Alex McColgan

As demand for these elements inevitably goes up in the coming decades, it could well be that mining for them on the moon becomes economically viable.

And not only that, but a control on the market means control of the market price, and whichever country is in control will have a tremendous advantage.

Will it be China maintaining their position, or will some of the other space-faring countries and companies want a piece of the pie?

Only time will tell.

Which leads on to another curious question.

Who actually has mining rights on the moon?

Well, it's a bit unclear.

The main space treaty, which most countries in the world have signed up to, is called the Outer Space Treaty, and covers things like disallowing weapons of mass destruction in space, disallowing military bases in space, and disallowing claiming any celestial body.

However, it doesn't really cover mining.

Other treaties have been put forward which would cover mining in space, but so far, only non-spacefaring countries have signed up for it.

Right now, it could just be a matter of first come, first served.

So there we have it, a look into the future of what may occur on the surface of the moon.

What do you think?

Can mining on the moon ever be worthwhile, or is it an expensive, dangerous pipe dream?

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

If you're like me, you've probably spent your life dreaming of a day when humans would travel to distant planets and build life-supporting outposts across the solar system.

Well, we're not there yet, but the Artemis program may be the start of this bold endeavor.

Fittingly named after Apollo's sister, the Greek goddess of the moon, the Artemis program is a spiritual sibling of the Apollo program, which landed the first astronauts on the moon.

Not only does NASA plan to send human crew members back to the moon for the first time since 1972, but its additional objectives seem like straight-up science fiction.

They include the construction of a permanent lunar base and paving the way for the first crewed interplanetary mission, Mars.