Coal
Coal is the main early game smelting fuel and one of the two ingredients for crafting torches alongside sticks. Due to to it being able to generate above surface levels, One strategy to obtain it fast is to look for It on the sides of surface mountains and cliffs.
Found the most at Y levels 44, 95 and 136
Copper
Copper is used for lightning rods that protect wood builds from catching fire, adecorative copper blocks that oxidize and turns green over time, oh, and it's also used to craft a spyglass which lets you zoom in and see far away! Copper is common but its most common in dripstone caves
Found the most at Y level 48
Iron
Iron is relatively common but it has many many uses, so you will be needing a lot of it. Used in Crafting armour, weapons, tools, anvils, buckets, doors, railways, shields and many more. It is very goated
Found the most at Y levels 15
Gold
Gold can be used to craft armour and weapons stronger than their iron counterparts, but... They have very little durability leading them to break very quickly, so most people avoid them. However, Gold has plenty of other uses in crafting and in dealing with piglins in the Nether
Found the most close to Y level -16
Lapis
Lapis Lazuli's main use is enchating equipment. It can also used for decorative reasons by turning it into blue dye
Found the most at Y levels -1
Redstone
Redstone when placed down acts like a wire that Conducts Signals. Its basically electricity but in Minecraft. It's used to craft various logical blocks that interact with red stone. Some people build literal computers inside Minecraft with it. But It can be used for simpler stuff like triggering a door to be opened with a button
Found the most at Y level -59
Emerald
Emeralds main use is to trade with villagers. It can be found in mountains at high elavation but is usually easier obtained by trading with villagers.
Found the most close to Y level 236 and only in mountains and windswept hills biomes
Diamond
The iconic diamonds used to craft the best armour, weapons and tools in the game! (If you pretend the nether doesn't exist because I didn't add netherite to this site) They can be found deep underground. A fun dangerous way to look for them is to explore big open caves with a lot of hostile mobs
Found the most at Y level -59