ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF LUNAR HELIUM3

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ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF LUNAR HELIUM-3

• HELIUM CONCENTRATION IN UNDISTURBED REGOLITH
• HARRISON H. SCHMITT
• UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
• SPACE RESOURCES ROUNDTABLE IV
• GOLDEN COLORADO
• NOVEMBER 2, 2004

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LUNAR REGOLITH
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KNOWLEDGE BASE

• PROSPECTING - APOLLO 11
• GEOLOGICAL CORRELATION - APOLLO 11-17
• OLD MARE
• TITANIUM-RICH MARE
• KNOWN REGIONAL RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION
• REMOTE SENSING OF TITANIUM-RICH MARE
• TRANQUILLITATIS (EARTH-BASED, CLEMENTINE,
  PROSPECTOR, MORE TO COME?)
• POTENTIAL RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION
• TITANIUM-RICH REGOLITH IN NORTHERN PROCELLARUM
• SOLAR WIND HYDROGEN-RICH REGOLITH NEAR POLES
• HYDROGEN INCREASES TOWARD POLES (NEUTRON SPEC.)

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DISTURBED HELIUM-3 GRADE -1

• 10084 FINES (APOLLO 11)
• RANGE 9.2-17.9 PPB
• AVERAGE 11.8 PPB
• 4He/3He 3330 RANGE 3690-2850 (MASS)
• 10084,18 I SIZE FRACTIONS
• AVERAGE 10.6 PPB 4He/3He 3400 (MASS)
• lt30µm 14.6 PPB 4He/3He 3490
• 100-250µm PPB 4He/3He 3310
• 10084,18 II SIZE FRACTIONS
• AVERAGE 9.4 4He/3He 3400 (MASS)
• lt50µm 11.9 PPB 4He/3He 3440
• 100-150µm 2.57PPB 4He/3He 3360
• CONCENTRATIONS INCREASE IN LARGER SIZE FRACTIONS

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DISTURBED HELIUM-3 GRADE - 2

• 10084,47 SIZE FRACTIONS
• AVERAGE 14.8 PPB 4He/3He 3360 (MASS)
• lt1.4µm 71 PPB 4He/3He 3110? (3490_at_15-42 µm)
• 90-130µm 11.4 PPB 4He/3He 3330
• 10087,8 SIZE FRACTIONS
• AVERAGE 9.2 PPB 4He/3He 3690 (MASS)
• lt5µm 21.0 PPB 4He/3He 3610?
• 75-120µm 1.8 PPB 4He/3He 3150
• 4He/3He DECREASES IN LARGER SIZE FRACTIONS
• CRUSHED REGOLITH BRECCIAS SHOW SIMILAR VARIATIONS
• 4He/3He MAY ALSO DECREASE IN EXTREMELY FINE SIZE
  FRACTIONS

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HELIUM-3 IN REGOLITH BRECCIAS (APOLLO 11)

• RANGE 4.4-18.5 PPB (14 PORTIONS OF 8 SAMPLES)
• AVERAGE 12.7 PPB
• 4He/3He AVE. 3790 RANGE 4540-3360
• AVE. gtFINEST SIZE FRACTIONS IN 10084
• RANGE gt 10084 FINES
• NOTE CRUSHING PROBABLY RELEASED LOOSELY HELD
  VOLATILES

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CONCLUSIONS - 1

• 1. CONCENTRATION IN FINES INCREASES WITH INCREASE
  IN PARTICLE SURFACE AREA TO PARTICLE VOLUME
  (MASS) RATIO
• SUPPORTS EXPECTED SURFACE CORRELATION OF
  IMPLANTED SOLAR WIND VOLATILES

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CONCLUSIONS - 2

• 2. 4He/3He INCREASES IN FINES WITH INCREASE IN
  PARTICLE SURFACE AREA TO PARTICLE VOLUME (MASS)
  RATIO
• SUGGESTS SAMPLE AGITATION HAS PREFERENTIALLY
  RELEASED 4He WITH INCREASING PARTICLE SIZE
• APOLLO 17 SAMPLE PAIR SUGGESTS THAT 4He IS
  ENRICHED IN EJECTA FROM SMALL CRATERS (76301,2
  VS. 76501,12)
• CRUSHING EXPERIMENTS ON BRECCIA 10046 SHOW 4He
  MORE EASILY RELEASED

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CONCLUSIONS - 3

• INDURATION OF BRECCIAS TENDS TO FREEZE IN HELIUM
  AS WELL AS INTRODUCE SECONDARY HELIUM-4
• MAXIMUM HELIUM-3 CONCENTRATION IN REGOLITH
  BRECCIAS PROBABLY CLOSE TO MINIMUM THAT CAN BE
  EXPECTED IN UNDISTURBED APOLLO 11 REGOLITH
• UNDISTURBED GRADE FOR APOLLO 11 HELIUM-3 gt20 PPB
  (MAXIMUM IN BRECCIAS CORRECTED FOR SECONDARY
  HELIUM-4)

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MINING IMPLICATIONS

• AT RECOVERABLE GRADE OF 20 PPB,
• 100 KG HELIUM-3 REQUIRES MINING
• 2 KM2 TO DEPTH OF 3 METERS AND
• PROCESSING THE lt100 µm FRACTION (50 wt.)
• 1000 Mwe FUSION POWER PLANT (D-3He)
• REQUIRES 75 KG HELIUM-3/YEAR

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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

• 100 KG HELIUM-3 WOULD HAVE A COAL EQUIVALENT
  VALUE OF
• 140 MILLION WITH COAL _at_2.50/MILLION BTU
• 2003 COAL _at_1.25/MILLION BTU
• 2004 COAL _at_2.10/MILLION BTU
• MAJOR BY-PRODUCTS
• HYDROGEN 600,000 KG
• WATER 330,000 KG
• HELIUM-4 350,000 KG
• CARBON COMPOUNDS 500,000 KG
• NITROGEN 50,000 KG

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TIME FOR ANOTHER WALK ON THE MOON