Space travel (even to LEO) is pretty bloody expensive. I'm not sure any type of mining will become worthwhile or even feasible without significant breakthroughs

Space travel (even to LEO) is pretty bloody expensive. I'm not sure any type of mining will become worthwhile or even feasible without significant breakthroughs in equipment/fuel costs in the next few years. Without them, I don't think any costs of going to the Moon are recoverable by mining - unless, of course, we find out the cheese turns out to be a solid lump of Platinum. Of course if the visits are purely scientific, then the costs will be worthwhile. As a commercial venture, I don't see the point.