Anyone who’s spent hours hauling fragile cargo through BT-infested valleys in Death Stranding 2 knows how frustrating it is to run out of metal mid-upgrade for your zipline network or road construction project. The death stranding 2 metal mine is one of the most underrated locations in the game for cutting down hours of tedious resource grinding, but most players stumble on it by accident or miss it entirely because it’s tucked away in a hard-to-reach mountain zone. I’ve spent 40+ hours testing every route and farming method for this spot, so I’m breaking down everything you need to know to make the most of it without wasting time or losing cargo to falls or BTs.
Where to Find the Death Stranding 2 Metal Mine Exact Location
The death stranding 2 metal mine is marked as a “hidden location” on most community maps, so it’s easy to miss if you’re only following main quest markers. It sits in the central mountain region, west of the Timefall Farm outpost, tucked behind a narrow canyon that’s only officially accessible once you’ve connected the nearby Mountaineer’s Shelter to the Chiral Network. You’ll get a side quest from the Mountaineer to deliver repair supplies to the old mining outpost, which unlocks a marked, low-risk path straight to the site.
You can sneak to the mine earlier if you have level 2 climbing anchors, but it’s not worth the risk for most new players. I tried to climb the side of the mountain to get there at 15 hours of playtime, and lost three full stacks of ceramic when I slipped on ice, so wait until you at least have non-slip boots if you’re skipping the quest. You’ll know you’re in the right spot when you see the rusted blue mining equipment half-buried in snow at the canyon mouth.
What Resources You Can Farm From the Metal Mine
Unlike other resource spots that run dry after a few harvests, the death stranding 2 metal mine’s spawns never run out, so you can farm as much as you need for all your projects. The biggest draw is the massive volume of metal available, but you’ll also find rare materials you can’t easily get from other open-world spots. The death stranding 2 metal mine has a far higher spawn rate of rare alloy than any other open-world resource spot, making it ideal for players looking to craft endgame gear.
Here’s a full breakdown of what you can expect to find every time you visit:
- Standard metal (80% of spawns, stacks up to 50 per pickup, used for most construction and basic crafting)
- High-grade rare alloy (10% of spawns, used for crafting level 3 truck upgrades and storm-resistant cargo shields)
- Chiral crystals (8% of spawns, found in small clusters near the mine entrance, used for zipline and chiral network upgrades)
- Specialized mining tools (2% of spawns, let you harvest resources 3x faster for 1 hour of playtime)
1200+ units of infinite respawning metal refresh every 30 in-game minutes, so you can stock up for large projects in just a few trips. Don’t overlook the small storage locker inside the mine entrance, either. It often has free repair spray and battery packs that you can grab for free without using any materials. The mine also has no BT spawns inside, so you don’t have to waste hematic grenades while you’re farming, which is a huge plus compared to other resource spots in the mountain region.
Best Farming Routes to Minimize Time and Cargo Loss
If you’re just starting out, the easiest route to the mine is to take the paved road from the Timefall Farm to the Mountaineer’s Shelter, then follow the marked quest path down into the canyon. Bring a level 2 truck with extra battery upgrades if you’re hauling large amounts of metal, because the dirt path up from the mine is steep and you’ll run out of battery halfway if you use a stock truck. You can also add extra cargo space upgrades to your truck to haul up to 600 units of metal per trip, which cuts down the number of runs you need to do for large construction projects.
If you have a zipline network set up between the Mountaineer’s Shelter and the nearby Distribution Center South of Lake Knot City, you can build a single zipline anchor at the mine entrance to cut travel time down from 20 minutes to 2 minutes flat. I do this every time I need to stock up for building new roads, and I can haul full loads of metal without ever worrying about falls or timefall damage. If you’re playing multiplayer, you can use other players’ ziplines near the death stranding 2 metal mine to save yourself the materials of building your own anchor.
If you’re farming the death stranding 2 metal mine for rare alloy specifically, stick to the back tunnels of the mine, where spawn rates are 3x higher than the entrance area. You can reset the resource spawns faster by fast traveling to the nearest outpost and immediately coming back, instead of waiting around for the in-game timer to tick over. This trick lets you farm 2000+ units of metal in less than an hour of real playtime, which is faster than any other farming method in the game right now.
Common Mistakes to Avoid at the Metal Mine
A lot of players make the mistake of trying to access the mine too early, before they have the right gear. I’ve seen new players waste 2 hours trying to climb the mountain without climbing anchors, only to fall and lose all their cargo right before they reach the entrance. Wait until you have at least level 1 non-slip boots and a few extra climbing anchors before you try to go off-route to the mine.
Another common mistake is forgetting to check the weather forecast before heading out. The mountain region around the mine gets sudden, heavy timefall storms that can degrade your truck’s chassis in 5 minutes if you don’t have a storm shield. Never leave your truck parked right outside the mine entrance during a storm, because the loose rocks on the canyon walls fall often and can total your vehicle before you get back. Park it around the corner near the NPC camp to keep it safe.
Most players don’t realize the death stranding 2 metal mine’s harvest bonus from the NPC camp applies to all resources, not just metal. If you bring the small group of survivors camped just outside the mine 50 units of food, they’ll give you a permanent 20% bonus to resource harvest rate at the mine, which stacks with the mining tools you find inside. That bonus makes an already great farming spot even more valuable, so it’s worth taking the extra 10 minutes to drop off the food on your first visit.
At the end of the day, the death stranding 2 metal mine is a game-changer for players who want to spend less time grinding resources and more time exploring the world or taking on high-level delivery quests. You don’t have to follow every tip I laid out to make use of it, even popping in once every few hours to grab a couple hundred units of metal will cut your upgrade time in half. If you find any hidden spots or extra resources I didn’t mention in the mine, feel free to drop them in the comments below for other players to try.
