With the newest Minecraft Dev Version: 12w32a, a new block was introduced, the beacon block. Apparently, it gives off certain powers in a certain radius, when built upon a 3×3 pyramid, etc., and I've seen videos of the block in work.
However, it seems that there are different ores used in making pyramid, the question is, does the type of ore used (iron, gold, diamond, emerald, etc.) change anything?
Best Answer
No, all blocks used to build the pyramid have the same effect. The way you activate different powers is through the Beacon Block's GUI. Placing a single iron ingot, gold ingot, diamond, or emerald will allow you to set which power is being produced by the pyramid. The size of the pyramid determines the radius of the effect, and the number of powers which can be active at the same time. To change to another power, another of those four items must be used.
Source