An option to try to get advanced artifacts should be available. These artifacts would require different amounts of all common resources. Mineral points, artifact points and research points.
The amount would vary depending on the artifact.
Artifact costs would start at 5k
mineral costs would start at 1k
and research costs would start at 500

Most of these would follow the pattern of costing more artifacts then minerals then research. (X>Y>Z)
Because of the advanced excavation + the need of mining and research equipment to acquire them a player could only search for advanced artifacts once every 8 hours.

The drops for these would be similar to NPC drops, the more expensive ones could be similar to boss drops or lower tier GP artifacts. Another idea would be to randomly discover 1-5 badges of any color.

Other discoveries could be added based on other gainable and expendable resources. CTP, exotic matter, XTS-9 ect, though these would not be mandatory to use the advanced artifact search.

What?

basic artifacts and advanced artifacts.

basic artifacts cost only artifact points to discover while advanced require a minimum of artifact points, mineral points and research points.
Advanced artifacts powers would range from regular NPC drops to mid range galaxy point artifacts.
Advanced artifacts can only be searched for once every 8 hours for a total of 3 per day.

You're basically describing what can already be achieved in a C-T Lab.

CT lab requires legion cooperation and massive stores of artifacts for an extremely powerful artifact. This would focus more on expendables for battle rather then planets.

We don't already have enough expendables for battle?

What types of things are you talking about? You need to be more specific and actual give an example. This, to me, sound like jumble. I can't understand the idea you're even thinking of much less how it would be in the game, so I'm sure there's plenty of other people thinking the same.