CompuServe Messages

Hi, Bill– Fusion power will almost certainly mean cheap electricity, which is the main issue when extracting aluminum from its ores. But I was referring to plasma torches, which can be constructed without fusion power, but require impractical amounts of energy. They probably can be made via direct and efficient bleed-off from a fusion reactor. I do not know what further research is needed to use such torches effectively, but the basic idea is to drop raw rock in to be vaporized, and use magnetic fields to sort out the elements from that rock. Common basalt would become an ore of iron, magnesium, etc. This is also a wonderful answer to waste problems if workable on a large enough scale – I wonder how much of less common metals are waiting in old landfills? Old nickel-cadmium batteries, mercury batteries, silver from photos… Also, solar furnaces may allow much the same vaporize-and-sort treatment for asteroids, Moon rock, etc. –Doug