AI generated.
You're correct that not all asteroids are rich in precious metals like gold and platinum.
Most asteroids are composed of a mix of materials, including rock, metal, and ice, and only a subset, particularly metallic asteroids, contain significant amounts of these valuable metals.
For instance, the most promising targets for mining are M-type asteroids, which are believed to have higher concentrations of metals. However, the overall abundance of these asteroids in the asteroid belt is relatively low compared to the total number of asteroids.
Additionally, the logistics and costs associated with asteroid mining are substantial, which means that even if some asteroids do contain valuable metals, the economic feasibility of extracting and transporting them back to Earth remains a significant challenge.
Thus, while the potential for wealth exists, the reality of mining asteroids is complex and not guaranteed to lead to an oversupply of precious metals.
In other words, what little is out there, stays out there. We live in a gravity well, that costs to move anything.
Just transporting it to the earth is costly. These metals have a lot of mass to move hundreds of millions of miles. Not just 12 thousand miles, for half way around the world.
The more dense the mass, the greater the costs move it.
