Unlock advanced mining, processing, and refining for the various ore types. Each resource has a completely unique chain with dozens of byproducts. The more effort used, the more you can extract.
When you processing ores - their grades goes like 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4. All but iron ore. Somehow it's grades goes 3 -> 2 -> 1. It's a little bit confusing, don't you think?