Zelda: Breath of the Wild Guide to Every Mineral and Gem for Upgrades

In Hyrule, mineral deposits aren’t just a source of quick rupees—breaking them open with a two-handed sword (or any other heavy two-handed weapon) also unlocks the game’s key crafting and upgrade routes in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Depending on what you break or defeat, you can obtain different minerals and gemstones used for armor upgrades, jewelry crafting, and even restoring the weapons of the Chosen.

Release timing and availability

The information in this guide applies to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where mineral-gathering and crafting mechanics are available as soon as you can reach the relevant areas and locations in Hyrule. No platform release date or patch window is provided here, so availability is based on normal in-game progression rather than a specific update rollout.

What minerals are used for

Minerals in Breath of the Wild serve multiple purposes beyond selling them for money:

• Improving armor: One of the Great Fairies can upgrade your armor in exchange for minerals.
• Crafting jewelry: In Gerudo Town’s jewelry shop, you can exchange minerals plus a rupee payment for magical diadems and earrings.
• Repairing the weapons of the Chosen: If a Chosen’s exclusive weapon breaks, artisans from each race can forge an exact replica.

Where minerals and gems come from

The minerals/gems listed in the source are obtained through several repeatable sources, with different results depending on the object or enemy type involved:

• Breaking mineral deposits
• Defeating a Petrarok
• Defeating any silver enemy

• Breaking glowing mineral deposits
• Defeating a Glowing Petrarok

• Breaking mineral deposits
• Defeating a Glowing or otherwise less common Petrarok
• Defeating any silver enemy

• Breaking mineral deposits
• Defeating a normal Petrarok, Glowing Petrarok, and Magnarok
• Defeating any silver enemy

• Breaking mineral deposits
• Defeating a less common Petrarok and a Glaciarok
• Defeating any silver enemy

• Breaking mineral deposits
• Defeating any Petrarok except normal versions
• Defeating any silver enemy

• Breaking mineral deposits
• Defeating a Petrarok

• Breaking mineral deposits

Player impact and what’s still unknown

For players, the key takeaway is that mineral farming can be planned around your current goals: armor upgrades (via Great Fairies), jewelry crafting (via Gerudo Town), or weapon restoration for the Chosen if something breaks. Since different deposits and enemy tiers affect what you obtain, using the right targets matters as much as simply collecting materials.

What’s missing from the provided material is the specific in-game list of each individual mineral/gem name tied to each drop source, as well as any exact platform release information or update schedule. If you want, share the missing section that contains the named gemstones, and the list can be reorganized into a clean “drop source → item” reference.