I posted a more detailed version of my ideas on the KS comments.. but an abstract form would be as such:
At the start of the game.. mining should be ALMOST annoying.. not purposefully annoying.. just hard and slow and not really that profitable. It should be worthwhile enough to consider doing to build up some finances and resources, over time, for those of us who want to be miners and traders and not really interested in the combat side of things (at least in the outset of the game). So the technique and tools used should be very limited and so on. It should take a similar amount of effort that it would take to achieve the same level of "richness" as it would for something doing combat early on in the game to achieve.
Once the player has moved on with things.. acrrued a bit more finances and resources etc.. then items in terms of new tools as well as upgrades to existing tool should make the act of mining more and more efficient. Even the ability to convert more ore into materials, which are not directly tied into the onboard ship systems. At the pinnacle of the player's game, they should basically be able to have large-scale mining operations underway that are completely and utterly automated.. and all the player needs to do is manage it from a high level, such as deciding which materials they want and how much. However that would be much, much later in the game.
Here's what I posted on the KS comments:
Early game: You have a mining laser and a separate tractor beam or scoop system.
This just represents where you start from. After you've gotten on with the gameplay more, got more money and resources at your command.. you move on to what I call "mid-game".. which is neither the start nor the final end-game content.
Mid-game Idea 1: You have a mining laser that is encapsulated with a tractor beam, so as the bits break off, they are caught up in the tractor beam and sucked in.
Mid-game Idea 2: You have mining probes/droids that have mining lasers, you just need to collect the bits that break off.
Mid-game Idea 3: You have mining probes/droids that are full automated and collect the bits as they are broken off, when their cargo is full, they come back and drop it off (like in EVE Online).
Mid-game Idea 4: You can hire NPCs to mine for you, either while you are there (similar to probes/droids but with bigger capacities) or when you are not.
So these were just some initial, spontaneous, thoughts on the subject at the time.. but of course owning mining stations.. or owning a factory or refinery on a space station (without owning the whole station) that you could upgrade as well, could make the whole thing multi-faceted in terms of increasing the overall efficiency of mining.