OSRS Motherlode Mine Guide | AFK Mining Experience

This OSRS Motherlode Mine Guide features everything you need to know to start training mining at the Motherlode mine.

This article is part of our OSRS 1-99 Mining Guide.

Why train mining at the motherlode mine?

The Motherlode Mine is a beloved activity in OSRS because it turns the otherwise click-intensive mining training method into an AFK activity. Furthermore, the motherlode mine comes with a nice set of rewards that can make other skilling activities easier!

In other words, the Motherlode Mine is a Quality of Life update that was brought to OSRS. If you need to train mining, you 100% should come here at least once to see what it’s like over other mining training methods.

Motherlode mine requirements

The only requirement for the Motherlode Mine is to have 30 Mining.

How to get to the Motherlode Mine

The motherlode mine is located underneath Falador. The fastest way to get here is to teleport to the Mining Guild via Skills Necklace.

Alternatively, you can teleport to Falador, run towards the Falador Party Room, take the staircase down, and then enter the cave with the dwarf in front of it.

Here’s what the entrance to the motherlode mine looks like:

How the motherlode mine works

The motherlode mine is very straightforward.

First, you mine pay-dirt from the ore veins scattered around the motherlode mine.

Then you deposit your pay-dirt into the hopper in the center.

The water circuit will then clean your pay-dirt and store ores in the ore sack at the end.

Claim your ores from the ore sack, and deposit them into your bank via the bank deposit box.

Rinse and repeat!

Motherlode mine map

Here’s a useful map of the motherlode mine.

As you can see, the entire lower level of the Motherlode Mine is covered in ore veins that can be mined.

The main area is located in the center where you can deposit pay dirt, collect ore and bank them using the bank deposit box.

Players with 72 Mining can unlock access to the Upper Level where pay-dirt can be mined more AFK and closer to the main area.

Random Events

There are two random events that happen at the motherlode mine:

• Rocks falling down
• And the wheels of the water circuit sometimes breaks

Rock falls

Sometimes, rocks will fall down and cause an obstacle. When this happens, you will have to mine them away with your pickaxe to get where you need to be. If a rock falls down as you run underneath, you will take some damage from it.

Wheel breaks

Sometimes the wheels of the water circuit break, requiring them to be fixed with a hammer. When the wheel is broken, the pay-dirt will not reach the ore sack. Repairing the wheel is optional, as other players are always there to do it for you as well.

Efficient Motherlode Mine Strategy

To make this activity as AFK as possible, you shouldn’t be banking after every trip. Instead, you should deposit 3 inventories of pay-dirt before emptying the sack at the water circuit and banking your ore.

Here’s how this works:

1. First, mine a full inventory of pay-dirt from the ore veins scattered around the Motherlode mine
2. Then deposit them in the hopper located in the main area
3. Repeat until you have deposited 3 inventories of pay-dirt
4. Then run between the ore sack and the bank deposit box until you have no ore left in the sack
5. And repeat!

Using this strategy, you will get the best exp rates while AFK mining.

Mining EXP per hour

Experience rates at the Motherlode Mine depend on your current mining level.

At level 30 mining, you will gain about 13k experience per hour. This goes up all the way to 45k mining experience per hour at level 90 mining.

Mining Level	Mining EXP/hr
30	13k EXP/hr
40	15k EXP/hr
50	22k EXP/hr
60	30k EXP/hr
70	35k EXP/hr
80	40k EXP/hr
90	45k EXP/hr
99	50k EXP/hr

profit per hour

You also make some money at the motherlode mine since you get ores from mining the pay dirt. The ores that you get, depend on your mining level.

At level 30 mining, you only receive coal from the motherlode mine. At level 40, you unlock gold ore. Then at level 55 you unlock mithril ore. Next, you unlock Adamantite at level 70 and finally Runite at level 85 mining.

Another factor in how much profit you make is the amount of pay-dirt you mine per hour. The higher your mining level, the faster you mine them of course.

Here’s a chart with the expected profit per hour at the Motherlode mine:

Mining Level	Mining Profit/hr
30	30k GP/hr
40	40k GP/hr
50	60k GP/hr
60	80k GP/hr
70	110k GP/hr
80	150k GP/hr
90	350k GP/hr
99	500k GP/hr

Motherlode Rewards

Every now and then, you will get Golden Nuggets from the Ore sack. These Golden Nuggets can be used as currency when trading with Prospector Percy next to the bank chest.

On average, you will get around 10 golden nuggets per hour.

Here’s the Motherlode Mine Reward Shop:

Furthermore, players also need to save up 100 golden nuggets to unlock the upper level of the Motherlode mine.

The recommend unlock strategy is to unlock level 72 first, then start working toward the prospector outfit. If you plan on training smithing at the Blast Furnace, consider getting the coal bag before unlocking the prospector outfit.

Prospector outfit

The full prospector outfit gives a 2.5% mining experience boost thanks to a set effect. In total, you will need 180 golden nuggets for the full prospector outfit which will take around 18 hours to obtain at a rate of 10 golden nuggets per hour.

Wrap up

Hopefully, this OSRS Motherlode Mine Guide got you excited to train mining again with this AFK activity! I highly recommend that you check it out. It might not be the best experience per hour, but it is much more relaxed than other ways of training the mining skill.

For more mining methods, check out ourOSRS 1-99 Mining Guide.