Illustration of a moon mining operation. Credit: NASA
Illustration of a moon mining operation. Credit: NASA

The moon is about to become the first extraterrestrial mining frontier, and most investors may be backing the wrong players. While venture capital pours into space startups promising to revolutionize lunar resource extraction, the real winners may well be companies that have spent 150 years turning rock into revenue: Rio Tinto, BHP, Glencore and their peers. 

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Stirling Forbes is CEO of Forbes-Space, the space trade consulate of Europe and a global mission partnership and growth services agency. He holds an MSc in Space Studies from the International Space University and has written extensively on space industry...