Mining

Mining is a skill that allows players to extract ores, gems, rune essence and other resources from rocks in mines throughout RuneScape. It is perhaps one of the few skills left largely unchanged since RuneScape Classic (Besides the Living Rock Caverns and the Elemental Workshop). Mined ores can be smelted at a furnace, turning them into bars that can be made into metal objects using the Smithing skill, the Construction skill or the Crafting skill. On the map, mining sites are identified with a regular pickaxe (), and Mining stores are identified with a gold pickaxe () icon. The current minimum requirement to be ranked (at rank 2,000,000) on the hiscores for Mining is level 57. As of 1 February 2011, there are 15,346 players that have achieved level 99 in Mining. Mining is also the only skill that provides random rewards (gems) to free players.

Contents [show] 1 Development History 2 How to Mine 3 Pickaxes 4 Mineable items 5 Table of Mining Locations 6 Shooting Stars 7 Random events 7.1 Gems 7.2 Rock golem (Discontinued) 7.3 Pickaxe head (Discontinued) 8 Tips 8.1 Animation when mining 8.2 Power mining 8.3 Ore Running 8.4 Magic Mining 8.5 Busy world versus empty world 8.6 Wield the pickaxe 8.7 Wear light items 8.8 Wear Varrock armour and Amulet of Glory 8.9 Wilderness mine tips 8.10 Switch worlds 8.11 PvP Worlds 9 Training 10 Temporary boosts 11 Special Mining Areas 12 Trivia 13 See also

Development HistoryEdit

Mining was one of the skills available at RuneScape's launch on 4 January 2001. In the beginning, there was only one kind of pickaxe, just called Pickaxe. It was not until 2003 that metal pickaxes were added to the game. With the large graphical update in 2004, random events were added. These included the Rock Golem, pickaxe heads falling off, and broken pickaxes. In 2006 players began to mine Granite in the quarry, some of the fastest mining experience in the game. In late 2009, the long-awaited dragon pickaxe was released as a drop from chaos dwogres, Chaos dwarf hand cannoneer, and Chaos dwarfs (only on battlefield). All of which are located on the Chaos Dwarf Battlefield. .

How to MineEdit

To mine, players need a pickaxe (the better the pickaxe and your mining level the quicker it is to mine the ores) that they have the required Mining level to mine with. Players should then choose where to mine, taking into consideration the proximity to a bank, and what ores are available. Players only need to left-click once on any rock containing ore to mine it (provided they have the level needed for that ore type). Players can discover which ore is in a rock by right-clicking and selecting Prospect (with or without a pickaxe). Experienced miners do not need to prospect every rock, as they recognise the colour of the rock and know the ore it contains. The obtained ores, gems, and essence can then be sold for profit, or used by the player for the Smithing, Crafting, and Runecrafting skills.
Luck will play a certain factor in how quickly ores are obtained from mining. While the player's Mining level and the type of pickaxe that they use have an influence, there remains a certain randomness that determines when the ore is finally mined. When two players of different levels both attempt to mine the same rock, it is unlikely for the lower-levelled player to get the ore. However, while the player's Mining level certainly affects the outcome, its influence has not yet been proven. Some players believe that they can get ores faster by repeatedly left-clicking on the rock until they get an ore because by clicking a rock, it will "reset the 'luck' timer" so players will just have to click until they get an ore in one strike of their pickaxe. However, this is unproven and has not been confirmed by Jagex but is now removed from the game due to the advisor update.

Pickaxes

The pickaxes used in mining can be equipped like a weapon, giving players one more space in their inventory. A player's Mining level determines the type of pickaxe they can mine with (while their Attack level determines whether they can wield it and thus save that inventory space). As with all weapons, as the pickaxe type progresses, so too does its effectiveness both as a weapon and in its ability to mine faster. Pickaxes are sold by Nurmof in the Dwarven Mines, Tati in Keldagrim, Bob in Lumbridge (bronze only), or at the Grand Exchange. Furthermore, pickaxes can be forged at the appropriate Smithing level for members who have completed the Perils of Ice Mountain quest.