Can Space Mining Stave Off Resource Scarcity?

MINING.com reported that the consensus at the Canadian Space Commerce Association conference, held last week in Toronto, was that it will not be long before space mining dominates the resource extraction industry. The reason? The Earth’s resources — particularly zinc and gold — are headed towards depletion.

As quoted in the market news:

[Bob] Richards [of Moon Express Inc.] believes space mining will seriously begin within one to three decades.

“What we mine today are just minute remnants that are near the surface. All of this is available in infinite quantities in space”, he said.

Geologists believe that asteroids hold iron ore, nickel and precious metals at much higher concentrations than those found on Earth.

What’s more, scientists have said asteroid mining is a necessity as many metals that underpin our modern economy are quickly being depleted.

Click here to read the full MINING.com report.