MINING THE MOON : WHAT IS THE PAYOFF ?
‘ One of the main attractions for Moon mining is helium-3 . According to many Chinese scientists , it could help “ solve energy demand for 10,000 years at least .’
the moon – many of which have been unappreciated until now .
“ The M3 experiment detected a new lunar rock – a unique mixture of plain-old plagioclase – plentiful in the Earth ’ s crust and the Moon ’ s highlands 0 and pink spinel , an especially beautiful arrangement of magnesium , aluminum , and oxygen that , in its purest forms , is prized as a gemstone here on Earth .”
According to Crawford , the Moon could also harbor other rare earth elements such as uranium and thorium , including other elements we ’ re unfamiliar with .
“ It ’ s entirely possible that when we really explore the Moon properly we will find higher concentrations of some of these materials … materials that are not resolvable by orbital remote sensing ,” Crawford said . He added , “ To explore the whole moon at the level of detail required , that ’ s a big undertaking . But long term , we should be keeping an open mind to that .”
The demand for rare earth elements ( REE ) is dramatically growing . In 2010 , China exported roughly 97 percent of the global supply of rare earth elements , and the demand continues to grow by 10 to 12 percent per year .
The Chinese industry , however , has expressed in the past that it is not interested in selling these products to other countries in unlimited amounts on an indefinite basis . The country has stated the rest of the world should start finding its own way of obtaining them . With that said , the U . S ., Canada , and other countries need to start the necessary steps to encourage domestic mining .
How will it work ? When discussing the collection , extraction and utilization of lunar resources , the single biggest question is , “ how ?”
“ Lunar resource exploration should be based on the same methods that have guided humans on their
11