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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday April 08 2017, @12:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the oye-beltalowda dept.

Goldman Sachs says mining platinum from asteroids is a way for bankers to earn billions and is a realistic goal. Goldman Sachs is bullish on space mining with "asteroid-grabbing spacecraft." In a 98-page note for clients, analyst Noah Poponak and his team argue that platinum mining in space is getting cheaper and easier, and the rewards are becoming greater as time goes by.

"Prospecting probes can likely be built for tens of millions of dollars each and Caltech has suggested an asteroid-grabbing spacecraft could cost $2.6bn." It is believed an asteroid the size of a football field could be worth up to £40 billion. However, bringing that much platinum back to Earth is likely to crash the precious metal market - and probably the rest of the economy with it.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by archfeld on Saturday April 08 2017, @02:41AM (7 children)

    by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Saturday April 08 2017, @02:41AM (#490669) Journal

    What isn't realistic is Goldman Sachs, BofA, Wells Fargo, Chase Financial, HSBC, Lloyds, Banco Satander, UBS, and their ilk following the laws and not bilking, milking, or outright stealing money and then lying, cheating, omitting, misdirecting under oath about it.
        What is even scarier is when you have the technical capability to go grab an asteroid and mine from it, what is to prevent said company or 'terrorists' from then just dropping asteroids like a warheads any where they feel like it.

    --
    For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @03:28AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @03:28AM (#490684)

    What is even scarier is when you have the technical capability to go grab an asteroid and mine from it, what is to prevent said company or 'terrorists' from then just dropping asteroids like a warheads any where they feel like it.

    Earth to archfeld, Earth to archfeld!
    You think that a megacorp can nuke a city and not suffer any consequences.
    Really?
    Come on. That would be corporate suicide, the entire C-suite would go to jail, probably get the death penalty. The company would be torn apart by outrage over mass murder.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @04:57AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @04:57AM (#490701)

      Actually, I would love to see the contortions the masters of the universe go through to prevent the corporate veil from being pierced.

      Then I would be saddened when the masses allowed the C-suite to go scot free.

      The media hold incredible powers of mass manipulation—just look how they've got everyone kvetching about gays instead of directing their anger at being exploited somewhere it would actually be productive.

    • (Score: 2) by archfeld on Saturday April 08 2017, @06:50AM (2 children)

      by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Saturday April 08 2017, @06:50AM (#490734) Journal

      No I really don't think a legal corporation would massacre a city, or continent, no profit in it. I also don't think a corporation could secure their own ass from determined hackers, or a suicide terrorist take over. Look at what suicide bombers have been able to do ground based with little or no tools. Just imagine if they got into a position inside the operation of something like this. I will readily admit it is far fetched but so was terrorists having access to nerve gas 20 years ago. Remember this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster [wikipedia.org]
      or this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_subway_sarin_attack [wikipedia.org]
      or even this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks [wikipedia.org]

      All of those read like plots from bad Sci-Fi books...

      --
      For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @08:46AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 08 2017, @08:46AM (#490771)

        I will readily admit it is far fetched but so was terrorists having access to nerve gas 20 years ago.

        Thats stupid logic.
        Something unlikely once happened so something on a totally different scale of unlikely is also gonna happen.
        Nobody is going to drop an asteroid on a city out of the blue.
        Not only would the 'terrorists' have to pull off a massive, well-organized plan that would be the equal of commandeering the entire operation of SpaceX or its equivalent, they would have to keep it secret for months from all of the people with telescopes and radar who would see the asteroid coming.

        • (Score: 2) by archfeld on Saturday April 08 2017, @07:00PM

          by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Saturday April 08 2017, @07:00PM (#490934) Journal

          Of course, did you follow the conversation as a whole at all ? The entire premise is based on asteroid mining and the technology to do so becoming a reality. Goldman Sachs speculates out of the blue that asteroid mining is a potential reality in some 'near future' my response is based on that bit of fluff actually bearing fruit rather than being a vapor dream of some investment seeking hedge fund parasite. I know it is a stretch, but try reading before replying.

          --
          For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by lx on Saturday April 08 2017, @06:42AM

    by lx (1915) on Saturday April 08 2017, @06:42AM (#490728)

    what is to prevent said company or 'terrorists' from then just dropping asteroids like a warheads any where they feel like it.

    Celestial mechanics.
    It takes a surprising amount of energy to change an asteroid orbit this much on a realistic timescale. Orders of magnitude larger than bringing down a couple of tons of refined platinum.

  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday April 08 2017, @09:52AM

    by kaszz (4211) on Saturday April 08 2017, @09:52AM (#490782) Journal

    Enjoy "accidental de-orbit" and fruitless lawsuit like in Bhopal. Global dust pollution from mining operations. Infectious diseases from space repositories.

    There's observations that pathogens from earth that has spent time in micro gravity vacuum and returns are stronger.. The Spanish flue of 1918 seemed to have initiated in a few very distant locations that were further apart than could be traveled fast enough by either birds or humans to explain it. But consistent with dust contamination from orbit.

    If any larger object is to be taken "here". Then let it orbit around the moon. The consequences of accidents are way less there.