| A Rocky Start for Europa Mining Prospects Pt.1 | |
|---|---|
| Date | May 18, 2042 |
| Author | Jonathon Frog |
| Backer Lore | Yes |
| Internal Name | europamining_one |
| Internal Series | Rocky Start, #1 ▶ |
May 18th, 2042:
A Rocky Start for Europa Mining Prospects - Part 1
A Newswire Exclusive
By: Jonathon Frog
As humanity reaches further out into the solar system there was bound to be a few speed bumps along the way. The Global Senate announced today that they've lost communications with the Athena and are doing everything they can to determine why.
Emerging interstellar mining giant, SK Mining Company, has likely the biggest stake in the mission as a whole. On board the ship were CEO and founder Sebastian Kudras, plus about 1,300 SK Mining crew and support staff plus their families. Among those on board were Mr. Kudras' own family, whom he had brought aboard among much publicity shortly before the launch. His wife, Annika, acts in an official capacity as head of the Europa Mining Team, and was one of the co-founders of the company.
The stock of the company plunged today, despite the strong promises from the earthbound president of the company, Ronaldo Maxim, that losing contact with the ship did not mean that it's been lost. In his words.
"While there is much anxiety over the loss of communications with Athena, we also did not receive anything in the way of an SOS or distress signal. We simply lost contact with the ship as it passed into the outer asteroid belt, and it is quite possible that heavy metals are interfering with the signal. This could even be good news, as large deposits of those minerals present in the outer belt could offer easy exploitation for a secondary mission."
Despite the positive message from Mr. Maxim the stock continued to fall.
SK Mining is the first to attempt to access the outer planets for mineral exploitation, and Europa has always been perceived as an extremely valuable target. When interstellar mining began in 2015, spearheaded by Planetary Resources, their initial targets were just short range asteroids, heavy in nickel, iron and rare platinum metals. With high hopes for a new interstellar gold rush Planetary Resources reached out towards the low hanging fruits of the solar system, but it was quickly discovered that in fact many of these asteroids contained less-than-anticipated in the way of useable metals. The project went ahead anyway and since about 2023 Planetary Resources has seen marked profits from mining our solar system's endless supply of asteroids.
Until SK Mining announced plans to travel beyond the asteroid belt, the idea of outer-planetary mining was one that had almost been abandoned. Established in 2033 by Sebastian and Annika Kudras, SK Mining quickly established itself in the coal, iron and copper markets, using new technologies to delve deeper into the Earth. In a move away from traditional corporate decisions, SK Mining has always prided themselves on advancing new technology and frontiers, while maintaining strong relationships with the indigenous peoples and environments in the areas where they mine. It is no surprise that when the colonization of Europa was announced SK Mining was one of the principal partners in the project. After a year of fierce bidding, the Global Senate had announced only a few months prior to the launch that SK mining would be spearheading the mining efforts of the colony, causing the company to scramble to attach almost all their available resources to the project.
With over fifty billion dollars of equipment, colonization materials and personnel aboard the Athena when it went silent, including the CEO and most of his advisory staff, SK Mining faces some hard decisions about space, and perhaps delving just a little too deep.
The loss of contact with the colony ship, and the over 8,000 personal on board, has had severe ramifications around the entire planet. While the Global Senate has been quick to point out that we have merely "lost contact", and that did not mean the worst, dramatic calls have echoed around the planet about rescue and salvage missions. The Europa Colony project's estimated cost of several trillion dollars was expected to launch a new wave of economic growth for the global economy as a whole. While markets have not severely reacted to this, the suffering of SK Mining may heed the future of another economic depression.
Also on board the Athena was Newswire Archivist Ashley Rose, preparing a series about the colony ship and life on the fringe of civilization.