Over the decades, Appalachian coal miners have frequently been stereotyped in our culture, ranging from theatrical performances such as “Coal Miner’s Daughter” to “October Sky,” or in politics through John F. Kennedy winning the West Virginia primary in 1960 to populist Donald Trump winning Virginia coalfields by over 80%.
Natives of the mountains have time and again fired the Industrial Revolution, brought energy to two world wars and supplemented every energy crisis in the 20th century. The skills of machinists and extractors and how those skills may be applied in the next New World are not to be underestimated. The mining talent may enter a mid-21st century renaissance and a new gold rush to the moon to mine minerals. Professionals knowing the extraction industry will be needed to mine lunar minerals.
Private sector leaders like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos will lead in the spacecraft and booster rockets to create the lunar transportation systems. Still, it will be the entrepreneur startup companies and likely nameless geologists, selenologists, engineers and miners that will forge the new one-sixth gravity mining technologies and the muscle to get the job done when the blocks of ice are extracted and moved, or the He3 (or astrofuel) is extracted and processed from the first foot or two of the lunar regolith.
Mining has played a crucial role in the development of human civilization. From the Stone Age to the Industrial Revolution, the extraction of minerals has shaped economies, technologies and societies. Minerals and new materials sciences will play significant roles in the terrestrial and off-Earth economies of the last half of the 21st century.
Today, humanity stands on the brink of a new frontier: mining beyond Earth. In the coming decade, the moon shall become the site for resource extraction, promising challenges and opportunities that could redefine human relationship with space and settlement of a New World.
A brief history of mining
The history of mining stretches back over 40,000 years. Early humans began by extracting flint and other stones to craft tools. By 3000 BCE, ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians and Mesopotamians were mining copper, gold and silver, which served as tools and currency and fueled trade and cultural exchange. The Roman Empire’s innovations in mining technology, including aqueducts and large-scale smelting operations, laid the groundwork for modern practices.
The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries brought significant advancements. Coal mining became the backbone of industrial power, while the discovery of gold and diamonds spurred economic booms. By the 20th century, mining had become a global industry, extracting many resources to support burgeoning populations and technologies.
Coal became a major export from the United States to Asia and Europe from the Appalachian Mountains to make steel and for electric generation, home heat, and powering steam engines for trains and ships. Railroads expanded into the hills and hollers of the mountains to transport coal across the nation and to ports, like Norfolk’s Lambert Point. 
Why mine the moon?
Recently, the over-the-horizon focus has shifted to extraterrestrial mining, with the moon emerging as a primary target, notes German media outlet WELT.
Former U.S. Senator and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, the only scientist geologist and the last person to walk on the moon in 1972, visited Abingdon and Norton in public appearances a decade ago to tell of the resources on the moon, noting several factors make lunar mining attractive:
- Abundance of resources: The moon is rich in valuable materials, including helium-3, rare earth elements and water ice. Helium-3, a rare isotope on Earth, holds potential for clean nuclear fusion energy. Rare earth elements are critical for advanced electronics and renewable energy technologies.
- Strategic importance: Establishing a mining operation on the moon could provide a stepping stone for deeper space exploration, including missions to Mars. Resources extracted from the moon could support these missions, reducing the need to transport materials from Earth.
- Economic potential: Space commercialization is a growing industry. Companies and governments see lunar mining as an opportunity to generate significant revenue streams and establish a foothold in the emerging space economy after colossal capital investments.
The next decade: What will be recovered?
By the 2030s, several missions aim to transform lunar mining from concept to reality. Key resources awaiting extraction include:
- Water ice: Found in the moon’s polar regions, water ice can be processed into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel or used to sustain life support systems. The polar regions of the moon are anticipated to have more water ice than in the Great Lakes.
- Helium-3: While still in the experimental phase, helium-3 has potential applications in next-generation nuclear reactors. Ounces of helium-3 could power mid-sized fusion reactors for a year, making it a critical resource for the future of clean energy. Fusion energy ambitions are clear, as evidenced by recent partnership between Dominion Energy and Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which aim to expand fusion power facilities powered by helium-3. Seattle-based Inerlune may lead the way in the initial lunar surface extraction of He3.
- Metals: The moon’s regolith (surface material) contains aluminum, titanium and iron, which will form the raw minerals for construction and manufacturing, requiring the development of mining and transport infrastructure similar to that developed in the Appalachian Mountains in the 20th century.
New technologies and earth applications
Mining the moon will also lead to new technologies that will change mining on Earth, even in Virginia’s modern-day coalfields. Traditional mining equipment companies like Caterpillar and Komatsu are already testing lunar mining equipment for deployment. Innovations in automation, robotics and resource processing developed for lunar conditions could revolutionize terrestrial mining, making it more efficient, sustainable and safer. These advancements could revitalize industries in regions heavily reliant on mining, bringing new opportunities and reducing environmental impacts.
Firms leading the way in lunar mining
Texas-based Firefly Aerospace plans a lunar landing early this year of the unmanned Blue Ghost landing spacecraft as a part of the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Accompanying the Blue Ghost lander atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from Cape Canaveral will be Japanese commercial firm Ispace.
A leader in this field, Ispace builds robots, spacecraft and other technology for space missions. Ispace has positioned itself as one of the global leaders in the market for mineral extraction on the moon and has experience in launching lunar missions, despite the April 2023 failure of its uncrewed Hakuto-R Mission 1 to land on the moon’s surface.
Intuitive Machines (IM) is another major player within NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and is tasked with deploying payloads on the moon’s terrain using its Nova-C lander. The craft’s maiden voyage to the lunar south pole is targeted liftoff in February 2025, a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services funded mission.
IM has also developed a hopper mobility platform called Micro Nova. This propulsive drone can conduct regional exploration after being delivered to the lunar surface. Micro Nova is a vehicle to visit locales inaccessible to a rover, such as lunar pits, large impact craters and permanently shadowed regions of the moon.
Astrobotic Technology, a Pennsylvania-based private company established by Carnegie Mellon University professor Red Whittaker, focuses on creating advanced robots for space missions to the moon and is planning a lunar surface mission to launch in 2026. It will carry a commercial MoonBox to land art and literature on the moon, reports The Guardian. Among the books to be placed on the moon in 2026 are works by Wise County natives Napoleon Hill and Don M. Green.
All the planned lunar landers and rovers will commence mapping and hunting for minable resources, paving the way for future extraction efforts as primary missions for return on private capital investment.
Several commercial start-ups are planning payload packages on the several lunar landers planned over the balance of the decade. Among them are Israeli startup Helios, which specializes in developing advanced technologies for in-situ resource utilization in space.
The primary focus revolves around their innovative electrolysis reactor, which extracts oxygen and various metals from oxides found on the lunar surface, and it has attracted the attention of the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board for possible launch from Wallops Island in the future.
One of Helios’s key projects centers on oxygen mining on the moon. They are working on technologies to extract oxygen from lunar regolith, serving as a crucial rocket fuel oxidizer. At the core of their system is the MRE Reactor, which melts lunar regolith and uses electrolysis to separate oxides into oxygen and valuable metals like iron, aluminum and titanium.
A similar firm is Los Angeles-based Ethos, who will extract oxygen from materials used to build lunar landing pads.
NASA is also designing and leading the development of a lunar railroad system called FLOAT, or Flexible Levitation on a Track. This system will use magnetic levitation (maglev) technology to transport resources on the moon sometime before 2050. Not only could such a train serve to move lunar residents and resources from point to point, but it could also act as a rapid-speeding trail to loft resources into lunar orbit for further transport. 
Lunar lava tubes: Habitats and infrastructure
Sizeable lunar lava tubes offer a unique solution for human habitats and infrastructure on the moon, notes Astronomy Magazine. These natural formations could serve as:
- Human habitats: Providing shelter from cosmic and solar radiation and micrometeorite impacts.
- Resource storage: Secure locations for mining equipment and extracted materials.
- Support systems: Centers for off-Earth data backups, atomic power stations and life support systems.
Early settlements on the moon will likely resemble company mining towns, similar to those in the Central Appalachian Mountains of the late 1800s and early-to-mid 1900s. These communities will support mining operations while laying the groundwork for a broader human presence on the moon.
Lunar mining and legal challenges
Lunar mining is a complex legal issue, with the legality of mining the Moon falling into a gray area:
- Outer Space Treaty: Signed in 1967, this treaty states that no nation can claim ownership of the moon. However, it doesn’t explicitly prohibit individuals or companies from extracting and owning resources from space.
- The Artemis Accords: This agreement, initiated by NASA and signed by more than 50 nations, establishes basic rules for commercial lunar mining, including safety zones. The United States has signaled its determination to press ahead with two primary space policy objectives: establishing a permanent U.S. presence on the moon and authorizing private companies to mine the moon. A Congressional mandate authorizing private lunar resource extraction, including pursuing international agreements, was followed by a U.S.-drafted framework for bilateral moon exploration and mining agreements known as the Artemis Accords. The Accords state that the extraction of space resources doesn’t constitute national appropriation.
- National Legislation: Some countries, including the United States, have passed laws to allow further exploration. For example, the U.S. Congress passed the SPACE Act, which grants U.S. citizens the right to claim resources from space.
Challenges and ethical considerations
Despite its promise, lunar mining faces significant hurdles. Technological challenges include developing machinery operating in low gravity and extreme temperatures. Legal frameworks, such as the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, emphasize that celestial bodies belong to all humankind, raising questions about surface and mineral ownership, profit-sharing, governance and human settlement rights.
Ethical concerns include the moon’s environmental impact and preserving its cultural and scientific value. Striking a balance between exploration, exploitation and conservation will be vital. Many of the same issues that have been repeatedly addressed on Earth by states of the United States and countries in the 20th century.
Radio astronomy will be critical to the cosmology community in the 2030s and beyond, requiring international zoning agreements for a Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT) on the far side where Chinese landers and rovers are operating actively now.
Conclusion
The next decade could mark the beginning of a new era in mining — one that expands humanity’s reach into the cosmos. As we prepare to harvest resources from the moon, we must reflect on the lessons of terrestrial mining: the importance of sustainability and the profound impact these activities have on society. With careful planning and cooperation, lunar mining could unlock untold opportunities, leading to the first miners on the moon in the 2030s, perhaps a young miner from southwestern Virgina will be extracting He3 energy for Virginia-based fusion reactors.
A moon miner is more likely than not in the next decade than at any time heretofore. As German theoretical physicist Max Planck once observed, “Mining is not everything, but without mining everything is nothing.”
Jack Kennedy is a U.S. Space Force Museum docent at Cape Canaveral Station and a former member of the Virginia Commercial Spaceflight Authority, and he holds a master’s in space law and policy from University of North Dakota. He also is the retired clerk of court of Wise County, a former member of the General Assembly and has four generations of Appalachian mining experience. Contact Jack@JackKennedy.net.
