The process involves combining processed air, dirt and sunlight on Mars to create metallic iron.

The miner is preparing for two rounds of layoffs to take effect on Sept. 25 and Oct. 11, if it doesn't obtain a permit to continue extracting 6 million tonnes of iron ore a year.

The development of earth’s solid inner core had everything to do with the rejuvenation of the swirling liquid iron in the planet’s outer core, which generates its protective magnetic field, something that Mars doesn’t have.