[OSRS] Ultimate 1-99 Mining Guide Runescape (Fastest/Profitable/Afkable Methods) - Old School Runescape Guides (2024)

Welcome to my complete level 1 – 99 Mining guide.

This article will take you through everything you need to know about Mining, including the fastest ways to 99, the profitable methods as well as some AFK and alternative methods. If you enjoy today’s article, or learn something interesting, be sure to leave a like on the article, and subscribe if you are new to the channel.

Outfit and Items

When you are training Mining, you should always be using the best pickaxe that you can. You do not need to wear the pickaxe to be able to use it. If you have level 60 Attack and a bit of money, you can use the Dragon Pickaxe special attack to get a +3 Mining boost at any level.

The Prospector kit which you get from the Motherlode mine is worth going for If you choose to train at the Motherlode mine, and the whole set costs 180 nuggets.

Doing the Varrock Diary gives you the Varrock Armour, and wearing it while mining a rock gives you a 10% chance of getting 2 ores while worn. The Varrock body also works as the Prospector Jacket. So, wearing the Varrock body plus the Prospector outfit really boosts your XP per hour. In the mining guild, you can trade unidentified minerals in exchange for Mining Gloves, and these give a chance that the rock you are mining does not get depleted. There is regular, superior, and expert Mining Gloves, and the expert gloves work up to Runite. While these do not give more XP per rock, it still does increase your XP per hour using these.

Quests

Now for the quests, and there are quite a few quests in Old School Runescape that give you some Mining XP. But, the two that I really recommend doing out of any of them is Doric’s Quest and then the Digsite Quest. Doric’s Quest takes about a minute. But, the Digsite Quest can take a little bit of time. Still, doing Doric’s and then Digsite will get you through from level 1 – 32 Mining, which saves you a lot of time at lower levels because starting off Mining is very slow.

Fastest Way to 99

Now, I would like to get into the methods, starting off with the fastest way to level 99. Take note that these methods are really click intensive and are not recommended for every single person. Some of the alternative methods that I show later in this article may be more suited for you.

Level 1 – 32: Doric’s Quest and Digsite Quest

Power Mining is the fastest way to level your Mining, and power mining means mining and not banking any of the ores. So, dropping them all. It is faster as I said to do Doric’s and Digsite.

Level 1 – 15: Copper or Tin

But, if you do not want to quest, you should start off from level 1 – 15 mining Copper and Tin, and a great place to do this is at the Lumbridge Swamp just when you get off Tutorial Island, and you will need to mine 138 of either Copper or Tin to get to level 15.

Level 15 – 75: Iron (3 Rock Area)

At level 15, you unlock Iron, and iron is actually the fastest training method all the way through to level 75. You should always be training at a location where there are three iron rocks in a triangle. There are 9 different places in the entire game that have a 3 rock area, and I have listed them all on the screen right now. While you are mining iron, you should have the Varrock Armour equipped, because that will increase your overall XP per hour. At level 15, you can expect about 30 000 XP per hour. But, once you reach above level 60, your XP rate is about 60 000 – 70 000 XP per hour, and even higher if you are mining in the Mining Guild. My favourite place with 3 iron rocks is at the Mining Guild. The Mining Guild gives a +7 Mining boost when you are in the area. That is how your XP rates speed up a little bit when you are mining ere. But, with iron, you will be instantly mining from about level 60.

Level 75 – 99: 3 Tick Granite Quarry

From level 76 all the way through to 99, the fastest way to train your mining is 3 tick Granite. This is extremely click intensive. But, it is the fastest way to train your mining, and can get you up to 120 000 XP per hour with 99 Mining. At lower mining levels, you will be expecting under 100 000 XP per hour. But, it is still faster than any other mining method. Since the quarry is in the Desert, you will need some sort of Desert Protection so you do not get damaged by the heat. The Desert Amulet 4 makes you immune to all the Desert heat, or you can bring waterskins with the Lunar Spell Humidify to fill them up. Alternatively, if you have 99 Hitpoints, you can wear a Hitpoints Cape and the Regen Bracelet, and that will actually out-heal all of the damage you take from the Desert. In total, getting from 75 – 99 with Granite will take you about 160 hours.

AFK / Alternative Methods

Now I would like to go into the AFK and Alternative methods to 99 Mining.

Level 1 – 15: Rune Essence (AFK)

As a really low level player, there is actually an AFK that is available to use. After you do Rune Mysteries, you can start mining Rune Essence, and they give really low XP each. But, it only requires level 1 Mining. Basically, if you click on the Rune Essence rock once, you will automatically mine a full inventory, which means that you get 140 XP per inventory and you can AFK for about 2 minutes. So, Rune Essence is a great option for low levels that are playing on mobile at work or for people that are doing homework while they train.

Level 30 – 99: Motherlode Mine

From level 30 – 99 Mining, the most AFK method you can do is the Motherlode Mine. Mining in the Motherlode is a very common way to get to 99 since it is so chill, and you do not really need to worry about much. The XP rates at the Motherlode Mine are a lot slower, where the maximum XP rate is just over 50 000 XP per hour at level 99 Mining. At really low levels, you can expect about 15 000 XP per hour. But, as you level up and eventually unlock the Prospector Outfit, your XP will get a decent boost. At level 72 Mining, you can pay 100 golden nuggets to use the upstairs levels of the mine. Up here, there are better ore veins that last longer than the ones downstairs. So, it makes it even more AFK than before. Dropping all the pay dirt is faster XP. But, higher mining levels, you are far better off putting your pay dirt and getting some rewards because you can make very decent money getting to 99.

Level 70 – 99: Volcanic Mine

At level 70, you unlock the Volcanic Mine, and this is a method that a lot of players choose to do since it is far more enjoyable than the quarry, and it gives the second best mining XP rates in the game. You need 50 Mining to start with 150 Kudos at the Varrock Museum. But, it is really recommended to start at level 70. With a decent team, you can get up to 90 000 XP per hour here at a very high Mining level. But, if you want to take it one step further, players can use Alt accounts to really boost their Mining XP to over 100 000 XP per hour. The Volcanic Mine is on Fossil Island, which means that you have to have completed the Bone Voyage Quest to be able to partake in it. Additionally, you take quite a lot of damage in the Minigame. So, be sure to check out a full guide on the Minigame before you start.

Profitable Methods

Now, I wold like to go into the Profitable Mining training methods.

Level 40 – 75: Gem Rocks

Now, just recently, with the Revenant Cave updates, Red Topaz Gems are now over 5000 each. There is a bank deposit box nearby that you can use to store all of your gems, and you can expect a maximum of about 65 000 XP per hour at 99. It is not recommended to go past level 75 when you are training at Gem Rocks, because the next method I am about to show is more profitable and faster XP per hour. Wearing an Amulet of Glory while mining any rock will increase the chance of getting a Gem while mining. So, whenever you are training at Gem Rocks, you should always be wearing an Amulet of Glory just to make a bit of extra money. There is also a downstairs portion of the Shilo Village Gem Mine, which you can access after you do the Hard Karamja Diary task. The Gem Mines are not usually that packed, and there is usually a Free World of the upstairs area. On average, the coins you can make per hour here are about 300 000 – 400 000 an hour.

Level 75 – 99: Blast Mine

Now, at level 75 Mining, with 100% Lovakengj favour, you have access to the Blast Mine. The Blast Mine allows you to get ores that you cannot mine that are 10 levels above your mining level. So, at level 75 Mining, you should start this Minigame and you can start obtaining Runite ore. Without Runite ore involved, you will be getting really low XP rates and really low profit, making the Blast Mine not worth doing. You can use the Dragon Pickaxe special attack to boost to level 75 Mining and then you have a chance of getting the level 85 rocks. But, this is only temporary. The profit rates compared to Gem rocks are a lot better. At level 80, you will get about 60 000 XP per hour, and make over 400 000 GP per hour. At higher mining levels, you can earn up to 700 000 coins per hour, and 70 000 XP per hour, making it one of the best and most viable training methods in the game. Keep in mind that this is very click intensive as well, somewhat similar to Granite. The main difference here is that you are exchanging the better XP rates of Granite for some money per hour.

Level 85 – 99: Runite Ore

The next method, unlocked at level 85, is just simply mining Runite ore. As of recently, there have been a few additions to the game with new Rune rocks, and now the Myth’s Guild has Rune rocks. Also, the new Inferno area has a set of 3 Rune rocks. There are other locations that are in the Wilderness to mine Rune. But, these are not suggested whatsoever. Going from level 85 – 99 Mining just mining Runite ores, you would make approximately 880 000 000! The XP rates are horrendous. But, the total profit is insane.

Level 92 – 99: Amethyst Crystals (semi AFK)

The final method I have for you guys is mining Amethyst Crystals, and while their XP per hour is not very high, this is a great method for Alt accounts or for people that want some semi AFK mining training. Amethyst is located all the way at the end of the Mining Guild, and getting to 99 from 92 when you unlock them will make you a profit of 100 000 000. The Mining Guild +7 boost does not allow you to mine Amethyst at level 85. However, the Dragon Pickaxe special attack does work for mining them.

Rock Golem: Mining Pet (Best Chances)

Before I show you guys the summary of this article, I quickly wanted to talk about the Mining Pet. The best drop rate for the Mining Pet is when you are mining Runite ores. The Volcanic Mine also gives a very good drop rate for the pet. But, I actually did a calculation video on this, and the best way to get the mining pet is through Gem Rocks. So, if you really want the pet, you could go for 99 at Gem Rocks and make quite a bit of money in the process.

Summary

Now, to quickly summarise the guide, the two fastest methods in the game are Granite and the Volcanic Mine. Granite is very click intensive and a little bit faster than the Volcanic Mine. But, the Volcanic Mine provides a lot more profit in the long run. For AFK training, you can do low level Rune Essence Mining and then move on to the Motherlode Mine for some decent AFK XP. Then, for profit, Gem Rocks are decent XP and pretty good money at this point in time. The Blast Mine is great money and XP, and Runite is the most profitable way all the way to 99. But, it is not the fastest GP per hour.

Anyways guys, that is my 1- 99 Mining Guide.