The Pickaxe is the workbench level 1 tier of Ore gathering tools in RUST. It requires no fuel to operate but takes consistent durability loss while being used to hit nodes or any other entity.
Unlike Jackhammers, the pickaxe requires players to strike nodes manually each time to gather the resources.
There’s a chance of finding a pickaxe in most crate types or as loot from most scientists. However, if you have 50 Scrap, you can purchase one from the Outpost monument.
It is pretty normal to use a pickaxe as a melee weapon, sometimes going so far as to use it as a soft-side raiding tool. You can take several steps to improve your pickaxe-wielding gameplay when farming. Combine your pickaxe with drinking an ore-gathering tea. Doing this just once with a Pure Ore Tea will greatly increase the speed at which you can fill your furnaces.