Mond Process Asteroid Mining?

[Ekofisk]

Hello.
I'm trying to get a handle on what an asteroid mining operation might look like in a Traveller context: cheap spaceflight, plentiful fusion power, et al. I've stumbled across the Mond process and it seems to hold potential. Would it be possible to do this via an injection well, drawing the gaseous product up through another well and then running it through a magnetic separator? Could the equipment needed be contained in a single, specialized vessel or is this a surface installation?
How big are we talking and does this even make sense?
Referencing this Smithsonian article and Wikipedia entry.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Condottiere]

There's Belter, and hints in High Guard.

 

[whartung]

Guess is depends on what you're mining.

Mond process looks like a refining technique. With raw ore fed into the process. The injection well might be a trick in vacuum environment.

If the mine is long term (months), it's likely better to land equipment and bolt it down than to have a dedicated ship. You'd just be having a bunch of drives and fuel and other unnecessary stuff sitting on a rock for months. That's just wasted money. You can always rent shipping to move the equipment later.

 

[Spinward Flow]

I'm trying to get a handle on what an asteroid mining operation might look like in a Traveller context: cheap spaceflight, plentiful fusion power, et al.

Depends on which segment of the operation you're concerning yourself with.
Prospecting?
Surveying?
Extraction?
Processing?
Refining?
Transportation?

Ever since JTAS #3 with the first stab at asteroid prospecting, followed by Beltstrike, the focus in CT was on prospecting. It was all about going out, finding stuff, staking a claim and then selling the claim to a larger company that would actually buy the claim rights and move towards exploiting it.

cheap spaceflight, plentiful fusion power, et al.

In terms of mining/extraction, I find the notion that turret weapon (mining) lasers are a compelling option for precision mining work (slice and dice), but you can also use plasma/fusion guns for demolitions (kaboom!) so you don't need to bring chemical explosives for the task (just a fusion power plant and liquid hydrogen fuel).

However, in microgravity, debris can be a potentially SERIOUS hazard for mining operations in vacuum, so having some degree of "standoff" capability (hence, lasers and plasma/fusion guns) when "carving into" an asteroid would seem to be a good idea.

 

[Vargr Breath]

In the movie "Alien" the Nostromo was towing an ore refinery processing 20,000,000 tons of mineral ore.
Skip to 7:30 on the clip

 

[mike wightman]

A TL9 culture has cheap fusion, the m0drive, and gravity control.

Use a mining laser to smash up the asteroid into chunks and then feed the chunks into a fusion furnace.

Separate the elements using an industrial scale mass spectrometer.

 

[kilemall]

A TL9 culture has cheap fusion, the m0drive, and gravity control.

Use a mining laser to smash up the asteroid into chunks and then feed the chunks into a fusion furnace.

Separate the elements using an industrial scale mass spectrometer.

Good for metals, minerals, radioactives and creating waste rock concrete. Not so good for ice and carbonaceous material.

 

[mike wightman]

Why?
They break down to their constituent elements too.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Why?
They break down to their constituent elements too.

You don't necessarily want to OVER refine stuff all the way back to constituent elements in every case. There will be times when you want to do that, but not always.