The Ultimate OSRS P2P Mining Guide (1-99)

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The ringing sound of a pickaxe hitting stone is the anthem of Dwarven kingdoms everywhere, above and below ground alike. When training Mining in OldSchool RuneScape, it isn’t so much about what you’re prospecting for, but where you’re looking. Even the more exotic ores like Runite become powerfully common across hundreds of hours of pick swinging. An abundance of coal close to a bank can become a nexus of power leveling. When seeking out a 1-99 P2P Mining Guide, OSRS players would do well to focus on where they’re mining as much as what they’re mining.

So that’s exactly what we’re going to do. 

Becoming a member in OldSchool RuneScape opens all of Gielinor to your mining enterprise. Like a land-use permit for the whole world. That much choice can be paralyzing, so we’re here to help you sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the best opportunities on your docket.

The High Ground Gaming OSRS P2P Mining Guide begins after the break. 

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P2P Mining Guide OSRS: Beneath the Crust of the Earth

The pickaxe is chief among the tools used when mining. Some might even say it’s the only mining tool. That’s not quite accurate in the world we inhabit, but in OldSchool RuneScape…yeah, a pickaxe is pretty much all you need.

As you gain levels in Mining, you can upgrade your pickaxe to keep the ore flowing as fast as possible. Of course, most pickaxes are available on the Grand Exchange (GE), but you can also shop locally and support small businesses for the ones they stock. And if you want to equip your pickaxe instead of leaving it in your backpack to occupy an inventory slot, you’ll want to be training (or have trained) Combat alongside Mining anyways. Embedding your pickaxe in a monster’s nervous system may be a welcome respite from the grind from time to time. Food for thought.

The core metal types up through the Rune pickaxe are fairly straightforward. Once you get to Dragon, though, things get interesting. 

Dragon pickaxes and up are harder to come by. You either need good drops/treasure trail rolls, lots of gold to throw around on the GE, or high skills and unique quests to get one of them in your hands. The 3rd Age pickaxe, like most 3rd Age equipment, can cost several billion GP on the open market. And the very best pickaxes have hefty skill requirements besides — the Crystal pickaxe even requires completion of one of the longest and hardest quests in the game, one which includes a laundry list of quests and skills as prerequisites. 

Suffice it to say, top-tier Mining comes with a price tag that demands your time as much as your gold. 

So you’ve got your pickaxe and a plan to upgrade it. Maybe you’ve even got the levels to wield your picks out of the gate. Now, where do you get started on your 1-99 Mining journey?

As with most skills, there’s a handful of quests you could complete to launch your Mining operation.

There are only two quests really worth your time: “The Dig Site” and “Plague City.” Especially “Plague City” if you’re considering doing Song of the Elves for the Crystal pickaxe. “The Dig Site” gets you straight to 31 Mining, though it has a few other skill requirements that may be limiting. The rest are listed for convenience’s sake, but the XP haul is paltry.

We’ll assume you want to get straight to the meat-and-potatoes and start swinging a pickaxe around. Time to hit the copper and tin. If you did “The Dig Site” (at least) and find yourself at level 31+ Mining, you can skip straight to the iron.

Stacking Precious Metals (And Coal)

Mining may be the click-clickiest of OldSchool RuneScape’s skills. Other skills you can click and forget for a moment or two longer. But as ore rocks enter a depleted state with every few ores you extract, you’ll be clicking around again in short order. 

This means positioning is key for quality, high XP efficiency Mining. Always try to snuggle into a corner where two rocks of the same type you’re targeting connect. 

It doesn’t exactly look impressive in practice. But XP efficiency rarely looks cool. Shall we begin? Remember that depending on your quest XP, you might skip a step and a half. 

If you’re looking for fast and furious XP, the run up to 99 can be relatively simple. Naturally, there’s lots of potential variation — if you’re willing to perform tick manipulation, then Granite mining can offer the very best XP rates possible — but leaning into iron ore is a time-honored tradition. Assuming you’re willing to drop the ore instead of banking it. Not as much of an issue once you get into the Mining Guild, but every moment spent banking is a moment you could be mining. 

One of the options on the table is the Coal Trucks, which is another right of passage among OldSchool RuneScape members. No OSRS Mining Guide P2P overview would be complete without it. 

Keep on Trucking

If you were a member back in the heart of the aughts, you probably remember spending a good chunk of your time at the Coal Trucks. Located west and slightly north of Seer’s Village, it enables the Runescape entrepreneur to kickstart their very own coal import/export business. 

There are coal rocks all over the place across the river. Filling your inventory doesn’t take long. And just when you’re thinking about running back and forth to the Seer’s Village bank with all these loads of coal, you notice the mine carts on the rail. 

Sorry, the “coal trucks.” 

You can load each cart up with a base amount of 120 coal. More if you complete the Kandarin achievement diaries. Suddenly you’re moving a minimum amount of 148 coal each trip. Over time, this can add up. Coal isn’t the fastest method for XP or coin, but it’s a good mix of both and still holds a special place in many OldSchool RuneScape players’ hearts. 

Like mine. I’m going to break the fourth wall here for a second — I still love the coal trucks. It’s great for nearly-AFK grinding. Throw on Civvie 11/your own personal favorite YouTuber or Netflix and go to town. But once you unlock the Mining Guild, you’ll probably want to focus on the triple iron deposits. 

Three’s a Crowd

Back in the formless span before time itself, while Gielinor was still being forged in the void, Guthix looked upon the molten surface of the world and thought, “Yeah, let’s put some happy little iron deposits right here. For some happy little miners to come.” 

Where there are three iron rocks for you to wedge yourself between, you can run a serious Mining train. About as fast as you can spin in place and click, you can be mining iron like a Dwarven-inspired ore vacuum cleaner.

There are a few such locations in OldSchool RuneScape, but assuming you have an otherwise low-level account (Mining pure?), that narrows down your options somewhat. The Al Kharid Mine has them, but it’s usually overrun with players. If you have access to Zeah, then the Piscatoris Mine, the Lovakengj Mine, and the Mount Karuulm Mine are on the table. And, of course, the members-only area of the Mining Guild — which may be ideal if you want to bank your ores. Even if you don’t, the members’ area offers an invisible Mining level boost and faster respawn times for rocks mined there. Not to mention a bank/deposit box. 

You also have a chance to find unidentified minerals while mining here as well. When you have enough, you can take them to Belona (who runs the Mining Guild Mineral Exchange near the bank) to buy yourself the Mining gloves or Superior mining gloves (60 or 120, respectively) for that extra boost. She also offers soft clay packs and bags full of gems, but when running up to 99 Mining, you probably won’t be interested in those. 

While we’re on the topic, the Mining Guild offers a few more goodies for higher-level miners. 

A Motherlode of Mining XP

At level 92 Mining, you earn the ability to mine Amethyst. But aside from the potential profit, it’s not exactly an efficient experience. If you need a bit of extra coin for that dragon pickaxe, mining Amethyst is a decent enough way to stack some gold. 

But perhaps you’d rather pick up that Prospector outfit you’ve seen other high-level miners running around with. In that case, you’d want to head back to the free-to-play section of the Mining Guild and take the eastern cave entrance to the Motherlode Mine.

The Motherlode Mine offers solid XP and a few unique rewards which can make your whole Mining experience even better. Mine the ore veins in the walls for paydirt at 60XP a pop, clean it with the water sluice in the heart of the mine, and deposit it into the hopper. After you collect your cleaned paydirt from the sack at the end, you have a chance to find coal, golden nuggets, and various ores, depending on your level. Gold and the three higher level ores even offer bonus XP on top of the base XP earned from the paydirt. Eureka! 

There’s even a handy bank down there to store your finds. But the golden nuggets act as a sort of currency. You can use them with Prospector Percy to increase the size of your paydirt sack, unlock the more XP-efficient upper area of the mine, or purchase the components of that Prospector outfit you’ve been admiring for that sweet, sweet 2.5% bonus Mining experience.

Hold Your Pickaxe High

You’ve mined more iron ore (from triple iron deposits) than you care to count. Perhaps you made a few runs at the Coal Trucks and spent a good amount of time cleaning paydirt in the Motherlode Mine. Wear your Prospector outfit and Max Cape with pride — you made it to 99 Mining! 

That’s all for this OSRS Mining Leveling Guide P2P Edition. Keep on clicking, and we’ll see you in the next one.