Dmitry Bisikalo, director of the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview that due to the continuous depletion of the earth's mineral reserves, mining outside the earth may have practical significance this century. "Iron, nickel, cobalt, aluminum, rare earth metals and platinum group elements are the most urgently needed and most beneficial minerals for mining on asteroids."

According to him, the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences is responsible for studying near-Earth asteroids and determining their composition. So far, only 3,000 near-Earth asteroids and the physical and chemical properties of main belt asteroids have been determined. Small stone asteroids with a diameter of about 1 km and weighing 2 billion tons can have a metal composition of about 200 million tons. The main component is iron, and the other minor components are 30 million tons of nickel, 1.5 million tons of cobalt, and platinum group. 7,500 tons of metals (silver, gold, platinum). The market value of this smallest part of the asteroid alone may exceed $150 billion.

Bisikalo said: "It is still very difficult to organize spacecraft flights for mineral exploration because the project costs a lot. But I hope that in the near future, mankind can enter space in an all-round way, and space resources will also be available by then."

This article is transferred from China Coal News Network

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