Iron in Permafrost comes out of Iron Boulders — dark grey, angular rocks laced with pale veins. You walk past your first ones long before you own a tool that can crack them open, which is why Iron tends to feel locked away in the early hours. The rock is there; the pickaxe in your hand is the problem.
How to recognise an Iron Boulder
Move within a step of a boulder and aim at it. Its interface identifies the target as “Iron Boulder”, shows a little pickaxe symbol and a progress meter, and tells you to use the break button.
The colour of that pickaxe icon is the test that matters. A white icon means the tool you are holding can break the rock. A red icon, with small red chevrons beside it, means it cannot, and the bar will stay full no matter how many times you swing. Outdoors, the Iron Boulders stand in clusters of dark angular rocks with pale veins, sitting on open snow among the pines.
Where Iron Boulders are
The first cave toward Horizon
The cave mouth is on the north bank of the frozen stream, by the burning torch and the yellow chevron sign near the starting cabin. The passage runs through and comes out on the path to Horizon. Inside you will find Coal Boulders, Rock Boulders, a Flint Boulder on the upper level, and four Iron Boulders.
Outdoors in the Woods
Iron Boulders also stand out in the open in the Woods region, where the map header reads “WOODS” and the temperature shows “Feels like: -26°C”. Look for the clusters of dark rocks on the snow slopes, with pine trees around them. Come back to either place once the Scrap Pickaxe is in your hands.
Why the Stone and Flint Pickaxes fail
Point either of your early pickaxes at an Iron Boulder and the icon turns red. The Stone Pickaxe’s tooltip lists its targets as Flint and Stone; the Flint Pickaxe lists Sulfur, Copper, Coal, Flint and Stone. Neither one names iron, and the bar on the boulder stays full however many times you hit it. A few swings with the Stone Pickaxe and a handful with the Flint Pickaxe leave the rock untouched.
If you get no prompt at all when you aim at a rock, you are either too far away or not looking directly at the boulder. Step closer and centre your view on it.
How to get the Scrap Pickaxe
With the Scrap Pickaxe equipped, aim at an Iron Boulder and the pickaxe icon shows white. A few hits bring the bar down and a counter beside you tallies the iron you pull out — one boulder gave 13 Iron. That white icon and the rising Iron count are how you know the tool works.
Turn Iron into Iron Ingots
Raw iron has to be smelted before it becomes useful. Build a Stone Furnace — its blueprint sits at Building tier 3 for 2 points, and construction costs 40 Stone. Open the furnace and look at the Iron Ingot row, where the panel shows the cost as have-and-need numbers.
Depending on the world, the displayed recipe calls for either 3 Iron and 3 Coal or 2 Iron and 3 Coal; use the amounts shown on your panel instead of assuming one set total. Coal goes into the recipe as an ingredient, not into a dedicated fuel slot. Once smelting is complete, the ingots land on the ground before the furnace, where “Press F Pick up” appears for collection.
Blueprints lists the Iron Tools Set at CRAFTING tier 9 for 2 points: the Iron Axe, Iron Sledgehammer, Iron Pickaxe and Iron Shiv at the Workbench.
