If you can use Kingdom Reborn, they have a "target by resource" macro.
You can set it to dig any number of times, and will hit EVERY legal mining square within reach.
Some people set up a target by resource KR macro for 10 tools, then have it go through every tool 4 times, to get 40 digs (more than that in a trammel ruleset facet and you'll get overloaded). You'd only use 5 tools that way in Fel.
The best way to train is to fill your character with ore, then split off 1 ore at a time, and smelt it.
Skill gains while digging are based on pure skill (skill = chance to get an ore from the dig)
Skill gains from SMELTING ORE are DIFFICULTY based, meaning you can gain smelting any ore you aren't 100% to smelt.
Iron ore: Cain gain smelting Iron ore up to 75 skill
Colored ore starts at 50% chance to smelt...
Dull copper ore: Can gain smelting until 90 skill
Shadow ore: Can gain smelting up to 95
Copper ore: can gain smelting up to GM
Bronze and higher metals can give gains up to GM real skill, even when wearing mining gloves.
However, typically gains get so slow that smelting ore for gains should not be done with these metals when you get 5 points of that maximum level for the ore in question (I.E., it's better to save time and smelt piles of metal instead of trying to eke out gains, when it reaches 90% success). Below that, smelt the ore one at a time - you'll get more gains that way, than in the same time spent mining, up to about 65 skill, smelting iron, and over 80 skill when dealing with colored metals.
Use this site to calculate your chance of success smelting.
http://uo.stratics.com/content/skills/mining.php