UO Second Age

I have two questions, firstly regarding the mining skill. Am I correct in assuming that your mining skill affects the return of ingots when smelting armour/weapons? I was wondering if someone could tell me what kind of return i get when smelting armour/weapons at 50 mining and also if I am able to fail smelting.

Secondly, at what skill level of blacksmithy are you able to make exceptional spears?

I would advise mining until you are AT LEAST in the high 90's before you start smithing. This will give you the max return on your ingots as well as reducing the amount of ingots lost when smelting.