News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Company backed by James Cameron & Google founders may min... by redthrowaway on Wednesday April 18, 2012 @05:39PM (#3860358)
Gold is rare everywhere; is there any evidence that there's a large amount of it floating around the asteroid belt?
Re:Company backed by James Cameron & Google founders may min... by maaku on Wednesday April 18, 2012 @07:19PM (#3860695)
Yes, because Gold is not rare everywhere, just in the Earth's crust because of gravity differentiation (Gold sinks--there's probably quite a bit of it in the mantle/core).

There are individual asteroids out there with more platinum-group elements than has been extracted from the Earth in all of human history.

Re:Company backed by James Cameron & Google founders may min... by nerfhammer on Wednesday April 18, 2012 @06:58PM (#3860658)
Yes. 433 Eros is estimated to contain something on the order of $100 trillion worth, with similar amounts of other valuable elements.

There is some evidence that most of the precious metal deposits on earth came from collisions with such asteroids.

Re:Company backed by James Cameron & Google founders may min... by a_m_kelly on Wednesday April 18, 2012 @08:53PM (#3860923)
I've done quite a bit of looking around re: 433 Eros's composition. I have found very little to suggest to me that there's large amounts of valuable minerals there. Can you cite someone that's done a composition extimate? This: http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Feb02/eros.html suggests such estimates are spotty at best, since the formation of the object hasn't even fully been agreed upon.

I'd welcome the evidence about precious metals coming from collisions, that meshes with some of my understanding of the early solar system, but would be glad to know more.

Re:Company backed by James Cameron & Google founders may min... by davyjones on Wednesday April 18, 2012 @10:43PM (#3861165)
Does that estimate take into account the way such vast amounts affect the price curve? I would think that the gold price will fall if it is available in abundance.