This Asteroid May be the Shard of a Dead Protoplanet

upstart writes:

This Asteroid May Be the Shard of a Dead Protoplanet:

Lead author Juan Sanchez and a team of scientists analyzed the spectrum of asteroid 1986 DA, a member of a rare class of metal-rich, near-Earth asteroids. They found the surface of this particular space rock to be 85% metallic, likely including iron, nickel, cobalt, copper, gold, and platinum group metals prized for industrial uses, from cars to electronics.

With the exception of gold and copper, they estimate the mass of these metals would exceed their global reserves on Earth-in some cases by an order of magnitude (or more).

The team also put a dollar figure on the asteroid's economic value.

If mined and marketed over a period of 50 years, 1986 DA's precious metals would bring in some $233 billion a year for a total haul of $11.65 trillion. (That takes into account the deflationary effect the flood of new supply would have on the market.) It probably wouldn't make sense to bring home metals like iron, nickel, and cobalt, which are common on Earth, but they could be used to build infrastructure in orbit and on the moon and Mars.

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