> Ever heard of gold plated connectors? The interesting thing about such materials in space is that their usefulness changes radically based on that environment. Gold itself is incredibly valuable in space for its ability to block radiation more effectively than lead. As radiation creates a somewhat sticky human survival issue this changes the economy of gold somewhat dramatically. As well, gold is commonly used in space applications to protect sensitive electronics from radiation, which expands this survival aspect to human and automated space applications. As I see it, the true value is in the "platinum group" metals(iridium, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, and ruthenium), which while a smaller percentage of the asteroid are of far more practical value in a myriad of applications. Access to such an increased supply of exotic metals could change the very nature of what constitutes feasible technologies. The iron, nickel and cobalt content of the asteroid are probably of enormous economic significance, but in a more limited way. I can't see much economic gain associated with safely delivering quantities of those metals to Earth, as the costs of doing so would be fairly high, which somewhat insulates the Earthbound economy. But such readily available supplies would be very welcome for any future space born industry. So as a very rough and very conservative guess, I would wager only a 6 trillion dollar return (based on the value of the platinum group metals, with the other materials being only profitable enough to cover operational costs) over a time scale of 12 to 15 years (three times normal open pit mine lifespan to account for new environment and technique adjustments.) How much money would you be willing to invest to make $6,000,000,000,000.00? Our civilization will move into space, for private economic reasons if for nothing else. And this move will dramatically reshape how our economy works as a human whole. Everything else is speculation.