Two Near-Earth Asteroids Contain Rp165 Quadrillion Precious Metals, Claimed To Be Mining Targets

Gold asteroids that are near the Earth's planet are interesting to mine. (Photo: NASA)

JAKARTA - Two asteroids close to Earth are known to contain precious metals. The astronauts calculated the precious metal to be around 11.65 trillion US dollars, or around Rp165 quadrillion. This amount is equal to 60 times the amount of the Indonesian State Budget in 2021. The gold reserves in the asteroid even exceed the reserves on Earth.

Dubbed 1986 DA and 2016 ED85, they are classified as Near Earth Asteroids (NEA), these asteroids are similar to the small and metallic Asteroid 16 Psyche. However, the two new asteroids are closer to Earth so it is easy to see the gold and copper content.

Compiled from CNET, Thursday, September 7, although small compared to Psyche and Earth, Asteroid 1986 DA contains 28 billion tons of iron and 2.5 billion tons of nickel. There is also quite a lot of gold and copper. If space mining becomes commercial, a single asteroid could supply Earth for a very long time.

In a new analysis published in The Planetary Science Journal, astronomers are likely to mine these two asteroids later. Space mining has gained its own traction for the scientific community, and will eventually expand the reach of humans in exploring space.

"Our analysis shows that both NEAs have a surface with 85 percent metal such as iron, nickel, and 15 percent silicate material, which is essentially rock," said Dr. Juan Sanchez of the Planetary Science Institute.

The asteroid, dubbed 'mini Psyce', is similar to some iron meteorites such as mesoiderite found on Earth, with a width of about 2.4 km (1.5 miles). Astronomers expect such asteroids to be rich in metal, because they originate from objects that grew large enough that most of the metal sank to their core.

"We estimate that the amount of metal present in the 1986 DA could exceed worldwide reserves," said astronomer David Cantillo.

Astronomers discovered Psyche which is the largest metal-rich asteroid in the Solar System. Psyche is thought to be made of iron and nickel. Unfortunately, Psyche is never closer than 2.5 astronomical units from the Sun.

In addition to the two asteroids, NASA will also mine Psyche and bring the results to Earth. Of course, this will cost a lot of money. NASA has a mission to examine Psyche next year if there are no obstructions.