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| Material | Representative uses | Source | Source material concentration | Beneficiation and processing considerations | Abundance and occurrence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regolith, not chemically or mechanically separated | Reaction mass, radiation shielding, thermal shielding, spun glass, sintered building material | Regolith | 100% of surface material | Handling of dust, excavating | Ubiquitous |
| Basalt, not chemically separated | Cast basalt for construction | Basaltic flows into maria | 100% of subregolith and scattered fragments | Hard rock | Abundant in maria |
| Nonmetallics | Construction materials, special uses | Plagioclase and processing by-products | 70 to 95% of highlands anorthositic rocks; 10 to 40% in mare basalts | Use anorthositic regolith or crush friable anorthosite; basalt is generally tough | Abundant in highlands |
| Al, Al2, Ca, CaO, Na, Na2O, Si, SiO2, O2 | Metals for construction, ceramics, solar cells, reactants for chemical processing, life support | Plagioclase | 70 to 95% of highlands anorthositic rocks; 10 to 40% in mare basalts | Use anorthositic regolith or crush friable anorthosite; basalt is generally tough | Abundant in highlands |
| Fe, FeO, Ti, TiO2, O2 | Metals, pigments, life support, special uses | Ilmenite | 2 to 20% in mare basalt and mare regolith | Size separation of regolith to concentrate ilmenite | Abundant in maria |
| Mg, MgO, Fe, FeO, Si, SiO2, O2 | Metals, ceramics, solar cells | Olivine | 0 to 20% in mare basalt; 95% in dunite | Difficult to separate from basalt | Dunite is rare in sample collection, as breccia clasts |
| H2, H2O | Life support, fuels | Cold-trapped volatiles at lunar poles | Unknown | Significant technological development required | Occurrence has not been demonstrated |
| H2, C, N | Life support, organics | Solar wind trapped in regolith and soil breccia and buried possibly in polar cold traps | 100 ppm in mature regolith and soil breccia | Direct thermal extraction; concentration of ilmenite or <60-um fraction enhances yield | Ubiquitous, but low grade |
| Zn, Pb, Cl, S, F, other volatile elements | Industrial materials | Surface deposits on volcanic spherules and regolith fines | 5 to 100 ppm concentrated at surfaces; may be higher locally | Requires technique development for low-grade extraction | Two known sources; others possible |
| P, Zr, F, Cl, Y, Cr | Major components in accessory minerals in KREEP, basalts, etc. | Minerals present in abundance <1% of rock; elements are substantially lower in abundance; local concentrations are conceivable | Exceedingly difficult to concentrate from dispersed source | No known concentrations |
