With surgical precision, Dr. Chris Salvino shifts to moon mining

Dr. Chris Salvino – who holds eight academic degrees and is the first in the University of Arizona School of Mining Engineering and Mineral Resources to pursue a PhD specializing in lunar mining – is on a mission to power the world safely and cleanly. Putting a deep foundation in medicine, geology and engineering to work, he has founded Lunar Helium-3 Moon Mining LLC, or LH3M.

The Scottsdale, Arizona, company, which has secured eight U.S. patents to detect the gas on the moon, aims to extract helium-3 from ancient lunar dust for nuclear fusion and as a cryogenic coolant for quantum computers. On Earth, rare helium-3, with available stockpiles measured in mere kilograms, is primarily found in the radioactive decay of tritium from nuclear warheads and reactors. In the United States, the limited stockpile mostly goes into detectors to identify smuggled nuclear material (neutrons from plutonium) at borders and ports.

In contrast, solar winds, undeterred by a magnetic field, have for billions of years bombarded the moon’s surface with the gas, depositing at least a million metric tons, potentially enough to provide the world with centuries of clean energy. 

Out of this world energy solutions

Nevertheless, logistical challenges abound. 

For starters, “we need to develop a process with very few moving parts for separating these gases,” said Salvino, explaining that the loose layer of abrasive dust in the moon’s regolith can destroy equipment. Then, “once the gases are separated, we still need to condense helium-3 back down into liquid form before sending it to Earth.”

Salvino received an MD from Loyola Medical School and worked as a trauma surgeon for 30 years. For a short stint, he was an Air National Guard flight surgeon, helping keep F-16 air crews healthy. Then, he decided to layer engineering disciplines atop his clinical expertise. He holds BS degrees in engineering and biology and has master’s degrees in aerospace engineering, planetary geology, mining engineering, space studies, flight test engineering and aerospace medicine.

“Medicine teaches you to think in terms of risk, uncertainty and outcomes,” he said. “Those same considerations apply to engineering, especially in environments where margins for error are extremely small, like space.” 

In addition to energy requirements and large-scale extraction processes, Salvino’s background informs solutions on radiation exposure, human physiology in reduced gravity, and the operational safety for mining crews.

From lifelong learner to entrepreneur 

Salvino first learned about helium-3 while pursuing a master’s in planetary geology at Arizona State University.

Whereas the more common isotope, helium-4 – second-most only to the element hydrogen in the universe and abundant in natural gas deposits on Earth (used to fill balloons and blimps and for oxygen mixtures for deep sea diving, for example) has two protons and two neutrons – helium-3 has a single neutron, giving it very different behavior for nuclear reactors and quantum computers.  

“At the time, no one really knew much about it,” he said. “I thought, ‘there’s got to be something to it.’”

That something was fusion energy. Helium-3’s chemical reaction in a fusion reactor produces more energy and none of the long-lived radioactive waste inherent to uranium-based nuclear fission. Fusion with helium-3 is poised to be the world’s only scalable source of green energy.

“Now that I understood the geology and the engineering, I wanted to know how it could be extracted. And what better way to study extraction than through mining,” he said. “Mining engineers are trained to work where conditions are harsh and unknown. That skillset translates remarkably well to space.”

Interdisciplinary expertise at its best

Salvino founded LH3M, which focuses not just on extraction but also infrastructure development, energy logistics, automation and sustainability three years ago. The company grew out of his studies at the U of A.

“He is as comfortable discussing medical risk models as he is debating mining system design or space policy,” said Moe Momayez, SMEMR professor and Salvino’s PhD adviser. “Chris is building a new industry from the ground up. His success could transform lunar mining and inspire more students to pursue advanced degrees in mining.”

Despite the significant technical, economic and political hurdles, Salvino considers lunar mining a part of the broader solution to resource development. 

“Every major leap in resource development started as an idea people thought was unrealistic. The key is building credibility through research, engineering discipline and incremental progress,” he said. “Mining has always been about enabling civilization. Whether it’s copper, rare-earth minerals or helium-3, the question is how we do it and who we do it for.”