Ores are the only items you cannot buy in the upgrade shop. They are dark gray blocks with colored crystal squares. You sell them at the elevator Sell Bin to fill the Coin Meter. Shards are a different currency and do not fill the meter.
Prices you can use
| Ore | Stars | Sell value | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron | 1 | 5 coins | Getting Started |
| Jade | 2 | Unconfirmed. Runs have seen about 14 to 15. | Digging Deeper |
| Amber | 3 | Unconfirmed. Runs and the solo table put it near 35. | Not bad |
| Amethyst | 4 | 75 coins | Epic Find |
| Gold | 5 | 100 coins | Struck Gold! |
Do not plan a quota around Jade or Amber until you have sold one and read the bin. Iron, Amethyst, and Gold are the confirmed anchors.
Floor 1 math: the quota is 8 coins and Iron is 5, so two Iron Ore clear it. One Amethyst is 75 coins. One Gold Ore is 100 coins, the same listed top end as a Teleporter in the gold writeup. A sold Reviver is 25 coins, which beats two Iron and loses to one Amethyst.
Gold starts appearing in room loot around Floor 15, and The Hoarder also spawns with one. The in-game tooltip is "GOLDEN."
Where they sit
Check beanbags, benches, log benches, both block types, bookshelves that are not full, empty pots, wall shelves, and tables. Floor 1 guarantees five Iron. Floor 2 is documented with six Iron. Deeper floors mix the higher tiers.
An ore dropped out of bounds respawns on a random valid tile, or despawns if the floor has no item tile left.
Storage Pots
A pot is 150 coins in the shop, or a free vote. It sells for 20 coins if you dump the item itself. The placed tile accepts one item type in unlimited quantity. Iron and Jade cannot share a pot. A Player's Head is the exception: one head per pot, even though Revivers and food can stack.
Heavy! asks for 100 items in one pot. That is a badge threshold, not a cap. The dedicated pot page describes the quantity as unlimited for the bound item. A solo note that says "up to 100" matches the badge, not a hard stop.
Use separate pots for Iron, for the high tiers you are banking, and for Revivers. Delete a pot with the hammer and the contents spill out. They are not destroyed.
Kiwi nests
Placing an ore in an empty nest slot takes about 6 seconds and can calm an angry Giant Kiwi. Pulling an ore back out angers it. Do not spend Gold on a decoy. A cooked egg does the same job. If the intermission starts while a Kiwi is sitting on a nest that holds your ore, the bird, the nest, and the ore despawn.