Materials are substances used for building and workmanship. Nephi taught his people “to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel”. He also taught them to work in “gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance” (2 Nephi 5:15).
People who went forth where there was little timber became “exceedingly expert in the working of cement” and built houses of cement (Helaman 3:7). In the land northward, people built cities “both of wood and of cement” after timber was sent by shipping (Helaman 3:10-11).
Both lands had “all manner of gold” and silver as well as “precious ore of every kind”. Curious workmen “did work all kinds of ore and did refine it” (Helaman 6:11).