Resources

In Mass Effect: Andromeda, the player's inventory resources tab generally consists of 5 main categories. Items in resources do not count towards the item inventory limit.

Minerals
Minerals are useful chemical elements found in Mass Effect: Andromeda. These elements can be acquired by several different methods.

Acquisition
All minerals can be gained by purchasing from certain merchants. Players can increase the maximum purchasable amount of materials by unlocking the Supply Lines cryo pod perk.
 * Merchants

When exploring a star system or celestial objects via the galaxy map, Suvi may alert the player of an anomaly. Locating and probing the anomaly may yield some minerals or salvage although it does not return as much minerals compared to mining.
 * Probes

While mining minerals from a vehicle is not new to the Mass Effect series, the method differs in Mass Effect: Andromeda.
 * Mining
 * While exploring a planet, the player can establish a forward station marked as and mining zones indicated as  are then revealed on the map.
 * If the ND1 Nomad is within a mining zone, SAM will notify the player that the area can be mined for resources.
 * Toggle open the Nomad's mining computer display and drive around the mining zone until one or more of the mineral column signal increases.
 * Drive around a bit more to make sure the signal is as strong as it's going to get, then deploy a mining drone.
 * The drone will mine in a radius outlined by an orange line; the player can no longer find any resources within this perimeter.
 * All minerals gathered will be transferred to the player's inventory immediately.
 * When almost all minerals have been mined in the area, the SAM and the mining display will indicate that the zone is depleted.
 * Additional mining zones can be revealed if the player unlocks the Expanded Field Analysis and Expanded Field Analysis II cryo pod perks.

Players will also locate mineral nodes while completing missions by foot on the planet surface. Most nodes will only require direct interaction ('E' on PC) but occasionally SAM will advise a player of an 'unknown mineral'. This mineral could be something the player has not encountered before, or it could be a special request by an NPC. Use the Omni-tool and scan the node. Containers also might have minerals.
 * On Foot

Materials
Tech materials are “species”-specific base materials that are almost always required in crafting an item. An item’s technological origin is easily identified by its base material. Other than acquiring the materials from fallen enemies, they can also be gained from dismantling a weapon or armor.

Bio materials are anatomical parts of animal wildlife used in creating equipment, usually of the Heleus cluster kind (since the wildlife you encounter are native to the area).

Tech and bio materials can also be purchased from selected merchants or found in found in containers while exploring on foot.

Salvage
Salvage are items that has no uses other than selling to a merchant for credits. Different salvage items differs in value; the higher the value, the more credits gained for selling it.

Augmentations
Augmentations are special optional components which can be added into a blueprint when developing a weapon or armor to grant various bonuses or change its basic functionality.

Special items
Special items are objects that may be used to fulfil the requirements of a task or mission. They cannot be sold or destroyed.