Space Colonization Thread

[jordancoles]

I never even started on the inevitable martian gold rush (something that will not occur on the moon).

Go on..

[Jalpha]

Well, it seems fairly self explanatory to me. The moon has not seen the effect of moving water while mars has. Additionally the surface of the moon is pulverised dust mostly and while that dust contains gold, it is distributed too thinly to be economically viable. Not the kind of thing a hopeful fellow could just pick up off the ground. There may be some gold on the moon but it will be extracted by industry and there will be no gold rush.

On mars however alluvial gold deposits are a near certainty. An amateur gold prospectors dream. Alluvial gold can be extracted using processes we currently already understand although air is likely to be the working "fluid" instead of water. We will see the use of things like shaker tables and compressed air blowing dust away until all that remains is a layer of gold. I am looking forward to it.

[Zentetsuken]

but what about aliens?

[Ysh]

Ship gold back from Mars sound expensive to me!

[Jalpha]

They are as afraid of us as we are of them. I wouldn't be surprised if there are latent microbes and bacteria on mars, viruses even, hidden in the dust. Until some hopeful prospector uncovers them and takes them back to his shelter. I think this will be as much alien as we will see for a very long time.

Although...

There are volcanic caves leading deep into the crust of mars. It may be possible that at a certain depth the air pressure may be high enough, the temperature warm enough and protected from radiation some kind of life may potentially exist down there waiting to eat the first cavers to go exploring.

The gold will probably never go back to earth. It will probably be bought by banks and stored on the moon in some epic price fixing scandal. It may even be held in vaults on mars if a permanent settlement arises. The gold does not need to be physically present on earth for it to contribute to the market.

[Ysh]

The gold will probably never go back to earth. It will probably be bought by banks and stored on the moon in some epic price fixing scandal. It may even be held in vaults on mars if a permanent settlement arises. The gold does not need to be physically present on earth for it to contribute to the market.

I think the men that buy gold buy it because they like to do something with it. Utility goes way down if gold is trapped on Mars!

[Jalpha]

My understanding is that most gold is held in reserve and quite little of it is actually utilised in industry however I may be wrong. In any case the gold, if utilised in industry, is likely to be utilised BEO.

[Ysh]

My understanding is that most gold is held in reserve and quite little of it is actually utilised in industry however I may be wrong.

I think idea of hold gold in reserve is that in SHTF scenario, the men holding gold will have value item to use for transaction. Gold is use as money before fiat, so if some thing goes wrong with fiat, there is this gold fallback. In this case, it is important that physical access to gold is available just in case, even if it is really never touched.

In any case the gold, if utilised in industry, is likely to be utilised BEO.

Surely there will be use for gold on Mars or in general space. Probably it is cheaper to put gold in space from Mars instead of Earth from less gravity, if lots of raw gold is need in space for some reason. But I think maybe ''Martian gold'' will have different value than ''Earth gold'' due to these difference of locality.

[Jalpha]

I am not entirely certain how martian and earth gold would be differentiated. I guess there would be like some kind of spaceport security gate on the moon probably so physical separation could be enforced.

I also feel like you are overstating individual gold purchases. Most gold will be bought by banks.

Then again the martian soil is literally full of rocket fuel so it may not be as expensive as you think to send gold from mars to earth.

[Ysh]

I am not entirely certain how martian and earth gold would be differentiated. I guess there would be like some kind of spaceport security gate on the moon probably so physical separation could be enforced.

I do not mean they will be differentiated by origin, just current location. It is like how maybe price of car is different in United States America compare to Europe. If I am in United States America and want to use this car then probably car locate in Europe will not be wise for me to buy!

I also feel like you are overstating individual gold purchases. Most gold will be bought by banks.

I do not say anything about individual gold purchase. I also think most gold is buy by banks.

Then again the martian soil is literally full of rocket fuel so it may not be as expensive as you think to send gold from mars to earth.

Maybe!