1
24-026
Development of a Comprehensive Mine Plan Approach for the
Extraction of Icy Regolith on the South Pole of the Moon Using
Surface Mine Modelling Software
Víctor O. Tenorio
Kate Willa Brown Requist
Mollie Hunt
Geoffrey Gill
William Riley
Russ Downer
One of the first activities after returning to the Moon will
be finding sources of water and materials for the construc-
tion of human settlements and other infrastructure. There
is evidence of the existence of deposits in the bottom of
craters at the South Polar region and in flat areas around.
Based on geological data from the Moon, a block model
representing a deposit or icy regolith has been defined in
the vicinities of Shackleton Crater, with unique character-
istics of shape, thickness, and water contents. A mine plan
utilizing surface mine modeling software for ore extraction
from an open pit- type of excavation to a delivery point
near a water processing facility is proposed, with monthly,
quarterly, and yearly schedules. Production results, dash-
board charts and progress of the topographic changes are
also presented.
INTRODUCTION
From all the things to do when arriving on the Moon,
humans must find sources of icy regolith and start sampling
for the definition of ore bodies and reserve estimation. As
opposed to the Earth, where the target are base metals or
non-metal minerals, the one of the most important is find-
ing the areas where there is abundance of water sources, and
raw materials for construction. The areas with more proba-
bility to find these resources are the Permanently Shadowed
Regions at the South Pole (Figure 1).
In such locations, there is the presence of water mixed
with the regolith, accumulated over millions of years as a
result of comets passing sufficiently close to the Moon and
the accumulated water ice not being able to evaporate due
to the almost null exposition to the Sun. Discoveries such
as these, have opened the immense opportunity to consider
the extraction of this water to be decomposed into oxygen
and hydrogen, while additionally finding adequate pro-
cesses to extract other valuable minerals such as base metals,
precious metals and Rare Earths.
With the use of Moon Trek, a public domain geo-
graphical tools, it is possible to have an enhanced view of
these regions, using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter (LRO), which has mapped the entire South Pole,
removing the shadows. We can now appreciate the bottom
Figure 1. The Moon South Pole and Shackleton Crater
(source: Moon Trek)
24-026
Development of a Comprehensive Mine Plan Approach for the
Extraction of Icy Regolith on the South Pole of the Moon Using
Surface Mine Modelling Software
Víctor O. Tenorio
Kate Willa Brown Requist
Mollie Hunt
Geoffrey Gill
William Riley
Russ Downer
One of the first activities after returning to the Moon will
be finding sources of water and materials for the construc-
tion of human settlements and other infrastructure. There
is evidence of the existence of deposits in the bottom of
craters at the South Polar region and in flat areas around.
Based on geological data from the Moon, a block model
representing a deposit or icy regolith has been defined in
the vicinities of Shackleton Crater, with unique character-
istics of shape, thickness, and water contents. A mine plan
utilizing surface mine modeling software for ore extraction
from an open pit- type of excavation to a delivery point
near a water processing facility is proposed, with monthly,
quarterly, and yearly schedules. Production results, dash-
board charts and progress of the topographic changes are
also presented.
INTRODUCTION
From all the things to do when arriving on the Moon,
humans must find sources of icy regolith and start sampling
for the definition of ore bodies and reserve estimation. As
opposed to the Earth, where the target are base metals or
non-metal minerals, the one of the most important is find-
ing the areas where there is abundance of water sources, and
raw materials for construction. The areas with more proba-
bility to find these resources are the Permanently Shadowed
Regions at the South Pole (Figure 1).
In such locations, there is the presence of water mixed
with the regolith, accumulated over millions of years as a
result of comets passing sufficiently close to the Moon and
the accumulated water ice not being able to evaporate due
to the almost null exposition to the Sun. Discoveries such
as these, have opened the immense opportunity to consider
the extraction of this water to be decomposed into oxygen
and hydrogen, while additionally finding adequate pro-
cesses to extract other valuable minerals such as base metals,
precious metals and Rare Earths.
With the use of Moon Trek, a public domain geo-
graphical tools, it is possible to have an enhanced view of
these regions, using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter (LRO), which has mapped the entire South Pole,
removing the shadows. We can now appreciate the bottom
Figure 1. The Moon South Pole and Shackleton Crater
(source: Moon Trek)