Features
Mining ore veins
Players can mine the ore veins within the mine, which yield pay-dirt, gaining 60 Mining experience for each pay-dirt mined. On the lower level, veins have a 33% chance of depleting each time an ore is mined,[1] to a maximum of 26 pay-dirt per vein (though due to chance, it could be as little as 1). The veins also have a chance to give uncut gems, which, as with mining normal ore rocks, is increased by wearing an amulet of glory.
Players with level 72 Mining (cannot be boosted) may pay Prospector Percy a one-time fee of 100 golden nuggets to be granted permission to mine in the upper level of the mine, which is accessible via the ladder near the bank chest. It contains 64 additional ore veins that are very close to each other compared to the lower level. In addition, the veins disappear 15–27 seconds after they were first mined, rather than after an amount of ore has been mined from them.[2] This means that the upper level is more desirable to miners since players can mine the same veins without fear of crashing one another.
Cleaning
When finished mining, players can clean the pay-dirt by depositing it into the hopper at the water circuit. The player will be able to see their pay-dirt flowing toward the sack at the other end of the water circuit; note that if the player logs out or changes worlds before their pay-dirt reaches the sack, it is NOT lost.
After cleaning the pay-dirt, players can search the sack at the other end of the water circuit to collect ore. Players can receive ores that range from coal to runite, depending on their Mining level, with extra Mining experience being granted if the pay-dirt yields gold or higher ore. Ores are determined when the pay-dirt is mined, so a player can receive ore above their current level if they use a mining boost such as a dwarven stout or the dragon pickaxe's special attack while mining, NOT when cleaning.
The sack can hold up to 81 pay-dirt, or 162 if the player has purchased the sack upgrade from Prospector Percy for 200 golden nuggets. When this limit is reached, the player will get a message stating, "The sack is getting full." Once the sack is filled, players may no longer deposit pay-dirt in the hopper and must take some ore out of the sack before more can be deposited.
Note that if the sack is not full, it will always accept a load of pay-dirt from the player's inventory regardless of how many are already in the sack. Thus a player can have up to 108 pay-dirt if the player deposits an inventory of 28 pay-dirt when the sack is at 80 capacity. One strategy for this is to do two full inventories of 27 pay-dirt (leaving one space for a hammer), then bring an inventory of 26 (or 27 and drop 1), and deposit the remaining 26, ending up with exactly 80 pay-dirt in the sack afterwards. Then the player can simply pick up any pay-dirt they dropped, drop their hammer, mine another full inventory, and deposit in the sack for a total of 108 pay-dirt. With the sack upgrade, players can fill it to 161 (five inventories of 27 and one of 26) then deposit a final inventory of 28 for a total of 189 pay-dirt in the sack.
Fixing broken struts
Occasionally, the struts on the water wheels will break. This event is visible to all players in the mine and is not player-specific. One broken strut is not a problem by itself, but if both of them are broken the water flow will stop, and any pay-dirt that was making its way to the sack will be frozen in place until the water flow is restored.
Players can fix the struts using a hammer, which can be found in several of the crates surrounding the machine. Fixing the machine grants Smithing experience equal to 1.5 times the player's Smithing level (e.g. a player with 50 Smithing will gain 75 Smithing experience for fixing).
After fixing the struts, players who want to maximize inventory space can simply drop their hammer as it can be easily reclaimed from the crates. This saves a spot in the inventory which, over long periods of time, can easily add up.
Rockfalls
Occasionally, rocks may fall in certain areas of the mine, damaging any unlucky players who happen to be standing under them for a few (1-4) Hitpoints and blocking players' ways through the mine. They can be mined away for 10 experience. Runite Minor and the other NPC Miners may remove these rockfalls, though they tend to be busy mining for pay-dirt.
Shortcut
There is a shortcut on east side of the Motherlode Mine, which leads to the middle. To use this shortcut, players require an Agility level of 54 and completion of the medium Falador Achievement Diary.