Quite simply, the price of Ore compared to refined commodities is not set to realistic values; it is all based around trade balance.
You're welcome to justify it how you like inrp, but that's the truth from an oorp perspective.
Personally I don't like the mining system as it is currently because of its lack of realism relative to the original Freelancer economy. However, I don't have the time or knowledge for how to provide a different system that would be better for gameplay.
