Sounds like the easiest way for you would to be to mod the game into a more condensed experience. I haven't modded yet but yes when it comes to things like copper mining and ore running, 999 times out of 1000 you are already going to know how it ends before you even start. I couldn't imagine myself getting endless joy from parts that I find neither challenging nor creative.

There's actually a lot to do so don't let anyone shame you for not enjoying 100% of the activities.

You've got choices. You could make metal recipes more lenient so that the stuff that would normally be dumped on gear upgrades can instead act as surplus for building. You could make metals lighter so that more cargo can be carried in one go. You could multiply drop rates so you can get more of something from the same spot. Or you could just remove teleportation restrictions.

Instead of mitigating the dull moments, maybe a challenge run could add excitement to them. It's not for me to say what challenges. The 'don't use X' challenges seem a bit basic to me, like they will just make you play almost the same but slower.

I think EpicLoot looks exciting but to play a run using that, you've really got to want that shorter playthrough experience.