During my first run I got 4 of the ore used for upgrades.
The very first upgrade is underwhelming. It costs 1 ore to unlock the upgrade tree. The upgrade itself does nothing. And my 3 remaining ore wasn't enough to get anything else.
All of the upgrades aren't much of a choice. First branch costs 5 ore, second branch costs 20, third costs 30.
I guess I know which branch I'll be going down...