Why not make freighter-only dockable ports like on Leeds on planets where mining is part of the RP (even on unpopulated ones). There...you dock at a "mining town" and can buy different Ores?
Downside - takes away from the necessity of miners/cooperative play for getting Ores
Upside - the freighter-only dock option means that nobody is going to be "scoring big" unless they are playing cooperatively with freighters and transports in order to tender a large number of materials.
So, you eliminate one kind of cooperative dependency...but create opportunities for another.
These bases could also pay decent prices for things like Drill bits, Mining Machinery, Robotics, etc. to help establish economy.
I would eliminate "Food" as a mineable resource. Seems kinda absurd unless you're actually flying along the planet zapping up cows and wildlife and then tractoring in their dead carcasses, which also seems like a silly means of production.
