EXPLORATION / DEVELOPMENT

"The first trillionaire in the world will be the person who mines asteroids"

The allure of asteroid mining has prompted a US company to announce a US$100 million venture capital fund to investigate the potential of asteroids in near-Earth orbit.

Staff reporter
SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy as space and its potential becomes within easier reach

SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy as space and its potential becomes within easier reach

"Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson says the first trillionaire in the world will be the person who mines asteroids," metals.com said in a statement last week.

The company said scientific missions to bring back asteroid samples to Earth were underway and the company's fund would "develop a carbonyl process for mining", saying this involved passing carbon monoxide over the asteroid at a temperature between 50C-60C, then nickel, iron, platinum and gold could be removed at higher temperatures.

It said university students from 14 countries around the world were welcome to compete for a piece of the fund for a manned mission to a captured asteroid in lunar orbit.

"Our initial $100 million-dollar venture capital fund to back university students demonstrates our strong commitment to support the global space sector by attracting innovative talent in space resource with technologically advanced innovation," the company's chief futurist John Crestani said.

The company said many of the headlines about space innovation were dominated by private rocket companies, like Elon Musk's SpaceX, which launched its new Falcon Heavy rocket on Tuesday afternoon from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Other companies are looking into asteroid mining potential and gold major Barrick Gold (CN:ABX) last year swapped tips with Planetary Resources which has interstellar mining goals.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Investor Sentiment Report 2024

Survey revealing the plans, priorities, and preferences of 120+ mining investors and their expectations for the sector in 2024.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Mining Equities Report 2023

Access an exclusive, inside look on the quarterly mining IPOs and secondary raisings data and mining equities performance tables with an annual Stock Exchange Comparisons supplement.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence World Risk Report 2023 (feat. MineHutte ratings)

A detailed analysis of mining investment risks across 121 jurisdictions globally, built on 11 ‘hard risk’ metrics and an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2023: Social licence

Gain insights into social licence trends and best practices from interviews with 20+ top mining company executives and an industrywide survey.