Hatrack River Writers Workshop: 20 Trillion Dollars

This is topic 20 Trillion Dollars in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Matt Lust (Member # 3031) on :

Another really interesting Article on Space Development

20 trillion dollars just waiting to be picked up

But it takes money to get money. I wish I had a spare billion or 20 lying around.

Posted by pantros (Member # 3237) on :

How do you smelt ore in space?

Would you really mine metal in space then try to land it softly on Earth? Would the metal be worth more than the fuel required to get it to the surface?

All that metal might be nice to have, but since we are sitting on a million times that, why go to space for it. Of course the logical answer is to build things in space with materials in space. Which brings us back to ... How do you smelt ore in space?

Posted by Keeley (Member # 2088) on :

Is there red tape in space?

If I had a choice of either trying to extract natural resources here on earth where I will inevitably run into a bureaucrat somewhere, or the chance to mine on a distant planet that's outside any bureaucracy, I would (in my sick little bottom-line way) mine the unclaimed planet.

Haven't read the article yet. Will do so now.

Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :

I haven't read the article yet, but space mining does make sense in the future. For instance, scientists believe that there is more copper in use or in landfills, then there is in the earth to mine. Essential minerals could conceivably run out in the next century or so.

The logistics are a nightmare, however, a space elevator would seem a better method of transport down to the Earth, once the ore is in orbit.

Just read the article:

Wow. That asteriod could set off a war.

[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited March 02, 2006).]

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

Landing something isn't a problem, you just attach a simple heat shield and let the atmosphere slow it down most of the way. As for the metals available, it's worth remembering that a lot of metals that are very rare on Earth's surface are more abundant in space. And they're worth a lot for the mass you need to divert.

Posted by Matt Lust (Member # 3031) on :

Survivors dead on

by the way Pantros

Just the cobat alone at 8 trillion dollars (current market price is like 25 USD/lb) is looking something in the neighborhood of

8,000,000,000,000/25= 320,000,000,000 lbs or 1,600,000,000 short tons (2000lbs/ton)

Further more its 2 KM in size when was the last time you could pin point a 2km area and say hey! this is worth 20 Trillion dollars?

Just the scope of that alone is worth fighting a war over.

The below link is rather out of date but in 1982 the us considered cobalt a strategic mineral.
Cobalt as Stragetic Mineral

Posted by Ted Galacci (Member # 3254) on :

I recommend Alexi Gilliand's old Rosinante trilogy, which centers on a space based mining operation. Fascinating details well thought out. hey're very old, you would probably need to look for them in a used paperback store.

Lack of gravity could be a blessing and a curse in smelting. Likewise the lack of atmosphere.

A large lump of asteroid heated up to the melting point of iron would foam as much of the other stuff turned into gas but can't seperate out because there's not enough gravity. Preasures would build in pockets and suddenly escape in random directions, making quite a mess of your mining operation.

To smelt in space you would want to first break your ore up so that it can't trap the out gasses. You might also want to roast it to make some things gas out first. This is already done with many ores to reduce their weight for shipping.

Next you put your ore in sealed crucible. Use solar mirrors or electric induction to heat the stuff up. You can inject oxygen just like modern terrestial steelmills do to oxidize out the impurities.

Spin your crucible to cause centripital seperation of the liquid metals and tap out the perimeter. The heaviest metals will squirt out like a pinwheel, radiate their heat and cool into pellets that will impact on a belt-like target.

Lots of experimentation is required. But it can be done on a vast scale because your structures won't have to stand up to planetary gravity.

Timing is everything. The first stuff out would probably be a soup of rare and heavy metals that you would send off somewhere for further refining.

Even if it was 90% iron and 10% rare metals, it would be an incredibly profitable commodity to sell and probably pay for the whole operation right there. "Good morning, the price per megaton of 'first tap' on the Ceres market rose seven tenths on announcement of the approval of the..."

Can you picture it?

[This message has been edited by Ted Galacci (edited March 04, 2006).]