My Elves are basically Roman/French/Italians in terms of culture.
As for claims on materials I may wish to take mine on Mithril and a certain type of rocket fuel.
I can even write a semi-legitimate paper on each.
But I think most players would prefer the simple format.

Mithril in particular will be essential for my nation because elves are physically weaker and can't carry around that much weight.
Mithril is going to be pretty much my nation's equivalent of steel.
It looks beautiful and such but basically it won't be that much of a "super rare super OP material".