Gold ore is a type of ore that can be obtained by mining gold rocks, requiring a Mining level of 40 or higher, and granting 65 experience. Gold ore can be smelted through the Smithing skill at level 40, granting 22.5 experience (or 56.2 with goldsmith gauntlets), to form a gold bar. The gold bar can then be crafted to make various pieces of jewellery, or smithed to make a gold helmet (requires Between a Rock... quest) or a golden bowl (requires Legends' Quest). However this is not advised for those seeking to make a profit as bars sell for less than ore.
Obtaining the Ores
A good place to mine gold is in Arzinian Mines, after the quest Between a Rock.... The Arzinian Mines are hidden in the mines south of Keldagrim. There are 168 gold rocks in this mine and you can use the ferrymen to take your gold ore to the bank, for a price of 6 gold ores (or 3 if the ring of Charos worn). If the player has made some progress in the Keldagrim quest series, they may use the watchtower just north of the ferryman as a shortcut to the bank rather than paying the gold for the ferryman to bank them.
If the quest is not done, it can still be obtained from the Dwarven Mines. It is located just outside the Mining Guild, but it is a very unpopular place to get it because there are only two gold ore rocks.
One of the better gold mines is located inside the mysterious entrance at the Al Kharid mine. It requires 75 Dungeoneering to enter, and contains 11 gold rocks.
A good place to mine gold for people who do not have these high levels is at the mine west of the town of Nardah. It has 5 gold ore rocks. Not many people use it and it is in the desert, so prepare accordingly.
There is also a mine right next to Rimmington with two gold ore rocks and one north of Al Kharid, also with two gold ore rocks.
You can also travel to Ardougne and take the boat to Brimhaven and walk south, then west and then north or teleport to the Karamja lodestone and walk north-west. There you can find 10 gold rocks. It can also be used with the advent of the new lodestones (provided it has been unlocked) and teleporting to Daemonheim to bank is a quick way to mine as the rocks are just one click from where you teleport. Additionally, the U shaped enclosure of gold ore rocks below the watchtower opposite the docks of Brimhaven is also a way to powermine gold ore without having to give some up to bank them.
Members with 80 or more Mining can mine concentrated gold rocks in the Living Rock Caverns at a very good speed rate. Aggressive high level (92+) monsters may attack unprepared players, so it is advisable to bring some kind of armour. Farli's camp near the exit of the cave has a pulley lift that acts as a deposit box. The unofficial world for mining concentrated gold is world 77 and world 88 although world 84 tends to be more populated in the Living Rock Caverns.
The Crafting Guild
There are seven gold rocks here, as well as some silver and clay. The disadvantages to this method are that it can be quite crowded at times and you need to have a crafting level of 40 to enter The Crafting Guild. There are a few banking methods that you can follow while at the bank, the easiest being the bank deposit box inside the guild (requires the Falador hard task set to be finished and you cannot withdraw other items) and the chest outside the guild at the Clan Camp. If its busy, you may find some of the following methods quicker, though I don't see a problem usually.
- Free to Play
- (Requires being in a clan) Use Burthorpe Home Teleport to teleport to Burthorpe. Run to the bank chest and bank your ore. Then, use the Clan vexillum teleport to return to the Clan Camp which is just slightly east of the Crafting Guild. The total trip takes about 90 seconds, less if you use the cellar.
- (Requires being in a clan and completion of the Death of Chivalry quest) Use teleport option on skull of remembrance to teleport to bank on top of Black Knights fortress.Run to the bank chest and bank your ore. Then, use the Clan vexillum teleport to return to the Clan Camp which is just slightly east of the Crafting Guild.
- The same method above can be used, except with the ring of kinship. The Ring of Kinship's teleport animation is shorter than the home teleport, and the teleport spawn is closer to the bank than Lumbridge's. When done banking the ores, players can use a Clan vexillum to teleport back to the Clan Camp and walk to the Crafting Guild.
- Players can use an Explorer's ring 3 for cabbage-port, then run to Draynor village bank, teleport back to the cabbage patch from Draynor bank, and run back to the crafting guild, or the Bank Deposit on the Port Sarim docks.
- Pay to Play
- Using a ring of duelling to teleport to Castle Wars, banking and using the balloon transport and one oak log to fly back to the Crafting Guild, or alternatively using a skills necklace.
- There is a shortcut (requiring level 26 Agility) north of the Crafting Guild that goes under the Falador wall, allowing you to quickly access a bank to deposit your gold ore.
- Another method would be to use an amulet of glory to teleport to Edgeville, bank, then use a skills necklace, teleport to the Crafting Guild. When you are out of charges, use a combat bracelet to teleport to Warrior's Guild (or a games necklace to teleport to Burthorpe) and run to the fountain in the basement of the Heroes' Guild to recharge your amulet of glory. Then use the fairy ring system to go to the Legends' Guild to recharge your skills necklace and combat bracelet.
- There is a deposit box in crafting guild for those that have completed the Falador Hard Task set.
Other
An alternative place to mine gold is the Brimhaven north-west mine. If the Fairytale II - Cure a Queen and Holy Grail are completed, it is very easy to get to a bank. Slightly north of the rocks is a watchtower that you can walk under, as is done during the Holy Grail Quest. Blowing a magic whistle under it will result in the player being teleported to the King Fisher Realm. From here, run north across the bridge and use the fairy ring to teleport to Zanaris to bank the ores. Repeat to get back to the mining spot using the fairy ring code BJR. There is also another mining spot farther south, which is close to the entrance to the Brimhaven Dungeon. Players that completed Deadliest Catch unlocked a bank deposit box to the south of the Brimhaven Dungeon that is even closer.
Also, gold ore can be acquired from the ore shop at the Blast Furnace in Keldagrim in quantities of up to 100.
There are also several gold ore rocks in TzHaar City, near the bank, and some right outside the city entrance.
Players may also obtain gold ore by looting certain implings from the Impetuous Impulses minigame; however, the implings do not always give gold ore, so this is not the most reliable way to obtain it.
There is a gold ore spawn in the Bank vault within the Varrock West Bank. There is also a spawn in level 28 Wilderness at the eastern ruins.
Gold ore can sometimes be found inside barrels.
Dropping monsters
- For an exhaustive list of all known sources for this item, see here.
| Source | Combat level | Quantity | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloodveld | 61; 68; 92 | 1 | Common |
| Harpie Bug Swarm | 63 | 1 | Common |
| Mummy | 70; 74; 77 | 1 | Common |
| Pyrefiend | 61; 67; 92 | 1 | Common |
| Rorarius | 84 | 5–7 (noted) | Common |
| 'Rum'-pumped crab | 84 | 2 (noted) | Common |
| Yeti | 90 | 1 | Common |
| Living rock protector | 92 | 3 (noted) | Common |
| Living rock striker | 92 | 3 (noted) | Common |
| Mummy | 103; 125 | 1 | Common |
| Lesser demon | 70 | 1; 2–3 (noted) | Uncommon |
| Greater demon | 92 | 1 | Uncommon |
| Gnoeals | 100 | 1 | Uncommon |
| Mutated bloodveld | 91; 95 | 3 | Uncommon |
| Tribesman | 86; 90 | 1 | Rare |
| Greater reborn warrior | 82 | 4 | Rare |
| Skeleton heavy | 128 | 1 | Rare |
| TzHaar-Hur | 86; 98 | 1 | Very rare |
| Skeleton hero | 106 | 1 | Very rare |
Goldsmith gauntlets
Gold ore is often smelted with Goldsmith gauntlets to level Smithing easily and fairly quickly. The gauntlets yield 56.2 experience (2.5 times the normal) per smelt, which is 6.2 points more per smelt than rune ore. As gold rocks are relatively uncommon and difficult to mine (with the exception of concentrated gold ore), many players purchase large amounts from other players to smelt. Goldsmith gauntlets can be obtained after completing the Family Crest quest. It is possible to smelt about 2,000 gold bars per hour while running at max efficiency, and with the added exp from the gauntlets, you can gain 112,400 Smithing exp per hour. You could make this quicker by using the Superheat Item spell (requires level 43 magic which should be fine if you have completed the Family Crest quest) which provides 53 Magic experience and the normal crafting experience provided by the item smelted.
Respawn rate
Gold ore, like all other mined rocks, respawns at a rate inversely proportional to the number of people in the rock's RuneScape world. If the world is empty, the ore respawns in 2 minutes; if it is full (with 2000 players), it respawns in 1 minute. Thus the respawn rate of gold ore is
- minutes,
where x is the number of players in the world.
A table of respawn rates is given below.
| Players | 0 | 200 | 400 | 600 | 800 | 1000 | 1200 | 1400 | 1600 | 1800 | 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Respawn time | 2:00 | 1:54 | 1:48 | 1:42 | 1:36 | 1:30 | 1:24 | 1:18 | 1:12 | 1:06 | 1:00 |
