Assessing the metal and rare earth element mining potential of undifferentiated asteroids through the study of carbonaceous chondrites

TL;DR

This study analyzes carbonaceous chondrites to evaluate the potential of undifferentiated asteroids as sources of valuable metals and rare earth elements for space resource utilization.

Contribution

It provides new geochemical data on chondrites using ICP-MS and ICP-AES, enhancing understanding of asteroid composition for resource extraction.

Findings

High abundance of transition metals and siderophile elements in chondrites.

Presence of significant rare earth elements across different chondrite groups.

Support for C-type asteroids as viable sources of critical materials.

Abstract

Undifferentiated asteroids, particularly the parent bodies of carbon-rich chondrite groups, might be promising candidates for future space resource utilization due to their primitive composition and potential to host valuable metals and rare earth elements. However, our understanding of their bulk elemental composition remains limited, as most data are derived from reflectance spectra with low mineralogical resolution. Sample return missions have started to change that, as returned materials are already available to study. Still the available meteorites provide a valuable source of information about the diversity of undifferentiated asteroids in the interplanetary space. To improve compositional insights, we conducted Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ICP-AES (Inductively coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy) analyses on a representative suite of carbonaceous chondrites. These meteorites, considered analogs of undifferentiated asteroids, preserve materials from the early solar system and provide a geochemical record of their parent bodies. Our results highlight the abundance and distribution of transition metals, siderophile elements, and rare earth elements across several chondrite groups. These findings support the view that C-type asteroids may serve as viable sources of critical materials, while also informing future mission planning, extraction strategies, and the development of new technologies for low-gravity resource operations.