Aluminum is one of the most abundant elements on earth and there is no point in mining it on the moon unless there is a permanent settlement on the moon. This should be less than or equal to the probability of a moon base.

@JonathanRay with infrastructure in space mining resourses will be more desirable and cheaper than mining on Earth.

@Berg Heavy metals on m-type asteroids are the only thing likely to be mined profitably in space for purposes of returning it to earth. Aluminum ore is ridiculously abundant on earth and the hard part is generating enough electricity to purify it, which will be cheaper on earth

@JonathanRay the hard part soon would be paying for all the mining externalities and damage to ecosystems, so I think you misjudging here

@Berg Aluminum ore is so abundant all over earth that they can go jurisdiction shopping.

@JonathanRay mining harms enviroment and people in every jurisdiction, except space.

@Berg Size of the externalities varies with population density and space is just one end of that spectrum, temporarily