Graveyard Keeper 2 Iron: Ore, Ingots and the Smithy

Iron ore is not attached to any building. The deposits sit out in the wild around the Inquisition Base outskirts, the Forest and the Swamp.

They are easy to confuse with ordinary stone: iron deposits shine differently and look multi-coloured, reading more brown than grey.

Community data-mining counts 28 placed deposits across the world, each yielding 3 ore, with one extra ore per swing if you have the Miner perk.

Equip a pickaxe before you head out — without it the deposits cannot be mined at all.

The Trademaster stocks a small amount of iron ore from the start of the game, which is enough to try the first iron recipes before you find a deposit.

Later, a Zombie Miner station produces iron ore from coal, so a zombie can take over the supply once you have automation running.

Iron ore is also a study item: researching it pays out red and blue tech points, so the first piece you pick up is worth studying rather than smelting.

The first ingot route is the Smithy I, a factory-area station worked by a zombie. It costs 6 Reinforced Planks, 4 Bronze Details and 4 Bronze Gears to build.

Building the Smithy is not enough on its own. The Iron Ingot recipe only appears after you add the Smithy: Hammer extension.

With it in place, one Iron Ore plus one Coal makes one Iron Ingot, and the worker needs Smithing mastery 2.

The same station also makes Brick, Glass and — with the Hammer — Iron Kit I, which turns one ingot into four kits.

The bulk route is the Furnace II, which opens after the Iron Forge technology (35 red tech points).

It smelts 3 Iron Ore with 30 Fuel into 3 Iron Ingots, or 4 with the Fireman perk, and needs Smithing mastery 5.

Because this route burns Fuel rather than Coal, it depends on a working Firewood Shed near the furnace — see the kiln fuel guide if your furnace sits idle.

The recipe is missing from the Smithy: you have not added the Smithy: Hammer extension yet.

The zombie refuses the job: its Smithing mastery is below what the recipe asks for. A hammer in its tool slot raises it, and the Iron Hammer gives +4 Smithing.

The Furnace II does not list iron: the Iron Forge tech is still locked, or there is no Fuel reaching the station.

Iron Ingots feed Iron Details, Iron Nails and Iron Kits, which are the materials behind later buildings and upgrades.

They also make the iron tool set — axe, pickaxe, shovel and hammer — plus Iron Armor, the Iron Sword, the Battle Bow and the Battle Pike for your undead army.

No trader sells Iron Ingots directly, so a steady ore supply is the only reliable way to keep these recipes running.

The Town also has a Smithy trader, separate from your own factory station. Upgrading it to tier II costs 6 Furniture Kit I, 4 Marble Kit and 6 Advanced Detail.

The upgraded shop sells Iron Nails, Iron Details, Advanced Details and Bronze Gears, as well as an Iron Hammer, Iron Sword, Iron Armor and Battle Pike.

Buying the Iron Hammer there is the fastest way to boost a zombie's Smithing mastery before you can forge your own.