Guides: Mining

By Gogtenk

Mining. Complete Source of the UO Economy. Without it, Tinkers would not be able to get Ingots to make tools for the other crafters, who make products that the people who don't craft use. Mining is a simple skill- Simply double click on a Pickaxe/Shovel, then target the side of a hill, or the ground of a cave. You can have one of three outcomes when you mine:

1. Mine the ore successfully
2. Unsucsessfully mine the ore
3. Lose the mined ore due to your backpack being full.

There are several types of ore, which are harder to mine as they go up progressively, and harder to work as a Smith.
 

• Iron- Grey, usual type of ore used for training.
• Dull Copper- Light, light brown.
• Shadow Iron- Near Black.
• Copper-Brown.
• Bronze- Very deep brown.
• Gold- Darkish yellow shade.
• Agapite -Pink.
• Verite- Darkish Green.
• Valourite- Bluish Grey.
• Obsidian- The blackest of black. Easily gotten by killing an Obsidian Elemental in the Orc Cave.
• Crystal- Lovely very light bluish-green. It's Rarely mined, but it's much easier to get from the Crystal Elemental spawn near the Treefellows/Solens area outside of Lakeshire. Heck, your crafter can gather it- Just lure one to the Treefellows and take the ore.
• Cobalt- A Deep, wonderful blue, with a little bit of red. Rarely, Rarely mined but best earned by doing the quest in the Alchemists shop in Lakeshire.
• Coal- Deep Black, Incredible ore, only gotten at Christmas (I think)

Raising mining skills can be done in the following ways-

1. Fighting a Militia with a pickaxe equipped (Or anything, but Militias are the best)
2. Mining, of course!
3. Soulstoning.
4. Equipping gloves of mining (Rewards from Smith BODs).

Two good mining spots I'd recommend are the Mushroom Cave, a cave nearby the Shrine of Spirituality, and the Orc Cave. (Warning! The Orc cave contains Orcs, Elementals, an Orc Brute, and even Ilshenar's only pair of breeding dragons if you get deep enough!)

Other ways to get Ingots other then Mining are:

1. Killing ore elementals- 25 Ore on the corpse, which when smelted gives 50 Ingots!
2. Buying from Other players.
3. Smelting down crafted things.
4. Buying from the vendors in Buccaneer's Den - although they only sell iron

Stone
Stone is a Commodity, which along with ore is mineable. It is obtained in three ways- By

1. Reading the the book "How to Mine Quality Stone" and then clicking on your tool, choosing to mine stone. Then mine!
2. Stone Gargoyles yield 25 stone on their Corpses. Stone is used by Masons.
3. The Buccaneer's Den vendors sell plain stone in bulk

100+ Mining

Mining powerscrolls are not obtained by doing Champion Spawns like usual- They are acquired by killing Ore Elemental Lords, and on the corpse, in the Skeleton of a Miner. If it's a Skilled Miner skeleton, then Congratulations! You've got a mining powerscroll. Two Ore Elemental locations I know of are:

1. Following the path down and out of Lakeshire eventually will lead to an Ore Elemental Lord.
2. Another is in the Orc Cave west of Lakeshire. (Be Warned! The Ore Elemental lords have devastating Strength! Lacking Armour, they can do 50-65 damage!)

 Mining is a skill that is good for almost every crafter. It works with 2 near-vital skills, Tinkering & Smithing! Tinkering can help make tools your crafter can utilize, and Smithing is very important, as it can let you make all sorts of types of Armour and Weapons from your hard-earned ingots. Mining is also very useful when you do BODs, since some require things of different material (Valourite, Obsidian, ETC.)

Tools

There are 5 different mining tools:

1. Pickaxe. Standard Mining Tool. Somewhat heavy.
2. Sturdy Pickaxe. Normal Pickaxe basically, but with a grey handle and nearly about 3 times the uses!
3. Gargoyles Pickaxe. Increases your grade of ore mined by one level, but runs the risk of spawning an Ore Elemental! (Good if you can fight well with your crafter, as you can get a lot of ore quick by simply spawning elementals.)
4. Shovel. A Pickaxe, but lighter, and cannot be used as a weapon.
5. Sturdy Shovel. A Sturdy Pickaxe, but lighter (and again, not a weapon).

A helpful tool called a Prospectors tool will increase the grade of ore in a Mining spot 'till it's mined out. Hope this guide helped! Happy mining!