The Alpha features a new mining system to gather two different resources. Those are needed to buy the upgrades from the techtree.
'Selling minerals' sounds interesting as possibility to convert one resource into the other. That should come at a cost that needs to be balanced. I like this idea!
Crafting is probably also covered as the type of the weapon itself and three selectable upgrades can be freely chosen.
STM's post in Repulsor / atracctor beam was marked as the answer