Originally posted by Gerustroncio:

Shouldn't the production of alloys (like bronze for instance) produce at least 2x?

That's how alloys work, if I'm adding 2 bars or copper + 1 bar of tin, I should get a result of 3 bars of bronze, because that's the amount of material that was put in... it doesn't magically condenses and fuses into just enough material for 1 bar.

I'd settle for 2x, but getting a single bar of bronze is kinda silly

This is where I'd say I'd really hate to burst your bubble... but I'd be lying. Long story very stort... In the real world alloys don't produce exact 1:1 ratios in many cases. So the fact a video game might deviate from your perception makes sense in both cases.
Fun fact: You can mod the game to work exactly the way you want, so feel free to change whatever you'd like.