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Space Mining

In: The Cosmos Economy

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  • Jack Gregg

Abstract

Global mining operations represented $683 billion USD in 2018 with an average net profit of 10% ($63 billion USD) according to Statistica.com (2019). The demand for minerals, coal, rare-earths, and other critical materials makes the mining industry consistently among the top economic sectors on our planet. Yet, the amount of raw industrial materials estimated to be in the solar system eclipses the full potential of Earth’s production by nearly an infinite factor! For this reason, mining asteroids and other celestial bodies for raw materials has long been considered a highly likely early business venture in space. The prospect of collecting rocks containing platinum (or gold, or lead), refining the ore for the mineral content, and then selling the purified output to an industrial customer (or managing the production of products via a vertically integrated chain of activities) is very attractive to potential investors. But mineral like gold and palladium aren’t the only valued commodities in space. There’s water, too.

Suggested Citation

  • Jack Gregg, 2021. "Space Mining," Springer Books, in: The Cosmos Economy, chapter 17, pages 145-152, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-62569-6_17
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-62569-6_17
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