The Ultimate OSRS F2P Mining Guide (1-99)

Human Made

Penned by Mitch Gentry

Hi, I'm supersoup, a developer and occasional writer. I'm a game developer by passion, a web developer by practice, and a product of the 90s by tas... Read more

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Swing your pick, let it sing. For ore and gems and wealth it brings. Also, experience points — which you may find to be the most valuable treasure of all. 

Even in the F2P realm, you can enjoy a full virtual career of extracting raw resources from Gielinor’s ragged crust. It’s got all the staple fantasy ores and a few more besides: copper and tin, iron, gold and silver, the legendary mithril, adamantite, and runite — RuneScape’s toughest minable and smithable material. As you walk the list, the metals require ever-higher mining prowess to gather. At the top, runite asserts itself as the most valuable — and the most dangerous and time-consuming for a F2P player to obtain.

If you want to walk a straight line from level 1 to 99 Mining, you don’t need to concern yourself with the full breadth of minerals on tap. Instead, get ready to get real familiar with iron. Lots and lots of iron. 

Buckle up, as it’s time for the quintessential OSRS Mining guide for F2P players. 

Popular Destinations..

Old School RuneScape Waystone | Navigation Page

OSRS Heroes’ Quest Complete Guide

OSRS F2P Mining Guide: Getting Started

First things first — you need to prepare for the grind. Get a free fast-pass to level 10 Mining with Doric’s Quest. Then we’ll talk about your ideal mining gear.

Seriously — we can’t legally call this a Mining guide for F2P OSRS without mentioning the quest. Jagex said so.

Note: Jagex did not actually say so.  

Quests: Doric’s Quest

Run a quick little quest for the dwarf living in suburban North Falador, and he’ll bequeath you with his sacred knowledge of earth and stone. You’ll need the following items:

• Six hard clay
• Four copper ore
• Two iron ore

Purchase them from the GE, or get them yourself if so desired. Now, however, that the ability to mine iron means you’re level 15 Mining already. But XP is XP. To be precise, Doric’s Quest is worth 1,300 Mining XP. 

Items: The Miner’s Toolbelt

When it comes to Mining, there’s only one item that counts: the pickaxe. The trusty pickaxe comes in all metal types from bronze up to rune (the best possible for F2P players). The ideal approach will be to buy them in advance, so swapping is extra convenient when you’re able to use the next one up.

Note that a pickaxe will take up an inventory slot unless you have the appropriate Attack level to wield it. While Smithing seems like a natural partner skill to Mining, you may want to consider Combat (chiefly Attack) as well. That’s a whole inventory slot you’ll be leaving on the table — but if you plan to drop and not bank ores, it may not matter. You may also be able to get a better price for picks above bronze on the Grand Exchange. 

So now you’ve got your starting XP and your pickaxes. It’s time to crack open some stone and plunder the sweet, sweet ores within. But where’s an aspiring mining master to start? The path from 1-99 F2P Mining in OSRS guides you to a fork in the road split between speed and profit. As with all things in RuneScape, there are a few ways you can do this, and the choice is yours.

F2P Mining Guide for OSRS: The Fast Way

Get ready to see lots of Al Kharid through the early levels, because it’s the main F2P triple iron stone spots in the game. Unless you’re a low enough combat level that the scorpions will aggro on you. If that’s your situation, the Varrock mines may be your go-to. At least until you unlock the Mining Guild at level 60. 

In the interest of speed, we’ll simply drop our ores — only returning to a bank to trade out our pickaxes. A friendly reminder that SHIFT + Left Clicking items in your inventory will drop them. You’ll definitely be making use of the combo. 

Fast Mining for Low Combat Levels

For skillers and players under 28 Combat

Note that the table below assumes you use the best pickaxe available to you. It also does not take into account Doric’s Quest. If you do Doric’s Quest (and you should), you’ll only need 72 tin or copper ore to go from level 10 Mining to level 15 Mining.

Fast Mining for High Combat Levels

For mains and players over 28 Combat

Once again, players should use the best pickaxe available to them, and complete Doric’s Quest to reduce the initial grind to just 72 tin or copper ores.

F2P Mining the Profitable Way

So you want to make some money while mining. Maybe you want to store the ores for a smithing session down the road. That’s a good idea. The name of the game here is staying as close to banks as possible to minimize travel time. Ideally, this is when you’d have the appropriate Attack level to wield your pickaxe as well. That extra inventory slot will add up. 

Remember that making money takes time. If you choose to level Mining to 99 this way, you’re in this for the long haul. Perhaps you’ll find that sprinkling some iron ore drop parties in with your bank hauls makes the levels pass a bit quicker. But if you want to reach peak profits, this is how you’ll do it. 

Oddly, the Mining Guild seems often overlooked in Mining guides for OSRS F2P — which is certainly a mistake. It may not have triple iron stones in the free player area, but it does have plentiful coal rocks and higher level metals within range of the Falador East Bank for maximum profit.

Mining runite is a peril few F2P miners have the stomach for. It requires braving the Wilderness — with all its natural dangers and the roaming PKers — and the nearest bank is a long way away. Closer now after the Ferox Enclave update, but still further than most other banks you’ll have used before. No F2P Mining guide for OSRS would be complete without at least mentioning the option, though.

You may find that you finish up your profitable 99 run with more coal, iron, or adamantite. And that’s perfectly fine. Those are fairly profitable ores with banks near to common mining locations. But if you choose to swallow your fear and invest the time to mine runite, you will be handsomely rewarded with gold. 

Wrapping Up

If you made it this far and followed a path to the mountain peak, congratulations! Reaching 99 Mining in RuneScape is a significant accomplishment — especially for a F2P player. If you’ve been banking ores, you may wish to consider our Ultimate OSRS F2P Smithing Guide (1-99) to start on your next 99. 

Wherever your travels in Gielinor take you, we wish you the very best in drop table rolls. Stick with us here at High Ground Gaming for more Old School RuneScape content to come!

Related Reading

• RuneScape Review
• OSRS F2P Smithing Guide
• OSRS F2P Fishing Guide
• OSRS Birdhouse Run Guide
• OSRS F2P Ranged Guide