NASA to explore heavy metal asteroid 16 Psyche that could make everyone rich

16 Psyche, which is named after an immortal nymph, is one of the most intriguing targets on the main asteroid belt and NASA is planning to prove its worth in 2022. Photo / 123RF

A Canadian miner says the next gold rush will be in space, predicting the world's future mining titans will need to lift off and explore far from Earth if they want to stay on top of their game.

Scott Moore, the CEO of Toronto-based EuroSun mining, predicts the space race will turn to gold in the future.

"The 'Titans of Gold' now control hundreds of the best-producing properties around the world, but the 4-5 million ounces of gold they bring to the market every year pales in comparison to the conquests available in space," Moore told OilPrice.com.

A metallic orb 16 Psyche is one of the biggest asteroids in the solar system and is said to be worth hundreds of quintillions in precious heavy metals.

One giant asteroid in particular would likely kick off the race for space miners and it threatens to throw the gold industry into chaos.

A metallic orb 16 Psyche is one of the biggest asteroids in the solar system and is said to be worth hundreds of quintillions in precious heavy metals.

It's reported 16 Psyche has enough gold, iron and nickel to make every person on the planet a billionaire.

If it was carried back to earth it would destroy commodity prices and cause the world's economy to collapse.

16 Psyche, which is named after an immortal nymph, is one of the most intriguing targets on the main asteroid belt and NASA is planning to prove its worth in 2022.

However the space authority does not plan to extract minerals from it.

"Even if we could grab a big metal piece and drag it back here … what would you do?

"Could you kind of sit on it and hide it and control the global resource — kind of like diamonds are controlled corporately — and protect your market? What if you decided you were going to bring it back and you were just going to solve the metal resource problems of humankind for all time? This is wild speculation, obviously," NASA scientist and 16 Psyche mission leader Lindy Elkins-Tanton said in January 2017.

NASA is more interested in 16 Psyche as it could tell us more about how the Earth was formed.

It's impossible to examine the Earth's core up close but 16 Psyche could be the exposed core of a tiny planet that's had its outer layers smashed off. If that's the case it could potentially give scientists strong evidence about the formation of our home.

While NASA isn't after 16 Psyche for the wealth it could deliver, it's predicted full-metal composition would be the ultimate find for space miners.

They could deliver some out of this world monetary figures if it could ever be dragged down to Earth.

Good luck with that though, NASA says it's the size of the US state of massachusetts.