But we’re going to go over a few other areas, like the South-East Varrock Mine, in case the guild is crowded – or if you just lack the requirements for it. Iron is a low-tier mineral that requires level 15 in Mining and any kind of pickaxe in order to be mined. Not only is iron widely traded among free players and members alike thanks to its general usefulness as a resource (can be used in iron and steel smithing), it’s also one of the best methods for training the mining skill, due to how fast it can be mined from a rock.
Best F2P Spot for Iron Mining
Starting things off, if you’re a free player who wants to mine and then store their iron ores, the Mining Guild in Falador houses the nearest spot to a bank. Unfortunately, the guild is a prestigious area, so only players with at least 60 Mining can access these rocks. If you lack the level for the guild, the next best spot is the South-East Varrock Mine. This place has no requirements at all, so you can start your iron excavations as soon as you hit 15 Mining!
Best P2P Spot for Iron Mining
While the statement about the Mining Guild being the best members iron-mining spot is true, it’s not exactly the same place as the one we already covered for free players. You see, members have access to the south part of the guild, which not only has a wider variety of ores and rocks to mine from, but a bank as well! Additionally, all players inside this part of the guild receive a +7 invisible boost to their Mining level, making all activities easier. Unidentified minerals can also be found while mining any of the available rocks, which can be traded to Belona in exchange for various goodies, like mining gloves. Again, if 60 Mining is outside of your reach right now, the next best place to get yourself some iron is the Kandarin Monastery. This method requires the combined use of an ardougne cloak (which is very easy and fast to get), and a ring of dueling (or any other cheap teleport close to a bank). You can freely teleport to the monastery using the cloak, mine the nearby iron rocks, and then use your ring to teleport to and bank at Castle Wars. Rinse and repeat! The money you’ll get from half an inventory of iron should be more than enough to pay for another ring.
Power-Mining & Power-Tools
As we mentioned earlier, mining iron is an extremely popular training method, all because of Power-Mining. Power-Mining is when instead of banking or storing your mined ores for a later use, you drop them on the ground to continue mining without breaks, all in favor of higher experience per hour rates. Should you wish to try it out, just head over to any spot that has 3 rocks next to each other (placed in a way that they’re all surrounding you and no movement is required) and start mining! Just make sure to enable shift-click drop in the game’s settings. As a general rule, you should always be using the best pickaxe available to you. With that said, take in mind that iron is such a low level ore that the difference between using a rune and a dragon or crystal pickaxe might as well be unnoticable. Lastly, here’s a list of a few other equipment that might be useful while mining iron:
The Prospector Outfit from motherload mine increases experience gained by up to 2.5%. An equipped Amulet of Glory with at least 1 charge remaining significantly increases the chance of finding a gem. The Varrock Armour (any tier) gives you a 10% chance of getting an extra ore, while the mining skillcape functions similarly with a 5% chance instead. Lastly, the Celestial Signet gives the wearer an invisible +4 boost to their mining level. Additionally, if it’s charged, it gives a 10% chance for an extra ore.
