Naquadah

Naqahdah is the building block for all Goa'uld technology, and the only material capable of handling the massive amounts of energy required to create a stable wormhole.

The mineral also has explosive properties, making it useful for enhancing the yield of bombs and missiles. At least 3 variants exist: Liquid Naqahdah, used to power staff weapons, Heavy Liquid Naqahdah and Naqahdriah. Naqahdriah is a highly unstable variant of Naqahdah with greater explosive properties. It can also be used for the powering of hyperspace engines with far smaller quantities than with Naqahdah. Naqahdriah is formed from Naqahdah in an artificial chain reaction. The only known planet containing Naqahdriah is Langara, where large deposits were created millennia ago by the Goa'uld Thanos. Unprotected exposure can lead to brain damage, delusions and/or schizophrenia.

Naqahdah is very rare, and does not exist naturally in Earth's solar system.

Naqahdah is also a part of the Goa'uld's genetic make-up. Its presence gives them the ability to use their technology, and to sense the presence of other Goa'uld within a close range. The host of a Goa'uld symbiote carries Naqahdah in his or her blood, and the metal remains in their system, even if the symbiote is removed. The only exception to this are the Goa'uld who remained on their native homeworld (known only by its SGC designation, P3X 888) which were found to have no Naqahdah. It is believed that heavy use of Naqahdah based technology such as the sarcophagus may have introduced the metal into their systems centuries after they left P3X 888.