Coal. Therefore, it is recommended that players continue mining the aforementioned ores for both monetary and experience-wise reasons.

For those wanting to create jewellery, a good location for this ore is in the Crafting Guild (40 Crafting and a Brown Apron required). Another good location for this is the Karamja-Crandor volcano, as many players here are training on the Lesser Demons. Beware, though if you are under level 45 combat, the skeletons here are aggressive to you.

Level 55 to 70
Mithril ore can be mined at level 55. This ore gives 80 experience and is a middle-level money maker. This ore is not recommended past level 70.

A good location for this ore is the Mining Guild (60 mining required). For players who are more daring, the Bandit camp mining site in the Wilderness can be a good location. With 22 Mithril rocks in place, players can easily get a full inventory without having to wait for the rocks to respawn, although there are no banks near here and other players can kill you.

With level 15 Dungeoneering you can enter the resource dungeon in the dwarven mine, contains 6 mithril rocks, 3 silver and coal with a bank deposit.Outside the dungeon entrance are 3 iron rocks. While you wait for the Mithril inside and outside the dungeon to respawn, you can mine the iron, and bank it inside the dungeon, which can be very profitable and be incredibly fast xp.

Once you reach level 45 Dungeoneering you can enter the Mining Guild resource dungeon, which contains 8 mithril rocks, 4 adamantite rocks, and 3 runite rocks.

Level 70 to 99
Adamantite ore can be mined at level 70. This is a good money making method of mining, because each ore can sell for coins.

Good locations for this ore are in the Dwarven Mine, the Lumbridge south west mine, the Bandit camp mining site, or on Crandor Isle and in the Dwarven Mine resource dungeon located in the Mining Guild.

Level 85 to 99
Runite ore can be mined at level 85. This is everyone's mining goal, since ores sell for coins. With the return of PVP in the wilderness, caution is advised when mining in this location. If you see a PVPer coming it is best to teleport away, and return when they are gone. Equip only a rune pickaxe, but also your best armour, a weapon, and some food if you intend on fighting for your ore.

An alternative that requires level 45 Dungeoneering is located in the Mining Guild. This Resource dungeon gives you 4,400 Dungeoneering experience when you first enter and contains 3 runite ore as well as 8 mithril and 4 adamantite ore. The very low degree of risk in this area can make it very tedious to find runite ores.

Level 60 to 99
This is a method for fast mining experience.

These are the stats you will need besides level 60 Mining:
 * Level 43 Magic
 * Level 50+ Smithing (the higher the better)

These are the items you will need in your inventory:
 * Staff of fire (wielded)
 * Rune pickaxe
 * Nature runes, the amount will be listed below (or as much as you want depending on your mining goal)
 * If your Smithing is level 50 to 69, you will need 22 Mithril ore (4 free inventory spaces)
 * If your Smithing is level 70 to 84, you will need 20 Adamantite ore (6 free inventory spaces)
 * If your Smithing is level 85+, you will need 18 Runite ore (8 free inventory spaces)
 * Coal bag (optional)


 * Note: If you are willing to take gems as random award (not random event) additional free spaces can be allocated.

You will need to go to the mining guild and just mine coal there until you have a full inventory. Once you have a full inventory you use the spell Superheat Item on your Mithril/Adamantite/Runite ore. The spell will smelt your ore and leave you with no coal. Keep mining more coal and use Superheat Item until you run out of Mithril/Adamantite/Runite ore.

If you have Mithril ore, you can mine up to 92 coal without banking. If you have Adamantite ore, you can mine up to 126 coal without banking. If you have Runite ore, you can mine up to 152 coal without banking.

You can repeat this method over and over again.

Level 70 to 99
This is a method for fast mining experience.

These are the stats you will need besides level 70 mining:
 * Level 55 magic

These are the items you will need in your inventory: Mine Adamantite ore and use High Alchemy on it. Doing this makes a small profit if you buy nature runes for under 240 coins.
 * Staff of fire
 * Rune pickaxe
 * Nature runes

Like the method mentioned above, you can repeat this over and over again.

Dwarven Mine Resource Dungeon
This method requires any mining level and at least 15 dungeoneering.

At the Dwarven mine there is a very efficient way to obtain ores and experience with the update on 10 July 2010 adding Hidden Resource Dungeons. The quickest way to this location is via teleport to Falador then into the Dwarven Mines. Directly in front of the stairs is a resource dungeon(need 15 dungeoneering) with a Bank Deposit inside. One just mines away at ores and banks them directly inside the mine

If you are mining something, and you are not powerleveling, and you have 15 or higher dungeoning, everytime your inventory is full, use the deposit box in the resource dungeon.