Quick answer
Your first Dynamite is free: bring Larry a Simple Candle so he can impersonate Robert at the Forest bandits' camp, and the bandits hand over 1 Dynamite. Use it on the blocked mine entrance, which needs Building mastery 8.[1] Inside, research Zombie Mining (60 red + 10 blue) and staff a Zombie Miner (with a pickaxe) plus a Porter to haul iron ore and coal home.[2][3][4]
Part 1: Get the Dynamite
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Get the Forest Pass and meet the bandits at their camp near Hans. This starts Can't See the Forest for the Iron.[1] |
| 2 | Craft a Simple Candle (2 Beeswax + 1 Flax Thread) at the Formulation Bench. It needs Church Lighting I.[1][5] |
| 3 | Find Larry (at your home or the Inquisition Base), choose "The Miners' Treasure" and give him the candle.[1] |
| 4 | Take him to the bandits so he can pose as Robert, then ask for the explosives ("Can I have the explosives?"). You receive 1 Dynamite.[1] |
| 5 | Raise Building mastery to 8 and use the Dynamite on the mine blockage.[1] |
No candle ingredients yet? See Beehive and Beeswax and Flax and Flax Thread.
Making more Dynamite
After the free one, Dynamite is a Formulation Bench recipe: 2 Explosive Dust + 1 Alcohol, Anatomy mastery 5.[5] Players on Steam place the Explosive Dust (powder) recipe in the anatomy and alchemy tech tree, near Reanimation Liquid.[6] Alcohol comes from the Distillation Cube.
The dynamite freeze
After the 24 September update, many players reported the game freezing once the dynamite progress bar filled at the mine. Later posts in the same Steam bug thread report it was fixed the same day.[7] If it still happens to you, make sure the game is fully updated and save before using the Dynamite.
Part 2: Set up zombie mining
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Technology | Zombie Mining: 60 red + 10 blue, Metallurgy column 8, after Iron Smithing (50 red)[2] |
| Unlocks | Zombie Miner and Porter Station[2] |
| Miner | 1 zombie with a pickaxe[3][4] |
| Porter | 1 separate zombie that carries the mined iron ore (and coal) back to your base[3][1] |
| Bonus | The Magpie's Eye zombie perk gives miners a 10% gem chance[4] |
Steps:
- Research Iron Smithing, then Zombie Mining.[2]
- Build the Zombie Miner inside the mine and assign a zombie with a pickaxe.[3][4]
- Build the Porter Station and assign a second zombie.[2][3]
- Smelt the delivered ore at a Furnace: 3 Iron Ore + 30 Fuel = 4 Iron Ingots.[3]
Mining zombies count toward your zombie limit like any other; see Zombie limit and the PR Machine.[4]
What about a zombie quarry?
Stone and marble have their own zombie gathering stations (Stone/Marble Quarry), which also need a pickaxe in the zombie's hand.[4] They work on the same principle as the miner.
Common problems
- Cannot use the Dynamite: Building mastery is below 8.[1]
- Miner idle: no pickaxe, or the porter slot is empty so nothing is delivered.[3][4]
- Game freezes at the mine: update the game (see above).[7]
Related guides
Sources & References
- Forest Mine Access, Graveyard Keeper 2 Wiki (Fextralife) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
- Zombie Mining: Metallurgy tech cost and unlocks, Wikily ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Find Iron Ore in Graveyard Keeper 2 or Send Zombies Into the Mines, Game Rant (Joe Grantham) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
- Zombies: resurrection, collars, perks and jobs, Wikily ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
- Formulation Bench: recipes and build cost, Wikily ↩ 1, 2
- How to get dynamite, Steam Community discussion ↩
- Game Freezes After Using Dynamite on Mine, Steam Community bug report ↩ 1, 2