Economic geology evaluation of lunar He-3 should answer the question: Can lunar He-3 be sold on Earth with sufficient profit margins and low enough risk to attract capital investment in the enterprise. Concepts that relate to economic geology of recovering He-3 from the lunar maria are not new to human experience. A parametric cost and technology evaluation scheme, based on existing and future data, is required to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the comprehensive economic feasibility and return on investment of He-3 recovery from the lunar maria. There are also many political issues which must be considered as a result of nuclear fusion and lunar mining

Schmitt, Harrison H.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF LUNAR HELIUM-3 
H a r r i s o n  H.  Schmitt  
P . O .  Box 14338 
Albuquerque, NM 87191 
147 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19890005478 2020-03-20T05:09:28+00:00Z
PREFACE 
The end of the Apollo Program found humankind, and the United 
States in particular, on the verge of the establishment; of bases on 
the moon, research stations in earth-orbit, and the statement of a 
realistic goal of a permanent foothold on Mars by the end of the 
Century. In the motto of the last Apollo mission to the moon, this 
could have been "The End of the Beginning." 
This opportunity was not grasped. Consequently, it falls to 
the current generation to re-ignite John F. Kennedy's torch for 
space. The emotional and economic energy for that torch could be 
supplied by helium-3, rare on Earth, but discovered and sampled (see 
reports summarized by Taylor, 1982) by the Apollo astronauts and 
scientists. Helium-3 and several other potentially valuable 
by-products of its production are slowly but continuously implanted 
in the lunar soils by the solar wind. The workers at the Wisconsin 
Fusion Technology Institute, "Astrofuel" (Wisconsin, 1988). Some of 
the important results of the Wisconsin analysis are summarized here. 
Inherently safe and potentially low cost fusion reactors fueled 
by helium-3 might become the basis for producing large quantities of 
continuously available electrical power in space, for highly 
efficient space propulsion to and from Mars, and for life giving 
by-products that insure the self-sufficiency of settlements on the 
moon (Kulcinski and Schmitt, 1987). Indeed, fusion power plants 
fueled by helium-3 from the moon could supply the electrical energy 
human civilization will require to maintain and expand its quality 
of life as we enter the Third Millennium (Wittenberg, et al, 1986) 
and as we move that civilization toward the stars. 
A preliminary estimate (Kulcinski and Schmitt, 1987) of the 
commercial price of lunar helium-3 delivered to the Earth in the 
first quarter of the 21st Century is about $1 billion per metric 
tonne. This is roughly equivalent to $7 per barrel oil at today's 
prices. Its value today is about $2 billion per tonne if matched 
against the cost of fuels currently used to produce electricity. 
The foregoing estimates also do not take into account the value of 
by-products from lunar helium-3 production that will be needed in 
space or the value of the spin-off of Astrofuel related technologies. 
over other nuclear cycles include: 
The principle advantages of the helium-3 fusion power cycle 
1. About 99 percent of the energy released is in charged particles 
(protons) that are non-radioactive and that induce no radioactivity 
in other materials. 
148 
2. High efficiency (70-80 percent) in energy conversion due to the 
direct conversion of charged particles to electricity. 
3. Less waste heat to be rejected due to high efficiency. 
4 .  Energy of the few neutrons released (1 percent of total energy) 
is only one-fourth that released in other fusion cycles and create 
no significant quantities of long lived radioactive waste. 
5 .  A potentially shorter time to licensed commercialization than 
for other fusion cycles due to absence of significant radioactivity 
and waste heat. 
If our estimates of the price of delivered helium-3 for 
deuterium/helium-3 power plants prove correct, such power plants 
will provide much lower cost electricity as well as much less 
environmental impact than other potentially competing power sources 
in the 21st Century. 
The only major technical disadvantage of the deuterium/ 
helium-3 fusion cycle is that the iqnition temperature required to 
initiate fusion is ahout four times higher that for the competing 
deuterium/tritium cycle. This disadvantage appears to be becoming 
less and less significant as new fusion confinement technologies are 
developed. 
Sufficient helium-3 is available on Earth (largely from 
tritium decay and natural gas) for development and prototype 
testing of deuterium/helium-3 power plants. Therefore, the primary 
issues that must be addressed to determine the feasibility of a 
commercial helium-3 industry are, first, the technical and ecoromic 
feasibility of deuterium/heliurn-3 commercial reactors and, sec-nd, 
the technical and economic feasibility of providing lunar helium-3 
to fuel such reactors. This second issue can be resolved 
objectively through the art and science of economic geology. The 
outline that follows summarizes the parameters that would need to 
be considered in an analysis of the economic geology of lunar 
helium-3. (This Preface was derived from the Introduction of a 
paper by Schmitt, 1988.) 
INTRODUCTION 
Economic geology evaluations of Lunar He-3 should answer the 
question: Can lunar He-3 be sold on Earth with sufficient profit 
margins and low enough risk to attract capital investment in the 
enterprise? 
Potential Value of the Resource/tonne 
He-3 : $1-2 Billion/tonne 
Equivalent to a value of $6-12/tonne of regolith mined 
as compared to about $220/tonne for calcined kaolin ore 
149 
$3/tonne for rutile ore, and $220/tonne for perlite 
filter aid ore. The profit margin within each of these 
values is about 30-50%. 
By-products for use in space: $1 Billion/tonne He-3 
Potential Resource Base 
1,000,000 tonnes He-3 
Probable Recoverable Reserves 
25 tonnes He-3/km2 of high Ti regolith mined to 3 m depth with 
6 0 %  recovery of 30 ppm He average grade (after Cameron, 1988). 
Demand 
Unknown at this time, but potentially 100,s of tonnes by 2050. 
Parameters to Consider in Economic Geology Evaluations 
Geo 1 ogy 
Exploration 
Access 
Mine Planning 
Mining 
Beneficiation 
Processing 
Support 
Finances 
Politics 
GEOLOGY 
Gener a1 
Regional Targets 
Known old (mature) high Ti maria 
High proportion of agglutinates and ilmenite 
Low proportion of coarse grained material 
Inferred high-Ti Maria 
Candidate Mine Site Considerations 
Regolith Depth 
Boulder Distribution 
Low Grade Unit Distribution 
Low Recovery Unit Distribution 
Available Dump Sites 
150 
General Regolith Geology Considerations 
Compos it ion 
Fragment/size distribution 
Heterogeneities 
Regolith Breccia/Agglutinates 
Cold Traps for He-3 that will enhance grade 
New Data Required 
First basic question is: Can sites for He-3 mining be selected 
from existing data with sufficient confidence to attract 
investors? 
Answer is: We don’t know yet, but is it worth investing 
significant resources to find out? 
Second basic question is: Can D/He-3 fusion development 
proceed without the proof of He-3 reserves on the moon that 
can support commercialization? 
Answer is: Probably not beyond the research phase, 
Precursor Missions (if existing data proves to be insufficient to 
attract investors) 
Target best candidate sites 
Evaluate based on set criteria 
Pick first site that meets criteria 
ACCESS 
Logistics Support Costs 
Earth to moon 
People/consumables/equipment 
He-3/people 
Consumables (by-products) Launch Frequency 
Moon to Earth 
Moon to space 
Flight/Delivery Risk 
Early Apollo belt 
Other regions 
151 
EXPLORATION AND MINE PLANNING 
Concepts are similar to large tonnage mineral sands dredging 
Grade distribution/variation 
Millions of tons/yr. of low grade material 
Drill and sample operations 
Large crater distribution 
Large boulder distribution 
Mine location 
Determined by access to adequate reserves over time at 
maximum grade with minimum of impediments to mining 
Dump/tailings sites (if other than behind the miner) 
MINING 
Concepts are similar to large tonnage mineral sands mining 
operat ions. 
Mining Equipment 
Million tonnes/yr. 
Reliability/low maintenance/automation 
Equipment mass (stability during mining) 
Low Temperature ( - 5 0  C.) operation at mining face 
Mining/Beneficiation/Processing 
Combined/tandem/separated 
Human presence requirements 
Mine Plan 
Operational Cycle Limitations 
Large Boulders 
Mining Support Base 
Pilot Plant and Reserve Delineation 
Power/maintenance/processing capacity 
Sensing/removal 
Fixed/semimobile/mobile 
May be undertaken in conjunction with early base for 02 
production for space transportation (see scenario of Schmitt, 
1988, for example). 
152 
BENEFICIATION 
Concepts are related to mineral sand beneficiation Initial 
Separation of He-3 rich and He-3 poor Material 
Attritioning, grinding 
Screens, vibrators, material handling, and evolved gas 
Grain size vs. electrostatic and/or magnetic susceptibility 
Middlings circuits 
Concentration of retort feed 
Middlings circuit 
Retort Extraction of gases 
Thermal power (solar vs. nuclear)/corrosion control/ 
loss control (surface area about 0 . 5  m2/gm) 
Excitation (sonic, microwave) 
Preparation for Concentration of Retort Feed 
Transport of gases to processing plant vs. transport of retort feed 
to combined benefication and processing plant 
PROCESSING 
Concepts similar to Hg ore and oil shale processing and crude o i l  
refining. 
Thermal Power 
Solar/Nuclear 
Corrosion Control 
Heat recovery 
Condensation and separation of products 
Radiator size 
Lunar night operation 
He-3 separation on moon or on Earth 
Liquefaction of H2 and He 
Power/maintenance/mining and benefication capacity 
Storage 
Operational Cycle Limitations 
153 
SUPPORT 
Concepts similar to North Slope crude oil production support 
Lunar base services 
Habitat/food/landing and launch services/health maintenance/ 
recreation/consumables production 
Spares/new construction/personnel replacement and additions 
Earth to Moon logistics 
Moon to Earth Logistics 
Moon to Space Logistics 
Consumables export 
Other Tenant services 
Scienze 
Propellant supply 
Food production 
Special site preparation (radioteloscope,mass drivers, 
habitats ) 
Settlement utilities and services (company town) 
Possible tenant interactions 
Public order 
Lunar atmosphere 
Seismic noise 
FINANCIAL 
D/He-3 fusion development and lunar He-3 mining development must 
proceed in parallel 
Management Organization 
Operating Plan 
Capital Acquisition and Cost 
Budgeting 
Product Pricing 
Marketing 
Margins controls 
Personnel 
Training 
154 
Inventory Management 
Imports (reliability of supply) 
Exports (reliability of supply) 
Discards 
Purchasing 
R 81 D and Exploration 
Environmental Control 
Economies of Scale 
Energy Pay-back 
Price of competitive energy sources 
CONCLUSIONS 
1. Concepts that relate to economic geology of recovering He-3 
from the lunar maria are not new to human experience. 
Space Operations 
Lunar Operations 
Large tonnage mining 
Beneficiation of low grade detrital resources 
Processing by thermal methods 
Logistical support of large scale commercial and 
scientific operations in remote locations 
Financial support and management of large scale commercial 
operations 
A parametric cost and technology evaluation scheme, based on 
existing and future data, is required to qualitatively and 
quantitatively asses the comprehensive economic feasibility and 
Return on Investment of He-3 recovery from the lunar maria. 
2 .  
Early outputs from this evaluation should include: 
A .  Candidate mining sites based on existing data 
B. Additional earth-based studies and data acquisition required 
to further evaluate the candidate sites. 
C. Types of data from additional automated or human exploration 
required to further evaluate the candidate sites. 
155 
D. Types of data from engineering, financial, and mission 
planning activities required to further evaluate economic 
feasibility and ROI of lunar He-3 recovery. 
E. Detailed scenarios for the initiation and operation of a 
lunar base or settlement for He-3 production. 
3. Detailed plans for the research, development, and construction 
leading to commercial use of D/He-3 fusion technology are 
required in order to assess the economic, societal, and 
political value of He-3 supplies from the moon. 
POLITICAL CONCLUSIONS 
1. D/He-3 fusion and lunar He-3 mining will not become commercially 
viable or politically assured without the active and politically 
visible participation of large numbers of interested voters (2- 3000 
per Congressional District) who support a "second to none" U.S. 
presence in space. 
for this purpose. 
A private sector effort should be organized 
2. International cooperation, if any, should be based on user 
interests (such as the INTERLUNE concept described by Schmitt, 
1988) rather than on one nation/one vote interests. Law of the 
sea/Moon Treaty international regimes should be avoided in order to 
not delay resource related activities indefinitely. 
3. Interagency, cooperation (NASA, DOE, etc.) should be based on 
each agency's specific and long term commitment of both funds and 
personnel slots to a joint management team. 
4 .  Informal coordination and discussion between all interested 
parties should continue to be encouraged and facilitated by NASA as 
has been done so well at thi.s workshop. 
REFERENCES 
Cameron, E. (1988) Mining for helium - site selection and 
evaluation, Second SymPosium on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of 
the 21st Century, April7, 1988, Houston. 
Joyner, C.C. and Schmitt, H.H. (1985) Extraterrestrial law and lunar 
bases: General legal principles and a particular regime proposal 
(INTERLUNE), in Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st 
Century, W.W. Mendell, editor, LPI, Houston. 
Kulcinski, G.L., and Schmitt, H.H. (1987) The moon: An abundant 
source of clean and safe fusion fuel for the 21st Century, Presented 
at the 11th International Scientific Forum on Fueling the 21st 
Century, 29 Sep-6 Oct. 1987, Moscow, USSR. 
156 
Schmitt, H.H. (1986) Lunar base network activation scenario, in 
Final Report: Lunar Power Systems, NASA-JSC Contract NAS9-17359. 
Schmitt, H.H. (1988) Interlune: A management concept for lunar 
helium-3 extraction, Second Symposium on Lunar Bases and Space 
Activities of the 21st Century, Ap:il 7, 1988, Houston. 
Taylor, S.R. (1982) Planetary Science: A Lunar Perspective, LPI, 
Houston. 
Wisconsin, University of, Madison (1988) Astrofuel for the 21st 
Century, College of Engineering, UW-Madison 
Wittenberg, L.J., Santarius, J.F., and Kulcinski, G.L. (1986) Lunar 
source of He-3 for commercial fusion power, Fusion Technology, v. 
10, p. 167. 
157 


Economic geology of lunar Helium-3

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NASA Technical Reports Server