A closer look
The ultimate irony of space exploration is that finding a literal goldmine would instantly make gold utterly worthless. Orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, the asteroid 16 Psyche is made almost entirely of iron, nickel, and gold. Its estimated mineral value is around $10,000 quadrillion. If a space mining company ever actually towed it back to Earth, the sudden infinite supply of precious metals would immediately crash the global economy and render current commodities virtually valueless.
