Top 5 OSRS Best Places To Mine Iron

Updated:

05 Mar 2019

This skill is too slow! How can I gain more mining experience?

Tink. Tink. Tink. Tink. If you’ve played Oldschool Runescape, you know what mining sounds like. With all of the skills that the game has to offer, it is easy to overlook some of them. Mining has slow experience rates and doesn’t make much money. That makes it one such skill.

Hitting a rock repeatedly can definitely get monotonous, but there is definitely good reason to train mining. And if you’re one of those people who has been putting off your mining grind, I’m here to help you with that.

Once you begin leveling up this skill, you’ll see the many benefits to mining. One is the amount of gold that you can make from it once you reach higher levels. Motherload mine is a relaxing way to make some income on your account if you are looking for a somewhat AFK option. You might also like mining rune ore for a potential profit of more than 600k an hour. Everyone could use a little more money on their account, right? PVM isn’t the only way to get it!

Maybe your goal is to be able to wear that fancy quest cape you have in your bank that has been unwieldable ever since Dragon Slayer II came out. Or you’re new to Oldschool and have a lot of quests to complete. Mining is necessary here as well due to the high requirements for some quests. Some noteworthy ones: 60 mining for Lunar Diplomacy, 68 Mining for Dragon Slayer II, and 72 mining for Making Friends with My Arm.

So now that you know mining has its uses, how can you get through those low, slow experience levels? The answer? Mining iron. It offers one of the fastest methods to gain experience with very few requirements. With a high level, it is possible to gain over 60k experience an hour from iron. You only need a level of 15 mining to begin gathering it It continues to be one of the fastest methods for experience all the way to 99.

Before you start mining iron, there are a few items that make it more efficient.

Amulet of Glory: Changes the chance of finding a gemrock while mining from 1/256 to 1/86, resulting in extra profit.
Dragon pickaxe: Along with it being the highest-tier pickaxe, it’s special attack gives a temporary +3 mining boost (60 attack required).
Prospector’s outfit: Wearing the full set (hat, jacket, legs, boots) gives 2.5% more experience while mining.
Varrock Armor 1: If worn while mining there is a 10% of receiving 2 ores from one rock, which results in more profit and experience. If you have completed Varrock Elite diary, it doubles as a Prospector’s Jacket.

So now that you have everything prepared for the most efficient mining, you need to know the best locations to train at.

5. Rimmington Mine

No F2P player is left behind when it comes to mining experience. The Rimmington mine is open to all.

We’ve all been in the overcrowded mines around Varrock in F2P and know how hard it is to find your own rock. You may think, “I’ll just go to Al Karid mine.” Seems like a great idea… until you find yourself spawning in Lumbridge due to a brutal death from scorpions the size of cows. Of course, there are many more options for P2P players, but that does not mean you should give up on mining if you are not a member.

There is a very large mine in the northern section of Rimmington that is filled with an array of different rocks. It’s safe from bloodthirsty NPCs and usually less crowded. This makes it the perfect place for non-members to train at. Lucky for you, there are two iron rocks next to each other, making this the perfect place to mine iron. This means you can mine the two back and forth, without having to move your character. Chip away those rocks to your heart’s content.

It is most well-suited for power mining because it’s far away from a bank, but if you wish to bank your iron ore you should teleport to Falador after a full inventory and walk south to reach the mine again.

How to:

Stand between the two iron rocks south of the wheelbarrow
Mine both rocks
Use the time waiting for them to respawn to drop the ore you just mined
Repeat

Watch this guide:

The Best F2P Iron Mining Location.

4. East of Ardougne

Don't mind the local bears. They're just strolling through the Ardougne mine.

This next location is a popular method for power mining, due to the fact that it has little requirements. It is a members only area, and once you find your way to this side of the Runescape map there is nothing stopping you from using it. It is located in Ardougne, the domain of King Lathas, and he is gracious enough to allow humble miners from across the lands to use the mine east of Ardougne (near the Legend’s Guild). Although, if you are a low level, a few level 19 bears terrorize this section of the map. So watch out for those.

What makes this location viable is the three iron rocks in a triangle formation. This is optimal for power mining. You can stand in the middle and make your way around, mining each one in a circle formation. You will never have to move from the same spot to reach all three rocks. By the time you mine all three the first one has respawned meaning there is no downtime. The closest bank for this location is in Ardougne, but it is recommended to drop the ore for faster experience.

How to:

Bring Ardougne teleport tablets if you wish to bank (not recommended )
Stand in the middle of the three rocks (as shown in picture)
Start on one side and mine the rocks in a circle
(If not banking) Drop all the ore when your inventory is full and start over
(If banking) Teleport to Ardougne, bank your ore and run back to the mine

How to get to this location from Ardougne:

How to get to the mine from Ardougne.

3. Ardougne Monastery

Friends of our Lord and Savior, Saradomin, are friends to all. Freely use the Ardougne monastery mine.

Maybe you’re beginning to think, “I thought you said I’d make money.” Well, don’t worry. I didn’t forget about you. For ironmen that need a supply of iron or mains that want to bank the ore instead of dropping it, I have just the location. The Ardougne Monastery is a church located between Ardougne and the Fight Arena, with different ores scattered all around it. These god-fearing monks are happy to serve and give back to the community, so there are no requirements to mine here.

This location may seem too far away from a bank to be useful, but once you complete the Ardougne easy diary its viability opens up. The Ardougne Cloak 1 gives you unlimited teleports to the Monastery, and luckily, it is simple to complete with no difficult requirements Just spend a few minutes completing the tasks within Ardougne and then forever reap the benefits of an Ardougne cloak.

How to:

Equip the Ardougne cloak and a dueling ring
Use cloak to teleport to the monastery
Walk north until you reach the iron ore
Mine a full inventory
Use dueling ring to teleport to Castle Wars
Bank and repeat

Here's a video on how to do it:

Ardougne monastery mining for gold and experience.

2. Wilderness Resource Area

Watch your back while you mine iron here; you're in no man's land (aka the wilderness).

So maybe you want a method that holds a little suspense. A little spookiness. You’re an adrenaline junkie, I see. The Wilderness Resource Area combines the quickest experience with gold income, all while keeping you on your toes. So what makes this mine worth it if you have to be in fear for your life? The southern side of the area has a triangle formation of rocks, giving you the fastest mining. From here, it may seem that you would have to drop the ore, but that is not the case.

Once you fill up your inventory, the NPC Piles will turn them into bank notes for you. This means that as long as you have money, you can stay in the resource area for as long as you wish. Just remember, you will need gold to get into the resource area and to note your ore, but the dangers of the wilderness still stand.

It is up to you how much gold you wish to bring and how much iron ore you wish to stack up before banking. Play it safe and sacrifice some time by banking a lot, or be the adrenaline junkie you are and rack up the money. Just hope you don’t run into any PKers.

How to:

Pay to get inside the Wilderness Resource Area (remember to bring a knife to slash the web when you want to return to a bank)
Go to the south of the area and stand between 3 iron ore (as shown in picture)
Start on one side and mine the rocks in a circle
Once your inventory is full, use the iron ore on Pile to receive a banknote
repeat

Here’s a guide on how to do it:

Wilderness Resource Area mining

1. Mining Guild

You'll know that paying a visit to these friendly dwarves is worth your time when you see all the perks the mining guild has to offer.

Now for the location that gives you the best of both worlds. It has the triangle formation iron rocks. It has a bank nearby. You don’t have to risk your life to use it. And it is…? The mining guild! (Surprise. Surprise.) This option is going to give you the fastest experience rates and the quickest money, although it does have more requirements to reach. You will need 60 mining before you can begin using the mining guild.

Outside of quick ore and quick experience, there are other benefits to mining here. First, there is a wide array of almost every type of ore in the game found within the mining guild. If the boredom sets in and you want to switch up your strategy, you won’t even need to leave the guild to find something new to mine.

The reason this makes for the fastest iron mining possible is because you receive an invisible +7 boost to your mining level while in the guild. Awesome, right? Lastly, you receive unidentified minerals while mining within the P2P area of the mining guild. These can be used to purchase different levels of mining gloves, which give the additional buff of not depleting some types of ores while mining.

How to:

Make your way to the iron deposits to the north (near the bank)
Stand in the middle of the three rocks (as shown in picture)
Start on one side and mine the rocks in a circle
When your inventory is full, bank your ore
Repeat

Here’s some information on the mining guild:

Mining guild expansion and all of its perks.

Whether your goals are to meet those pesky quest requirements or you are trying to fund your account, there is a reason to train mining. And fortunately, any player, whether you are experienced or new, can find a location to gather iron. All you have to do is decide if you want the fastest experience rates, by powermining, or if you want to make some profit, by banking your ore. From there, there is no shortage of locations to gather iron and you will begin to meet your goals. When the experience comes rolling in, that melodic tink, tink, tink will be music to your ears.