Volcanic Mine (2024)

This is a dangerous activity with a deathbank. On death, Hardcore Ironmen will lose their status. Unprotected items will be moved to the deathbank near the activity. Any unsafe death will delete all items left inside the deathbank. Items left on the ground will always be lost.

Volcanic Mine
Released		7 September 2017 (Update)
Type		Minigame
Members		Yes
Location		Fossil Island Volcano
Participants		1-50
Skills		Mining
Reward currency		Points
Tutorial		No
Music		Lava is Mine
Location

The Volcanic Mine is a large volcanic chamber found underneath the Fossil Island Volcano. The mine entrance is located in the north-east corner of the volcano, with Petrified Pete guarding its entrance. Players can participate in the eponymously named minigame inside the mine.

To enter the mine, players must have level 50 Mining. In addition, players must pay Petrified Pete 30 numulite each time to enter the mine. A one-time fee of 3,000 numulite can also be paid for permanent access.

Official world[edit | edit source]

The following official world is assigned to the Volcanic Mine:

World	Location	Members	Activity
323	United States (west)		Volcanic Mine

Gameplay[edit | edit source]

Lobby[edit | edit source]

Petrified Pete guards the mine entrance. There is a Fossil Storage for players to store fossils obtained in the mine and a bank chest which players can use to prepare and bank rewards. The bank chest is also very close to the volcanic mine teleport location, but due to the point cost of the tablet, it's recommended to use a different bank if simply looking for one close to a teleport.

Preparation[edit | edit source]

Players who enter the volcanic mine are automatically given a heat-proof vessel. Players have 30 seconds to prepare upon entering the mine, after which the volcano will rumble, signaling the start of the game. Once the game starts, players have ten minutes to mine the boulder and leave. After 10 minutes have elapsed, the volcano will erupt and anyone still in the volcano will die.

Boulder[edit | edit source]

The primary goal of the minigame is to mine the large boulder in the lava channel. This boulder becomes smaller as it is mined and will move downstream. Players must follow it and mine it where it stops.

While mining the boulder, players will obtain ore fragments. These ore fragments grant mining experience as they are mined and are given to Petrified Pete at the end of the minigame in exchange for additional mining experience and reward points. As the boulder gets smaller, fragments become more common, increasing the number of points and experience obtained. In addition, players may obtain calcite, pyrophosphite, numulite, and unidentified fossils alongside ore fragments. Players can receive the rock golem pet while mining the boulder.

Ore fragment		Mining level to obtain	Points	Experience
Part of the boulder		50	1	5
	Iron ore fragment	50	15	10
	Silver ore fragment	50	20	20
	Coal fragment	50	25	30
	Gold ore fragment	50	34	40
	Mithril ore fragment	55	44	60
	Adamantite ore fragment	70	55	100
	Runite ore fragment	85	70	150

If fewer than ten players are participating, one boulder will spawn in the central channel. If there are ten or more players, another boulder will spawn in the western channel. If twenty or more are present, a third boulder will spawn in the eastern channel.

Upon entering the lower level of the mine, lava beasts will begin to appear and attack players. Pray Protect from Missiles to reduce their max hit to 1.

To move around the lower level, players must harden the lava by pouring water on it from the heat-proof vessel. This canteen has 35 uses per game (70 if the player has unlocked the larger capacity for 10,000 points), so don't run out. Water can only be thrown while the player is facing north, east, south, or west. The canteen can be right-clicked to open a dialogue box to throw water in a selected direction or worn to throw water through the equipment right-click menu. Lava hardened by the vessel will melt away after 90 seconds, giving players limited time to stand. The hardened lava will turn orange to indicate that it is closer to melting and bright white as it is about to melt away completely. If a player remains on the hardened lava when it melts, they will fall into the lava resulting in large damage taken and moving downstream.

Mine stability[edit | edit source]

Throughout the duration of the minigame, volcanic gas will flow into the mine through three volcanic chambers. Players can block the gas chambers with a large rock to increase gas pressure, or remove the large rock to decrease gas pressure. The pressure of each chamber should be kept around 40-60%, or else the volcano will become unstable.

The gas levels present within the mine affect the mine stability. As mine stability drops, meteorites and earthquakes will occur more frequently and players will take increased damage. If mine stability reaches 0%, the volcano will erupt instantly killing any players in the mine.

Players must check the volcanic vents to determine how much volcanic gas is flowing into the mine. Once a vent is investigated, the gas pressure of the corresponding gas chamber will be revealed to all players on the overlay at the bottom right of the screen. After 5 minutes have passed, the mine will shift. This randomizes the pressure of each gas chamber and players will need to investigate the vents again to reveal the gas pressure of each chamber.

Notably, there are two sets of vents for each chamber, with one set on the downstream and upstream sides of the lava channels. The gas chambers are marked on the minigame overlay as A, B, and C.

Gas holes[edit | edit source]

There are several gas holes scattered throughout the volcanic mine. Players can "feel" them, upon which they are shot to the other side of the lava channel. Although this causes a small amount of damage, using the gas holes can be useful as they provide a shortcut for players low on water.

Eruption[edit | edit source]

Should players manage to completely mine the boulder, it will fall into the lava vortex and all players will earn an additional 100 points.

At the end of the 10 minute timer, or if the mine stability reaches 0%, the volcano will erupt and instantly kill anyone who remains inside the mine. Thus, it is recommended to run for the exit when there are 30–40 seconds remaining.

Should the player die, Petrified Pete will collect the player's lost items and return them for a fee of 150 numulite. If the player lost numulite when they died, Pete can use them to pay for the fee. Like other item retrieval services such as those at Zulrah and Vorkath, Pete will lose all items he was holding for the player if they die anywhere before retrieving them.

Strategy[edit | edit source]

"Fixing" refers to blocking or unblocking a chamber so that the pressure goes closer to 50%. For example, if the pressure is at 30% and the chamber is unblocked (pressure going down), the player should block the chamber in order to fix it.

"Capping" refers to blocking and unblocking a chamber for points. Each action gives 50 points, and the point limit for capping is 300 per player. Players who are doing A or B/C roles should do this at the start of a game, other players can do this in between the 4th and the last boulder, or in the end of the game.

If the percentage is dropping too low (below ~30%), block the chamber. If it's rising too high (above ~70%), unblock.

Tip: Regardless of strategy, mining the boulder at the final stage is a large portion of a players' points. The boulder will degrade much faster if not everyone who entered the game is mining it — therefore you should ensure everyone is mining it at the same time. If someone falls into the lava while mining it, make a path to the north-east platform so they can quickly return.

As the mine scales to the number of players, it negatively affects the rest of the team if a player dies, disconnects, or logs out. It is considered good etiquette to only start a game if you are confident you can finish it and to inform others in advance when you are leaving so that reassigning roles or finding replacements is easier.

If using a dragon pickaxe special attack, it is the most effective at the start of the second and final part. It has no effect past 99 Mining.

Inventory and equipment[edit | edit source]

A good equipment setup consists of the full prospector kit for the 2.5% extra Mining XP, whilst maximizing prayer bonus for Protect from Missiles.

Slot	Item (most effective → least effective)
	Prospector helmet	Sunfire fanatic helm	Mitre	Proselyte sallet	N/A
	Dragonbone necklace / Bonecrusher necklace	Stole	Holy symbol / Unholy symbol	Amulet of fury	Amulet of glory
	Max cape	Hitpoints cape(t)	Soul cape	Ardougne cloak 4	Ardougne cloak 3
	Prospector jacket / Varrock armour 4	Sunfire fanatic cuirass	Proselyte hauberk	Monk's robe top	N/A
	Prospector legs	Sunfire fanatic chausses	Proselyte cuisse / Proselyte tasset	Monk's robe	N/A
	Crozier / Void knight mace	Wolfbane / Dragon mace / Blisterwood flail	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Falador shield 4 / 3	Elysian spirit shield	God book / Broodoo shield	Damaged book	N/A
	Ghommal's lucky penny	Rada's blessing 4	God blessing / Rada's blessing 3 / 2	N/A	N/A
	Regen bracelet	Holy wraps	Tormented bracelet	Blessed vambraces / White gloves	N/A
	Prospector boots	Devout boots	Holy sandals	Guardian boots	N/A
	Celestial signet / Elven signet (if using crystal pickaxe)	Ring of the gods (i)	Ring of suffering (i)	Ring of shadows	Explorer's ring 4 / 3 / 2 / 1

Your inventory per game should consist of the following:

• 12-16 pieces of food (monkfish or better recommended)
• 1 prayer potion (not needed if the player has 91+ Prayer and 30+ prayer bonus)
• A pickaxe
• Stamina potion (if solo)
• Numulite (not needed if the player has permanent access)
• Desert amulet 4 or Teleport to house tablets/Construction cape (if the player has an ornate rejuvenation pool in their POH)
• Volcanic mine teleports

Rewards[edit | edit source]

Should the player leave the mine alive via the rope exit, they will gain participation points based on their performance in the minigame. Ore fragments obtained will automatically be given to Petrified Pete, who in return will grant the player a chunk of Mining experience and reward points that can be spent his Ore Shop. Calcite, pyrophosphite, fossils and numulite earned from mining the rock will be kept. At the end of each game, Pete grants 3.8 Mining experience for each point earned (3.895 with the prospector kit bonus). Including the experience earned during the game, approximately 5.5 Mining experience is earned per point. Players who die or teleport out will have their fragments disintegrate into nothing and will not receive any points or bonus experience.

The experience rates scale per level. At 50 Mining, the expected maximum is approximately 40,000 experience per hour (around 7200 points) and at 99 Mining, players can expect to get upwards of 85,000–95,000 experience per hour (around 15,400-17,200 points) with well-coordinated gameplay. This scaling is not entirely linear, as it is affected by the quality of the ore fragments mined, with the highest being runite unlocked at level 85.

Level	XP/h	XP/h	XP/h
70	64,200	68,000	N/A
75	65,200	69,000	75,000
80	68,000	72,000	81,000
85	71,800	76,000	86,000
90	74,700	79,000	90,000
95	76,500	81,000	91,000
99	79,300	84,000	94,000

The maximum amount of points that the player can have is 2,097,151. A warning message will be given when nearing the points cap. Runite ore typically gives the most value per point and each point has a maximum value of 12.85 at current GE prices.Volcanic ash is also somewhat valuable and useful for Ironmen.

Music[edit | edit source]

Changes[edit | edit source]

v•e Solo and Group Activities
Minigames	Player versus Monster Barbarian Assault Inferno Mage Arena Nightmare Zone Pest Control Tackle organised crime TzHaar Fight Cave TzHaar-Ket-Rak's Challenges Fortis Colosseum Player versus Player Bounty Hunter Castle Wars Clan Wars Emir's Arena Soul Wars TzHaar Fight Pit Last Man Standing Skilling Brimhaven Agility Arena Fishing Trawler Giants' Foundry Gnome Ball Gnome Restaurant Guardians of the Rift Hallowed Sepulchre Impetuous Impulses Mage Training Arena Mahogany Homes Pyramid Plunder Ranging Guild Rogues' Den Sorceress's Garden Stealing artefacts The Mess Tithe Farm Trouble Brewing Volcanic Mine Combat & Skilling Shades of Mort'ton Tai Bwo Wannai Cleanup The Gauntlet Warriors' Guild Miscellaneous Burthorpe Games Room (Games Zone) Rat Pits Tears of Guthix
Raids	Chambers of Xeric Theatre of Blood Tombs of Amascut
Distractions and Diversions	Champions' Challenge Shooting Stars Treasure Trails
Other	Blast mine Camdozaal Vault Chompy bird hunting Creature Creation Dorgesh-Kaan market trading Keldagrim tasks Managing Miscellania Shayzien Combat Ring Stealing valuables Underwater Agility and Thieving Wise Old Man tasks