The main challenge for mining near-Earth celestial bodies is neither technology nor cost, but simply “convincing people it is realistic,” says Dr. Phil Metzger.
Miners at one of Chile's largest copper operations walked off the job on Friday morning after rejecting the majority-owner's final offer in collective wage talks.
OSIRIS-REx will collect samples from an asteroid and return them to Earth, in what it could be a pivotal step for firms currently planning to tap into the space mining business.
Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT), the state-owned company that holds the license to the deposit, has already begun evaluating bids and calculating the potential economic benefits of restarting it.
