GOLDEN, COLORADO -- Here's the claim: A "miner" breakthrough is needed to develop and utilize the resources of space, be they from asteroids, the Moon or Mars. The solar system is a heaven-sent treasure trove -- a bounty, ready and waiting, of metals and materials that can fortify humankind's outward reach into the cosmos.

Experts from NASA, federal research labs, industry, universities, and private groups met here October 24-26 at the Colorado School of Mines, taking part in a "Space Resources Utilization Roundtable."

New spacecraft data clearly picture the inner and outer solar system as a prospector's paradise.

But don't take your pick, shovel, and drill bits out of the tool shed just yet. Strategizing a "big dig" of the solar system is short of having a solid plan to assure hitting paydirt.

Starting small and carrying out experiments that show the resource potential of space is an advisable strategy, Duke added. Useful demonstrations can be done on robotic missions to the Moon and Mars. "In some cases, we may be able to try out small-scale technologies that improve the effectiveness of spacecraft missions," he said.

Utilizing technologies that benefit science return from space missions, but also shed light on the economic benefit of using on-the-spot resources is a good match, Duke said.

As example, processing of Martian resources to churn out fuel for a Mars sample return mission could be later scaled up to support human expeditionary crews on the red planet.

"On the Moon, we want to look at those lunar polar regions, where there may be hydrogen concentrations…water ice, perhaps," Duke said. "We need to learn what its distribution is, what are the environmental considerations that go into extracting it and processing that material," he said.

Planetary geologist, Jeffrey Taylor of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, said space resources are essential for space settlement. He is working on a plan of action to promote planetary prospecting.

Celestial campsites on the Moon or Mars that support more than a few thousand people require use of local, down-and-dirty resources to build and sustain those far-flung housing projects and generate products for export, Taylor argues.

In the case of setting up a Martian settlement, Taylor said, it may be cost effective to ship out needed water, oxygen, hydrogen, major metals, and food from a lively lunar operation, at least initially. "As we begin to settle the Moon and Mars, we must also keep track of changing economic conditions, such as launch costs or substitutes of one material for another," he said.

Taylor and Linda Martel, both of the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Science, emphasized that data now in hand, as well as new information from lunar and Mars missions, should be assessed in terms of spotting the heaviest deposits of resources. Also, pinpointing odd, anomalous regions is a priority.

"We have to find resources in more concentrated places, as on Earth," Taylor said.

To date, mostly robot prospectors have been busy at work.

For the Moon, the U.S. Pentagon's Clementine, NASA's Lunar Prospector, as well as samples brought back by foot-stomping Apollo astronauts, offer a wealth of insight about resources there.

For Mars, a number of orbiters and landers have in the past, are now, and will in the future, sensor-scan the red planet to chart minerals and look for evidence of water.

"Prospecting can begin immediately," Taylor said, by studying data already archived. But that data needs to be looked at with the eyes of specially trained planetary economic geologists, an expert workforce that he and Martel are now trying to help shape.

Taylor explained that work should focus on the "unusual economics" of planetary ores, including the relationship of lunar and Martian development to each other. By definition, ores are rocks or minerals that can be mined, processed, and delivered to the marketplace or to technology at a profit.

Aggregate will be an important resource on both the Moon and Mars. Here on Earth, it is the most mined material in the United States, at some 2.3 billion tons a year. It is used for roads, concrete, bridges, roofing materials, and glass, Taylor notes.

On Earth, aggregate comes mainly in the form of gravel, sand, and solid rock that's quarried to make crushed stone. The busted up and heavily cratered lunar surface is rife with aggregate. But on Mars, Taylor points out, a thorough search for unconsolidated aggregate is necessary. Martian sand dunes might prove key in this regard. Debris at the base of cliffs on Mars could also be another possibility, he said.