Physicist Says Asteroid Mining Ventures Will Spawn First Trillionaire

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30, 2018 -- A recent US law says American companies can keep resources they obtain in space. When it comes to space innovation many of the headlines about space are dominated by private rocket companies, like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson says the first trillionaire in the world will be the person who mines asteroids. Asteroid mining is an appealing prospect to commercial companies, and with good reason; space rocks harbor valuable raw metals such as iron, nickel, and platinum. 

NASA has identified more than 12,000 asteroids within approximately 45 million kilometers of our planet. Geologists believe they are packed with iron ore, nickel and precious metals at much higher concentrations than those found on Earth. Scientific missions to bring back asteroid samples to Earth are underway and metals.com has announced a $100 Million dollar venture capital fund to develop a carbonyl process for mining. This involves passing carbon monoxide over the asteroid at a temperature between 50° and 60°C, then nickel, iron, platinum and gold can be removed at higher temperatures. 

Executives at metals.com are early backers of the largest fleet of orbiting satellites in human history founded by former employees of NASA with more than 200 satellites orbiting the globe. University students from 14 countries around the world are welcome to compete for a piece of the $100 million dollar metals venture capital fund for a manned mission to a captured asteroid in lunar orbit — a project very much like the one NASA hopes to achieve by 2025. Although asteroid mining is most likely to produce the next trillionaire, MIT recommends that funding for asteroid mining come from the private sector. In a statement, Beverly Hills based Chief Futurist John Crestani says, "Our initial $100 million-dollar venture capital fund to back University students demonstrates our strong commitment to support the global space sector by attracting innovative talent in space resource with technologically advanced innovation." 

Metals.com is the #1 name in metals and has created one of the world’s first venture capital vehicles to fund the ongoing development and research of the 12,000 asteroids within 45 million kilometers of Earth.

Tiffany Terrell
Phone: (877) 669-2621
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metals.com