Are there trillions of dollars of precious metals in the Moon's craters?

New research suggests that thousands of impact craters on the Moon may contain large amounts of platinum, palladium and rhodium, opening up the prospect of space mining worth trillions of dollars.

Before humans launched probes to mine precious metals on asteroids, it is possible that on the Moon itself there existed huge reserves of valuable minerals such as platinum - Photo: NASA

In a study published in the journal Planetary and Space Science , an international team of scientists led by independent astronomer Jayanth Chennamangalam said platinum-group metals, including platinum, palladium and rhodium, could be distributed in about 6,500 asteroid impact craters on the Moon's surface.

These craters were formed from billions of years of cosmic collisions, in which many metal-rich meteorites crashed and left their mark.

Typically, when an asteroid impacts, much of the material is heated and vaporized. Under certain conditions, a significant portion may survive, deposited in the rock layer below the impact crater. In particular, large and complex craters are considered potential places to find remnants of meteorites rich in precious metals.

It is estimated that the pits larger than 1km alone could contain trillions of dollars worth of precious metals. If the survey scope is narrowed down, there are about 40 super-large pits with diameters of over 19km that are believed to be the places with the most ore concentration.

The Psyche asteroid is 226km (140 miles) wide and is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid is thought to be rich in metals - Photo: NASA

Scientists believe that mining metals from the Moon could offer distinct advantages over mining directly from asteroids orbiting the Sun. One reason is that the Moon is closer to Earth, easier to reach, and is also a “natural repository” as many asteroid impacts have left mineral deposits on its surface.

In recent years, the idea of ​​exploiting minerals in space has attracted increasing attention from scientists and investors. The reason is that the metal resources on Earth are limited, while space contains huge reserves.

A previous study found that the iron in the asteroid belt alone is millions of times greater than the known iron ore reserves on Earth, enough to last for centuries.

In addition to metals, mining missions to the Moon could also help develop technology to extract water from the rock layer, paving the way for major advances in further space exploration.

Mining on the Moon is still an idea in the research and simulation stages. However, this discovery has led many experts to believe that instead of sending mining ships to distant asteroids, exploiting impact craters on Earth's natural satellite could be a much more feasible, economical and profitable option.

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MINH HAI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-hang-nghin-ti-usd-kim-loai-quy-trong-cac-ho-mat-trang-20250926223003114.htm