Mining
OSRS Mining Guide 1-99
Use quests for the slow opening when they fit your account. For speed without tick manipulation, mine iron and move to Volcanic Mine or Blast Mine. For the fastest route, use 3-tick granite from 45. For low attention, choose the output and interaction window you actually want instead of treating every slow method as AFK.
01 / Route choice
Pick the lane before you compare XP rates
Fast, no ticks
Quest when convenient, drop-mine iron to 60, use Mining Guild iron to 70, then move to a 3-5 player Volcanic Mine team. Blast Mine from 75 is the active solo fallback when team access is the real bottleneck.
Fastest, with ticks
Use 3-tick iron from 15 to 45, then 3-tick granite. At 99, a practised session with occasional mistakes is around 120,000-125,000 XP per hour. The reviewed efficient benchmark is 126,000. The higher theoretical tick-perfect number is not a normal route promise.
Low attention
Shooting Stars give the longest fixed idle window. Motherlode Mine banks ore, Rubium offers faster stackable output for eligible Sailing accounts, calcified rocks bank Prayer progress, and amethyst supplies ammunition from 92.
Iron supplies
Mine sandstone or gems for Crafting, calcified rocks for Prayer, Motherlode or Blast Mine for ores, and amethyst for ammunition. Stop each supply method when the bank target is met, not at a copied level.
Personal route: the Training Planner applies these choices to your current XP, target, Main or Iron mode, crystal-pickaxe choice and activity access.
02 / Stable switches
Fast routes by level
| Levels | Method | Rate and setup label | Switch when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-37 | Six early quests | 27,525 XP as one complete reward bundle | The bundle takes level 1 to 27,525 XP, which is 52 XP past level 37 |
| 37-60 | Iron rocks | Current guide range reaches 45,000-55,000 XP/hr before 60 with an efficient compact drop-mining loop | Enter the Mining Guild at 60 for its invisible boost and faster respawns |
| 60-70 | Mining Guild iron | About 70,000-80,000 XP/hr in the reviewed efficient drop-mining setup | Move at 70 when a Volcanic Mine team is sustainable |
| 70-99 | Volcanic Mine | 3-5 player table: 64,200 XP/hr at 70 with rune; up to 94,000 at 99 with crystal | Stay for fast non-tick XP; use Blast Mine when team-finding breaks the route |
| 75-99 | Blast Mine alternative | 65,000-76,000 XP/hr at 75; 87,000-101,000 at 99 in reviewed normal and efficient ranges | Stay while active solo play and banked ores suit the account |
| 45-99 | 3-tick granite | Practised allowance 82,000 at 45 to 120,000 at 99; efficient benchmark 87,000 to 126,000 | Stay through the target unless the input level is not sustainable |
The Volcanic Mine figures are team benchmarks. Team-finding, failed games and learning time are outside the rate table. A specialised solo method can perform well, but it is not interchangeable with the reviewed 3-5 player setup.
Quest XP for the opening
The six rewards total 27,525 Mining XP. Use them when their wider unlocks fit your account. Do not read the total as six adjustable XP lamps.
| Quest | Mining XP | Before adding it |
|---|---|---|
| Doric's Quest | 1,300 | No Mining requirement |
| Plague City | 2,425 | No Mining requirement |
| The Dig Site | 15,300 | Quest skill requirements apply |
| The Giant Dwarf | 2,500 | Quest skill requirements apply |
| The Lost Tribe | 3,000 | 17 Mining |
| Another Slice of H.A.M. | 3,000 | Quest chain requirements apply |
03 / Attention
Low attention methods solve different jobs
Shooting Stars are the closest option to a fixed AFK timer: each layer lasts seven minutes while at least one player mines it. Motherlode Mine still needs vein changes, depositing and banking. Calcified rocks need watering. Rubium needs regular clicks. Amethyst has slow successes and benefits from expert mining gloves.
| Method | Access | Normal setup rate | Interaction | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shooting Stars | 10 mechanically; route from 60 | About 24,000-31,500 XP/hr | One seven-minute layer at a time | Stardust and gems |
| Motherlode Mine | 30; upper level at 57 plus 100 nuggets | 13,000 at 30 to 64,000 at 99 XP/hr | Short vein cycles plus banking | Ores and golden nuggets |
| Rubium | 48 Mining, 60 Sailing and Charred Island | About 39,000 at 48 to 64,000 at 99 XP/hr | Low effort, not a seven-minute idle | Stackable rubium splinters |
| Calcified rocks | 41 and Perilous Moons started | 23,500 at 50 to 49,000 at 99 XP/hr | Watering cycle around 70 seconds | Blessed bone shards |
| Amethyst | 92 | About 20,000-25,000 XP/hr | Long-lived rocks, better with expert gloves | High-level Ranged ammunition |
Stars unlock mechanically at level 10, one tier at a time. This guide switches at 60 because all star tiers are then available and the low-level alternatives finish faster. That is a route choice, not a false level-60 requirement.
Calcified rock tick manipulation can reach a separate 40,000-94,000 XP per hour range across levels 50-99. It belongs with active methods, not in the normal low-attention rate above.
04 / Account priorities
Main and Iron accounts should value outputs differently
Pay for access and execution, not a frozen profit claim
Use iron, granite, Volcanic Mine or Blast Mine when time is the priority. Use Motherlode Mine, Zalcano or amethyst when the output matters. Ore prices and profit per hour move, so check current values in the Calculator instead of treating a guide snapshot as permanent.
Stop when the banked job is complete
- Crafting: sandstone from 35, underground gem rocks from 40 with Karamja medium, or gems from stardust.
- Prayer: normal calcified rocks from 41 after starting Perilous Moons.
- Smithing: Motherlode Mine or Blast Mine when ore is genuinely missing. PvM, shops and other grinds can reduce the need.
- Ranged ammunition: amethyst from 92.
Motherlode Mine unlock order depends on the visit. The upper level costs 100 nuggets and improves the mining loop from 57. The Prospector helmet costs 40 nuggets and is the piece needed for the Falador hard diary step. Buy the helmet first for a short diary visit; buy the upper level first for a long training block. Coal bag, gem bag and sack upgrades should follow the account job.
Recent Iron discussions do not support one universal answer. Players disagree on whether Motherlode Mine ore is still worth the time, whether Prayer shards beat other Prayer routes, and whether post-92 Mining should remain at stars or move to amethyst. The stable decision is the output you will use plus the interaction window you can sustain.
05 / Activities
Where Volcanic Mine, Blast Mine and Zalcano fit
Fast non-tick XP with a team
Entry requires 50 Mining, Bone Voyage and numulite; 70 is the useful training threshold in the current guide. Games run for ten minutes and efficient rates assume a coordinated 3-5 player team. Current player reports show that finding a team can be harder than the table suggests, so test the real route before committing the whole 70-99 plan.
Active solo XP with banked ore
Blast Mine is mechanically available at 43. The route table starts it at 75 because its reviewed training ranges are strongest there and it can produce ores ten levels above the normal Mining requirement. Bring dynamite, a chisel, tinderbox and sustained run energy.
Choose resources or increased XP
Zalcano requires 70 Mining and Song of the Elves. Project Rebalance separated resource rewards from an increased-XP mode. Team size, contribution, kills per hour and mode change the result enough that the current training page does not publish one representative post-Rebalance rate. Do not budget 70-99 from one anecdotal screenshot.
06 / Current updates
Rubium is route-ready; Sunstone still needs rate evidence
Wyrmscraig and Fallen From Grace
Jagex released Wyrmscraig on 29 July 2026. Fallen From Grace requires 62 Sailing and awards 5,000 Mining XP. Sunstone Mining requires 53 Mining. Active rocks build momentum, and the official release says momentum can guarantee success from 80 Mining; the monolith trades speed for lower interaction.
Sunstone is not in the current pinned pay-to-play Mining training revision. Early secondary write-ups also showed conflicting requirement and guaranteed-success levels. This guide uses the official 53 and 80 figures, publishes no throughput claim, and leaves Sunstone out of the default route until current rate evidence converges.
Rubium is already documented in the current training route: 48 Mining plus 60 Sailing and Charred Island access, with dragonfire protection. Its stackable splinters and roughly 39,000-64,000 XP per hour normal range make it a useful low-effort alternative when the Sailing requirements are already complete.
07 / Free-to-play
The free-to-play route stays simple
Doric's Quest gives 1,300 Mining XP and passes level 10. If you skip it, mine copper and tin to 15. Mine iron from 15 onward, moving to the Mining Guild at 60. Drop-mining is the XP route; bank adamantite or runite only when their output is the goal. Three-tick iron is the high-input option and must remain separate from normal iron rates.
The members route tables above include activities that free-to-play accounts cannot use. The Planner is a members product in this release, so use the pinned free-to-play source for the narrower route.
08 / Setup
Read every rate with its pickaxe and input model
A repeatable allowance below the reviewed setup ceiling. Travel, competition, mistakes and breaks still lower it.
The stated pickaxe, location, team size and execution. It is not a promise for every account.
The planner uses the best available pickaxe through level 60, then lets you select dragon from 61 and charged crystal from 71 independently. Charged crystal requires Song of the Elves and crystal-shard upkeep. Full Prospector adds 2.5% Mining XP where the outfit works. Varrock armour, celestial ring and mining gloves affect specific methods differently, so do not apply one blanket percentage across the route.
Exact handoff: set the goal in the Mining Calculator for actions and current economics. Set account mode, priority and access in the Training Planner for a staged route.
09 / Provenance
Sources and review boundaries
Mechanics and rate tables use pinned Wiki revisions. Recommendations compare those facts with maintained practical guides and recent player disagreement. Secondary sources inform setup and attention; they do not override primary mechanics.
- Pay-to-play Mining training, revision 15314549, reviewed 26 August 2026
- Mining mechanics, revision 15309141, reviewed 26 August 2026
- Motherlode Mine, revision 15320149, reviewed 26 August 2026
- Shooting Stars, revision 15319358, reviewed 26 August 2026
- Volcanic Mine, revision 15302108, reviewed 26 August 2026
- Zalcano strategies, revision 15316279, reviewed 26 August 2026
- Ironman Guide/Mining, revision 15292446, reviewed 26 August 2026
- Free-to-play Mining training, revision 15305309, reviewed 26 August 2026
- Jagex Project Rebalance and Jagex Wyrmscraig release, reviewed 26 August 2026
- Theoatrix 1-99 Mining Guide, OSRS Guide Mining Guide, and BRUHsailer, checked 26 August 2026
- r/ironscape: Mining on Ironman and r/2007scape: Mining is just straight disrespectful, checked 26 August 2026
Review again after Mining rate changes, a Sunstone training table, major Sailing access changes, or another Zalcano balance pass.
Move from the guide to your account
Use the Mining Training Planner to turn these stable choices into a route from your current XP. Use the Mining Calculator when you need exact quantities and current economics.