In the 2009 film Avatar, what mineral are humans mining on Pandora?

In the 2009 film Avatar, humans are mining the mineral unobtanium on Pandora.

Unobtanium is presented as an extremely valuable superconducting mineral found on Pandora. The human Resources Development Administration, commonly called the RDA, seeks it for commercial exploitation. Its deposits lie beneath areas inhabited by the Na’vi, creating the central economic and environmental conflict of the film.

The term “unobtainium” predates Avatar as an informal engineering word for an ideal material whose properties are desirable but unavailable. Cameron’s film turns that joke-like term into the name of a fictional resource.

Unobtanium should not be confused with real minerals or with fictional substances from other franchises. Adamantium belongs to Marvel fiction, kryptonite to DC fiction, and dilithium to Star Trek.