Asteroid Mining and the Market for Platinum, a speculative analysis

The potential existence of a high-volume asteroid-derived platinum supply is examined from an economic perspective to assess the possible impact on long-term platinum supply. It is hypothesized that space-mined resources will increasingly become available over the next 30 years to 2050, driven by growing human activity in near-Earth space. Forecasted asteroid platinum supply under 3 scenarios is compared to forecasted terrestrial platinum supply. The thesis finds that, depending on the speed at which the size of an asteroid practical to mine up-scales, space-mined platinum has the potential to significantly impact on the terrestrial platinum market.

Grantor

School of Economics

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Kieck, Charles

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Leiman, Anthony

• Economics

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33817

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33817