Graveyard Keeper 2: How to Unlock Zombie Mining and Woodcutting

Putting zombies to work in the mine, quarry, and forest depends on a single action that the game never spells out. The technologies for zombie mining, digging, and woodcutting stay hidden on the Tech Tree until you physically clear the rubble blocking the tunnel between your basement Factory and the Old Mine. Teleporting past that stretch is exactly why so many players get stuck.

Quick answer: Walk south through your basement Factory and destroy the rubble blockage in the tunnel that connects it to the Old Mine. Clearing it immediately unlocks the zombie automation nodes for purchase on the Tech Tree.

What clearing the blockage unlocks

Removing the rubble adds new nodes across two branches of the Tech Tree at once. These become available to buy with technology points; you still need to purchase each one after it appears.

Tech Tree branch	Zombie nodes unlocked
Metallurgy	Zombie Digging, Zombie Mining
Building	Zombie Lumberjack, Zombie Stone Mining, Zombie Marble Mining

The nodes do not appear just because you opened the mine or finished its quest line. They stay hidden until the tunnel path back to your basement is fully clear.

Requirements before you can clear the tunnel

A few things need to be in place first, or the blockage won’t be reachable from both sides.

Access to the underground automation basement (the Factory) directly beneath your house.
The Old Mine opened, which involves the forest questline and getting dynamite from the two bandits.
The prerequisite quests around the mine and nearby Refugee Camp addressed so the passage connects through to the Quarry.
Every obstacle along the tunnels between the mine and your basement cleared, not only the mine entrance.

How to clear the blockage and trigger the unlock

Head into the expansive automation basement beneath your house. In this Factory area, semi-automatic machines operate, and the mine lies to the south.

Head south through the Factory toward the corridor at the far end. Follow the machinery down to the stone archway that opens into the tunnel.

Basement Factory walkthrough — The southern edge of the basement Factory, where the archway opens into the tunnel toward the Old Mine. Shown at 00:33 in JA Guides Gaming’s video. Image: Lazy Bear Games

Reach the rubble pile blocking the passage at the end of the corridor. This is easy to miss, since it sits at the very back of the tunnel where most players never walk.

Break the blockage. The moment the rubble is gone, the tunnel connects the basement to the Old Mine and the zombie technologies unlock on the Tech Tree.

Walking through the Old Mine — Once the rubble is cleared, you can walk straight from the basement through the open tunnel into the Old Mine. Shown at 01:11 in JA Guides Gaming’s video. Image: Lazy Bear Games

Confirm the technologies unlocked

Open the Tech Tree and check the Metallurgy and Building tabs. Zombie Digging and Zombie Mining now sit in the Metallurgy branch, while Zombie Lumberjack, Zombie Stone Mining, and Zombie Marble Mining appear under Building. If those nodes are visible and buyable, the blockage cleared correctly.

Tech Tree overview — The Metallurgy branch with Zombie Digging and Zombie Mining unlocked and ready to purchase. Shown at 00:05 in JA Guides Gaming’s video. Image: Lazy Bear Games

From here, spend your points to buy the nodes you need, then equip your workers with the right tool for the job—a pickaxe for mining and an axe for woodcutting—so they can start pulling stone, ore, and logs while you focus on the story.