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Items kept on death
This is a dangerous minigame.
Only bring items you can adequately defend or items you are willing to lose.
The official world for Volcanic Mine is world 23 (P2P).

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.

To enter the mine, players must have level 50 in Mining, have earned at least 150[1] Kudos and have claimed the five unidentified small fossils from Peter after fully building the Museum Camp. In addition, players must pay Petrified Pete 30 numulites every time they wish to enter the mine.

Inventory and equipment[]

Prospector helmet
Hitpoints cape (t)
Dragonbone necklace
Holy blessing
Saradomin crozier
Prospector jacket
Elysian spirit shield
Prospector legs
Regen bracelet
Prospector boots
Ring of the gods (i)

A good equipment setup consists of a full prospector kit, while maximising prayer bonus.

Your inventory should consist of:

Gameplay[]

Once the game starts, players will have ten minutes inside. At the end of the 10 minute timer, the volcano will erupt, and anyone still in the volcano will die.

The boulder[]

The primary goal is to move a large boulder in the lava channel northward to the lava whirlpool at the end. This is accomplished by mining the boulder so that it is small enough to fit as the channel tightens downstream. Up to three boulders can spawn at the start of the mini-game depending on the number of players participating. If less than ten players are participating, one boulder will be available in the central channel. If there are more than ten players, another boulder is added at the western channel. If more than twenty are present, one more boulder is added at the eastern channel.

Upon entering the lower level, lava beasts will begin to appear and attack the player. Praying Protect from Missiles will reduce their max hit to 1. To move around in the volcanic mine, players are required to harden lava by pouring water from the heat-proof vessel that is given to them at the start of the minigame. 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, and west. Additionally, the water canteen can be right clicked to open a dialogue box to throw water in a certain direction without moving your character.

While mining the boulder, players must use the vessel to reach it when it becomes smaller. The lava hardened by the vessel will melt after 90 seconds, giving players limited time to stand on them. If players remain on the hardened lava when it melts, they will fall into the lava, taking massive damage.

While mining the boulder, players will obtain various ore fragments as it decreases in size, with different ores requiring different Mining levels to obtain. In addition, players may obtain calcite, pyrophosphite, numulite, and unidentified fossils alongside ore fragments.

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

Mine stability[]

Volcanic Mine gas vent

One of the gas vents in the mine

Volcanic Mine map

A map of the mine, displaying important locations the player should be familiar with.

After starting the game, gas will begin flowing through the three volcanic gas chambers into the volcano, marked on the minigame overlay as A, B, and C. There are two sets of vents for each chamber, with one set each on the downstream and upstream sides of the lava channels. These must be investigated for players to see the vent status.

Occasionally, earthquakes may strike the cavern, causing falling debris that damage players. This will occur less often if the mine stability is kept high. In addition, players must re-investigate the vents to see the vent status when there are five minutes remaining in the game.

Volcanic Mine gas chamber

The gas chamber, blocked by a large rock.

If the chamber is unblocked, pressure will drop over time. The pressure can be increased by taking a large rock nearby and using it on the chamber. If a chamber is blocked by a large rock, pressure will begin build up the blockage. To decrease the pressure, players must mine the blockage.

The pressure of each of the three chambers needs to be kept around 40-60%. If the pressure wanders out of that range, the volcano will begin to become unstable. If the mine stability reaches 0%, the volcano will erupt, killing everyone inside instantly; no bonus experience will be awarded if this occurs.

The end[]

Volcano collapsing in

The mine collapsing in due to the mine's stability being too low.

Should players manage to completely mine the boulder, it will flow into the lava vortex, granting players in the lower level 100 additional points.

At the end of the 10 minute timer, or if the mine stability becomes too low, the volcano will erupt and collapse in, instantly killing anyone who remains inside the mine. Thus, it is recommended to run for the exit when there is 30-40 seconds remaining.

Should the player die, Petrified Pete will return all lost items to the player, at a cost of 150 numulites.

Strategy[]

"Fixing" refers to blocking or unblocking a chamber so that the pressure goes to 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 in 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.

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

In teams consisting of three players, each player has a dedicated role. With very well coordinated teamplay, the team may finish the last boulder in time; however, in most cases, the players need to run to the exit before the last boulder has been finished.

A[]

Start at the western entrance. Go to the A chamber to the west, cap it once, and check the southern A vent. Cap A chamber until 250 or 300 points, leave it fixed, and head to the boulder. At start of the third boulder, fix A again if needed and head back to the boulder. After the third boulder has been mined, run north and use the gas hole to go to the eastern side of the central channel. Continue mining the boulder.

B check, C fix[]

Start at the eastern entrance. Check the southern B vent at the start and mine the boulder. Once the player with the B/C role has arrived to the boulder, head a little bit north and mine the boulder next to that player. At the five-minute mark, after C has been checked after the reset, fix C to the east if needed.

B fix, B/C check (B/C in short)[]

Start at the eastern entrance. Go north to the B chamber, cap it until 250 or 300 points, and leave it fixed. Head south and mine the boulder. At the third boulder and at 5:20 mark, run north to check the C vent followed by the B vent. Head back to the boulder, fix B on the way back if needed and continue mining the boulder.

In teams consisting of 4 or 5 players, four dedicated roles are needed. This strategy is also viable with teams consisting of up to seven people; however, having more than five is not optimal due to the decrease in experience rates and thus not recommended. Should the team have a fifth player, that player only needs to mine the boulder and cap the B chamber for extra points.

With sufficiently coordinated teamplay, the team should rarely have issues finishing the last boulder in time, and usually have spare time for capping the B chamber in the end.

A[]

Start at the western entrance. Go to the A chamber to the west, cap it once, and check the southern A vent. Cap A chamber until 250 or 300 points, leave it fixed, and head to the boulder. At start of the third boulder, fix A again if needed and head back to the boulder. After the third boulder has been mined, run north and use the gas hole to go to the eastern side of the central channel. Continue mining the boulder.

B check[]

Start at the western entrance. Check the southern B vent at the start and mine the boulder. After the third boulder has been mined, run north and use the gas hole to go to the eastern side of the central channel. Fix B if needed. Continue mining the boulder.

C fix[]

Start at the eastern entrance. Mine the boulder normally until the five-minute mark. After C has been checked after the reset, fix C to the east if needed. If C doesn't need to be fixed, fix B at the fourth boulder if needed.

B fix, B/C check (B/C in short)[]

Start at the eastern entrance. Go north to the B chamber, cap it until 250 or 300 points, and leave it fixed. Head south and mine the boulder. At the third boulder and at 5:20 mark, run north to check the C vent followed by the B vent. Head back to the boulder, fix B on the way back if needed and continue mining the boulder.

The player could take advantage of the "capping" strategy by starting at the eastern entrance, going north to the B chamber, taking the large rock, and continuing north and then west to check the B vent followed by the C vent respectively. Afterwards, the player needs to go back to the B chamber, take another rock, block the chamber, unblock the chamber (by mining the blockage), and repeat until 400 points, and then leave via the exit. This method can be repeated and is strongly recommended for ironmen and players who are unable to find a team.

Alternatively, if not using the "capping" strategy, the player has to check and fix two vents and chambers, namely B and A check fixing if needed. This requires a few more stamina potions since the player will be running around a lot, and the upgraded canteen is recommended.

B/A check, A/B fix[]

Start at the western entrance. Check the southern B vent at the start, and go west and then north along the path to the A vent. Fix A if needed. If B needs fixing, retrace the path, and run north from the B vent and use the gas hole to go to the eastern side of the central channel. Use the gas hole again, and follow the path to mine the boulder until the five-minute mark. At 5:00, recheck the vents, fix if needed, and continue mining the boulder.

Rewards[]

Should the player leave the mine alive (without teleporting), they will gain participation points based on their performance in the minigame. Ore fragments obtained will automatically be given to Petrified Pete, granting a chunk of Mining experience and points that can be spent in Petrified Pete's Ore Shop, which depends on the performance of the team. At the end of each game, Pete grants 3.895 Mining experience for each point earned.

The experience rates scale per level. At 99 Mining, the player can expect to get upwards of 85,000-90,000 experience per hour with well coordinated gameplay.

The maximum amount of points that the player can have is 65,535, so it is recommended that players spend their points before they reach the cap.

References[]

  1. The Old School Team. "Tale of the Righteous and Kourend Favour". 19 April 2018. Developers' Blogs. *

Trivia[]

  • On release, entering the Volcanic Mine required 180 Kudos. An update on 19 April 2018 changed the requirements to 150 Kudos and having built the Museum Camp.


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