The next gold rush is far, far away - and closer than you think

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Opinion: The next gold rush is far, far away - and closer than you think

As space exploration and colonisation expand, off-Earth resources will create a booming market.

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The drive to explore deeper into space and establish colonies on other planets has intensified over the last decade, and with it the importance of space resources extraction.

Obtaining valuable resources and minerals, even in extreme environments, has long been attractive to humans. We have a history of facing hazards in search of valuable resources. From the gold rush in the 1800s to the recent surge in space resources, humans have been willing to take risks to find and collect scarce and profitable materials.

With advances in space technology, we're on the edge of the next gold rush — but not on Earth. Based on recent scientific and engineering breakthroughs and commercial interests, off-Earth mining is expected to begin in the next decade.

Read More: University of New South Wales

 

[+and-then]

I've heard of the possibility of single asteroids containing massive amounts of minerals that are rare on earth.  The numbers were staggering, and it occurred to me that since monetary value depends on supply and demand, one of those bodies could turn the market upside down and make diamonds, gold, rare-earths, etc, dirt cheap.  I guess mining operations could form cartels like OPEC and control the amounts mined to keep supply low, but I think it would cause a lot of competition and corporate knife-fights   

[Hankenhunter]

Probably a dumb question, but how are they going to get these precious metals back to Earth's surface?

[+and-then]

2 hours ago, Hankenhunter said:

Probably a dumb question, but how are they going to get these precious metals back to Earth's surface?

If they can create a system to mine the material, I assume they can create a system to get it to the surface.  The question is can they do so at a cost that makes the venture worthwhile?  

[Hankenhunter]

18 minutes ago, and-then said:

If they can create a system to mine the material, I assume they can create a system to get it to the surface.  The question is can they do so at a cost that makes the venture worthwhile?  

Yeah, you're right. If you can't make money at it, it ain't worth doing. Capitalism at work.

[Tatetopa]

3 hours ago, and-then said:

one of those bodies could turn the market upside down and make diamonds, gold, rare-earths, etc, dirt cheap. 

Who would want to make those dirt cheap?  Not people that just found a bunch of it.  They would ration out the supply to keep the price high. You can't explore space for the price of dirt.