The Moon Boom

How best to mine the moon? Yes – it can be done. The how and why were discussed at last week’s Off-Earth Mining Forum at UNSW, the first in Australia, featuring international experts and key NASA representatives.

"Australia is home to a lot of the best mining technology in the world," said Professor Andrew Dempster, director of the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER). "We have a strong technical base in mining automation and the sort of robotics that could be used in space."

Dr. Gordon Roesler agrees that Australia is in prime position in this developing sector. He says, "This is just in its infancy. So if you strike out fast, if Australia throws itself at this thing, it could really be a key player." Dr Roesler is a lunar engineer and visiting researcher at ACSER at UNSW.

 The event was a huge success and earned hefty media coverage. Here are some of the highlights:

ABC News, 18 February 2013
Mining forum looks to the moon and beyond

The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 February 2013
Cosmic quarries: a new frontier for mineral exploration

Radio National, ABC, 20 February 2013
Experts discuss future of space mining

SBS World News Australia, 21 February 2013
Space: the mining frontier

For more information and all the media stories, visit Off-Earth Mining Forum and acser.unsw.edu.au.