Gold is a medium-tier ore that can be mined starting at level 40 in Mining with any kind of pickaxe. Even though the ore itself and its byproducts are used very commonly for training Smithing and Crafting, the act of mining the ore itself is somewhat unpopular, due to the unremarkable experience and money-making rates. Additionally, because of ore’s slow respawn time, players will probably have to world-hop quite frequently to avoid idle time.
Best F2P Gold Mining Spots
Since we’re going to want to bank our gold, the best place to do that after mining a full inventory is the Crafting Guild. Here you can find many gold rocks, and a deposit box within walking distance. Unfortunately, not everything comes as easy as it seems. In order for someone to use the bank/deposit box, they’ll need to either have 99 Crafting, or have completed the hard Falador Achievement Diary (this option is members only) For the vast majority of free players that lack the aforementioned outrageous requirements, the Rimmington mine that’s just a hop, skip, and a jump away is a great alternative. There’s only a couple of gold rocks here, so you’ll have to shift through a total of fourteen worlds, before heading east to Port Sarim, depositing your ores near the Entrana monks, and coming back for round two.
Best P2P Gold Mining Spots
We’ve already talked about the Crafting Guild and all it entails, so I’m going to go ahead and skip that and go over two other locations instead. The first area of note is the Trahaearn mine below the elven city of Prifddinas. There are plenty of gold (and a wide variety of other) rocks here, and all your ores can be deposited in the mine cart wedged in the south-east wall of the. Mining any rock inside this area has a chance to provide you with crystal shards, which are used in high-level, elven crafting recipes. This mine can be accessed after completing the grandmaster quest “Song of the Elves”. Our last location is Mor Ul Rek, the molten city of the Tzhaar. Just a little east of the fight caves’ entrance is a little mine of gold and silver. For members, this is the closest spot to a bank with zero requirements attached to it. Similarly to Rimmington, you’ll probably have to hop through a few worlds to fill up your inventory, but the bank is much closer!
Extra Tips for Mining
Rule number one of mining club: Don’t talk about mining club. Rule number two of mining club: Always use the best pickaxe available to you when mining mid to high level ores (such as gold). Jokes aside, mining has plenty of useful equipment that you might want to bring along during your sortie, so here are what I consider the most useful:
The Varrock Armour, Mining cape, and Celestial Signet (when charged) give a chance to mine an extra ore, ranging from 5% to 10%. In addition, the Celestial Signet also gives an invisible +4 boost to the mining skill. While wearing Mining Gloves there’s a 33% chance for the gold rock to not deplete after receiving an ore. A 2.5% boost in mining experience can be gained by wearing the full Prospector’s Outfit. Lastly, wearing a charged Amulet of Glory increases the chances of receiving a gem while mining by a significant margin.
