A Fortune in the Stars: Mining Precious Metals in Space
At a Glance:
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- Scientists have found trillions of dollars in gold, silver, platinum, and other metals in some asteroids.
- Major logistical challenges make mining these metals presently impossible.
- Some economists fear that mining these metals would collapse the Earth’s economy.
Are There Precious Metals in Space?
Just like on Earth, there are precious metals in space. The only difference is that the metals considered extraordinarily rare on our planet may be much more common in outer space. In fact, the abundance of precious metals in certain asteroids means that there could be quintillions of dollars in gold, silver, platinum, and ultra-rare rhodium floating outside the Earth’s orbit at any given moment. You read that right – asteroids discovered by researchers frequently feature hundreds of billions of dollars in rare, valuable metals.
Obviously, a windfall of that magnitude would drastically alter the economy of not only the United States, but also the entire world. Given that just over 212,500 metric tons of gold have ever been mined, introducing millions of tons to the global economy overnight would likely flood the market and, in doing so, completely destroy the value of the asset. The same goes for other precious metals. Some economists actually believe that a successful, large-scale metals mining project in space would lead to a global power struggle, resource fighting, and even the collapse of the international economy.
But before we get too ahead of ourselves, there’s another big problem to address: Is it even possible to mine metals in space? As of 2024, it is not possible for mining companies to mine the plethora of valuable precious metals present in many nearby asteroids. It will likely take many years of research before any country develops the technology necessary to identify, mine, and successfully transport precious metals from outer space to Earth.
Since everybody loves the idea of shiny metals hiding in outer space, the topic has been covered quite a bit in the news over the past couple of decades. Despite all this press interest, many questions remain unanswered when it comes to mining precious metals in space.
Intrigued? We are too. On this page, learn everything we know so far about precious metals in space, whether mining these metals is a pipe dream or a near reality, and the potential economic fallout of an actual outer space precious metals mining operation.
About the Precious Metals in Space
The vast majority of precious metal caches scientists have identified in space are located in asteroids, which are rocky, metallic objects that vary in size and orbit the Sun. The largest asteroids can be hundreds of miles long and may contain millions or billions of tons of metals. Most asteroids are made primarily of iron, nickel, and other common metals, but they also often contain very rare and valuable precious metals such as gold, platinum, rhodium, and iridium.
Consider, as an example, 16 Psyche, the “golden asteroid” that was briefly visible from Earth in August this year. Gold, nickel, and iron are the main metals that 16 Psyche is composed of, and researchers believe that the total precious metal content of the asteroid could exceed $10,000 quadrillion. That’s 100,000 times more valuable than the entire world economy, which is worth around $100 trillion. Talk about putting things into perspective! Scientists don’t quite know why 16 Psyche is filled with such a uniquely high concentration of precious metals, although some believe that it could be the leftover ruins of a “failed planet.”
16 Psyche and its $10,000 quadrillion payday of precious metals may be the most notable recent example, but the ultra-valuable asteroid certainly is not alone. Over the past couple of decades, scientists have identified thousands of nearby asteroids that may contain enough metals to significantly impact the resource distribution on planet Earth.
Mining Metals in Space – Near Reality or Pure Science Fiction?
When scientists first revealed the massive quantity of precious metals in the asteroids of outer space, governments and mining companies had one question in mind: Can we mine precious metals from asteroids? Humanity is still very far away from having the technology necessary to mine precious metals from asteroids.
Why can’t we mine metals from asteroids? Several challenges make mining asteroids presently impossible, including:
- The cost of flying to space
- The difficulty of surveying asteroids effectively
- The lack of technology suitable for extracting minerals in space
- The weight challenges posed by re-entry
It isn’t that NASA hasn’t tried, either. The OSIRIS-REx mission launched in 2016 and attempted to return a sample from an asteroid back to Earth. The mission took four years and yielded only a small amount of metal. In total, the mission is estimated to have cost NASA (and American taxpayers) over one billion dollars. If it cost that much money to return just a sample of an asteroid’s metals, how much might it cost to conduct a much larger operation to mine precious metals?
The unfortunate reality is that humanity may be quite a few years away from developing the technology we would need to capitalize on the quadrillions of dollars in raw precious metals hidden beneath the surface of asteroids like 16 Psyche. But according to some economists, our inability to extract vast quantities of precious metals from space may not be unfortunate at all.
The Little-Known Impacts of Mining Metals in Space
Obviously, learning just how much valuable metal was hidden in nearby asteroids made several industries (and governments) salivate. Having access to even just a small portion of the precious metals beneath the surface of 16 Psyche would be enough to make everyone on Earth a millionaire, right? Well, not exactly. To the contrary, some economists say that successfully mining just a small percentage of the precious metals in space could be disastrous for the global economy and community. Let’s take another look at the little-known potential impacts of mining precious metals in space.
To understand the potential downsides of mining precious metals in space, we’ll need to contextualize just how much valuable precious metals are available in space. 16 Psyche, known as the “golden asteroid,” contains an estimated $10,000 quadrillion worth of gold, nickel, and iron. To put this in perspective, that’s over 100,000 times as much money as the entire economy of Earth is worth. Needless to say, multiplying the hypothetical value of the world economy by over 100,000 times in a few years would cause a few major problems.
Asteroid Mining Could Cause Global Resource Fighting, Scientists Say
Scientists working at Tel Aviv University simulated what a hypothetical space mineral mining economy would look like in the short and long-term, and their findings were shocking. These researchers anticipate that a “global struggle for resources and power” would begin almost immediately once the vast resources yielded by space mining is introduced into the world economy. With just a single shipment of minerals from space, researchers project a 50% reduction in the spot price of gold. And that’s just with one shipment – imagine several decades of a constant influx of nearly inconceivable quantities of gold, platinum, and rhodium from outer space.
Asteroid Mining Could Destroy Developing Economies, Too!
Researchers at Tel Aviv also concluded that mining in outer space would wreak havoc on developing economies. Many developing countries rely on profits from resource extraction in order to obtain funds for infrastructure, education, and other projects fundamental to their long-term development. Since asteroid mining would introduce billions of ounces of core metals into the economy and crash the value of these metals, it is likely that a large-scale asteroid mining project would make it nearly impossible for developing nations to compete with developed economies on the international market.
This problem of inequity following a major asteroid mining project is compounded by the lack of advanced spaceflight resources available to developing countries. If asteroid mining became a realistic possibility, only very advanced space programs in countries like the United States, Russia, and select other nations would be capable of leveraging the new technology to mine metals from asteroids. Developing countries without established space exploration programs would be unable to compete, making them more susceptible to economic collapse as the resource disparity between developed and developing countries grows.
Will the World’s First Trillionaire be an Asteroid Miner?
Asteroid mining has the potential to be disastrous for the economy if the project is mismanaged, but not everyone would be losers in a world where mining in space becomes the norm. Several experts argue that mining asteroids may be the mega-industry of the future. Most notable, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson argued that the world’s first trillionaire will be someone who manages to capitalize on the vast store of wealth hidden in the asteroids of our solar system.
Tyson had this to say about the potential of asteroid mining for whichever billionaire first figures out how to do it:
The first trillionaire there will ever be is the person who exploits the natural resources on asteroids.
Several firms have popped up in an attempt to become the first company to crack the code for mining the asteroids of our solar system. In 2023, Elon Musk’s SpaceX partnered with AstroForge, a California-based company that seeks to develop space mining technology. The startup is currently raising funds but successfully launched an exploratory spaceship in April of 2023. AstroForge is poised to be one of the leading privately owned companies in the space mining industry, although they remain far from discovering solutions to the litany of problems that currently make asteroid mining impossible.
The Potential Benefits of Asteroid Mining
Although we’ve already covered that asteroid mining could have disastrous consequences for the global economy here on Earth, there’s a reason why mining in space has become a major area of scientific research and public interest. Mineral scarcity and inequitable access to precious metals remain some of the most pressing concerns in the modern global economy. This isn’t a problem limited to the most expensive metals, either. The global deficit for silver, a core component of modern clean energy technologies, continues to grow from year to year.
Access to copper is also a major barrier to international infrastructural development. According to one study, the global economy is poised to produce enough copper to meet just 70% of demand by 2035. For lithium, the situation is even more dire; the global community will only achieve production equal to half of the world’s demand one decade from now.
If properly managed, mining asteroids could be one way to provide the Earth with access to the precious metals that it needs in its quickly developing global economy. Advocates say that fast-tracking developing countries’ access to space mining technologies could be one way to address the threat of inequity posed by the development of a global asteroid mining industry. Carefully managing the influx of new resources to avoid crashing metal prices could mitigate the risk of resource wars in the years (and decades) following the discovery of a viable process for extracting minerals from space.
What’s all of this mean? Well, it may be possible to explore a future of asteroid mining without posing substantial risks to the global economy and the viability of developing nations that rely on mineral mining for core infrastructural development. Despite these possibilities, scientists and politicians still have quite a bit to figure out before humanity is able to harness the vast wealth of our solar system’s asteroids for a more prosperous and equitable future.
Final Thoughts: A Fortune in the Stars
If scientists manage to crack the code and overcome several key obstacles, mining precious metals from asteroids could result in the largest influx of material wealth the planet Earth has ever seen. But although experts have identified at least one asteroid with precious metals worth over 100,000 times the value of the planet’s economy, we’re still quite far from being able to capitalize on this unbelievable yield of valuable metals.
Even if asteroid mining becomes a possibility, the industry could prove disastrous for the world economy, and especially for developing nations whose economies rely on traditional mineral mining to survive. As startup firms race to become the first company to successfully mine metals in space, researchers here on Earth are working hard to figure out how to make the future of asteroid mining a future we can all enjoy.
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About The Author
Michael Roets
Michael Roets is a writer and journalist for Hero Bullion. His work explores precious metals news, guides, and commentary.