How to find resources
Head to the biome where your target resource is densest, not the one nearest your base. The Plateaus have the most Titanium and Silver at the surface. The Graveyard is the single richest mining biome once you can reach it. Everything deeper depends on your Tadpole's depth rating.
The table below covers every mineable resource and where to find it. Sort by the resource you need, check what access it requires, and head to that biome.
Best biome by resource
| Resource | Best biome | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Atacamite | Power Plant | Mk. 2 | 24 deposits. Root Canyons has 6 more. |
 Celestine | Root Canyons | Mk. 2 | 72 deposits. Observatory (62 deposits) is the earlier source with Mk. 1. |
 Conduit Crystal | Power Plant | Mk. 2 | 2 Fulgurite deposits. The rarest mineable resource in the game. |
 Copper | Shallows | None | 277 loose pickups plus nodes and deposits. Surface supply never runs dry. |
 Creature Enamel | Observatory | Mk. 1 | 27 Needler deposits. Not available at the surface. |
 Gold | Graveyard | Mk. 1 | 62 breakable nodes, 59 deposits, 39 loose. Richest Gold biome by far. |
 Lead | Leadzone | Rebreather | 55 breakable nodes and 39 deposits. The only biome with serious Lead density. |
 Lithium | Graveyard | Mk. 1 | 59 deposits. Not available at the surface. |
 Quartz | Shallows | None | 229 loose and 32 breakable nodes. Plateaus has more breakable nodes (53) if you need volume. |
 Salt | South Raceway | Rebreather | 227 loose pickups. Graveyard (143 loose) is the mid-tier backup. |
 Silver | Plateaus | None | 202 loose and 63 breakable nodes. Needed from the first hour through late game. |
 Sulfur | Graveyard | Mk. 1 | 618 loose and 173 breakable nodes. North Raceway (44 loose) for early game. |
 Titanium | Plateaus | None | 1,292 loose pickups. Densest Titanium biome in the game. |
 Troilite | Root Canyons | Mk. 2 | 8 deposits. Only found here. |
How mining works
Three ways to gather resources, each with different yield.
Loose pickups sit on the seafloor. Swim over them and they collect automatically. One unit each. These respawn after you leave the area, so a biome's loose supply is effectively infinite.
Breakable nodes are small rock formations you hit with the Survival Multitool. They shatter into 2–3 units of their resource (Titanium Nodes always drop 3). Breakable nodes do not respawn.
Deposits are large resource veins that require the Sonic Resonator. Charge it, aim, release. Most deposits drop 5 units and auto-collect into your inventory. Deposits do not respawn.
The Sonic Resonator is crafted from 1 Basic Battery, 2 Titanium Ingots, 2 Lead, and 1 Wiring Kit. Getting it online is a priority once you have access to Lead from the Leadzone.
What to target
The gear you have decides which biomes you can reach. Here's what to focus on at each stage.
No depth module (0–100 m). Sweep the Plateaus for Titanium and Silver. Hit the Shallows for Copper and Quartz. Sulfur shows up at the North Raceway if a recipe calls for it, but don't grind here. You'll find far more once you reach the Graveyard.
Rebreather (100–130 m). The Leadzone is the only real Lead source, and Lead gates the Sonic Resonator recipe. South Raceway has more Salt than anywhere else at the surface.
Mk. 1 (up to ~340 m). The Graveyard opens and it changes everything. It has the most Gold, Lithium, and Sulfur in the game, plus solid Copper, Silver, Quartz, and Salt. One good Haul Rig run through the Graveyard covers half your mid-game recipe list. The Observatory adds Celestine deposits and Creature Enamel.
Mk. 2 (up to ~476 m). Root Canyons has the highest Celestine density and the only Troilite in the game. Power Plant has the most Atacamite plus Conduit Crystals from rare Fulgurite deposits. Both biomes also have deep reserves of Silver and Gold.
Running short?
Wrong biome. Each resource has one biome that beats the rest by a wide margin. If you're low on Gold, one Graveyard trip is worth ten trips anywhere else.
Skipping nodes and deposits. A single breakable Gold Node drops 2–3 Gold. A Gold Deposit drops 5. Loose pickups give 1. If you're only grabbing what's on the floor, you're leaving most of the resource behind.
No Haul Rig. Carrying a full inventory back from a deep biome without cargo support is a long swim home. Swap to the Haul Rig before a dedicated mining run. See Tadpole and chassis.
Store your surplus. There's no way to sell or recycle resources. Box everything in storage lockers at your base. Mid-tier materials like Silver and Sulfur come back in late-game recipes.