(2019 Archived) - Sequel on the Direct Usage of Venusian Basalt and its Haematite, Alumina and Silica Essences for Industry

Having written this in 2019, and originally published in 2021.. when I was 15 and 17, there would be inaccuracies that I would correct here. Having removed it, I'm publishing  again, for sake of completion so that the efforts wouldn't have gone to vain:

The Basaltic Minerals account for most of the Venusian surface, which would make it the most abundant Venusian surface resource. You see, wanting to commercialize Venus or making Venus ‘economically attractive’, would require us to make the best usage of Basalt to mass-produce something. Before diving straight into the Basalt essences, we would have to find methods of using Basalt itself to our advantage. But, what exactly can we get from it?

Well, out of the ones which I see as most ideal for Venus would be (1) Acid-resistant equipment for heavy industrial use ^[58]: You see, just as on the Earth, heavy machinery are required for mining and industrial use, on mass scaling. Doing so in a primarily acidic environment would require acid-resistance. Basalt, even on the Earth, is use for equipment needed for acid-resistant heavy industrial use. The same would be true for Venus, in addition for mining and surface-material extraction. Moreover, having the ability of using the most abundant surface-mineral in doing do, would be an advantageous situation that we wouldn’t miss using.

Another major extractable thing from Basalt, which I see as useful on Venus would be (2) Heat-insulating Basalt Fibres^[58]. The cloud-cities do float at a level with temperatures manageable for the human body, and I’m sure you’d have dealt with even more serious temperatures. But, to be on the safer side, we would want to keep things cool inside the cities. This is where heat insulation comes to play – we would need a material to be inculcated into city structures to do so, and I cannot think of a better material than the Basalt Fibres. The heat insulating properties of Basalt Fibres are quite strong and I believe that they’d be used more in cloud-city industrial activities and processes, where temperatures sky-rocket.

Having almost an entire surface of Basalt, the manufacturing of its fibres wouldn’t have much of a difficulty, and I believe that it’s a blessing for Venusian industry to have this heat-insulating material in abundance. I could say the same the same about having Basaltic Fibres in keeping the cloud-cities cool (If temperatures are to be uncomfortably hot) too. Similarly, Basalt could be used to manufacture (3) Concrete Aggregates^[58], which could be used for constructing city-structures, like buildings. It ought to be surprising; we’ve found a way to make concrete on Venus! Moreover, for a more aesthetically-sound sense, the Basaltic minerals could be used to manufacture (4) Floor Tiles ^[58]. To wrap this-up, (5) Rock Wool and (6) Filter Stones for Drain fields^[58] could also be manufactured out-of Venusian Basalt.

Remember how I told that there is an essence of Haematite (Fe₂O₃), Alumina (Al₂O₃) and Silica (SiO₂) – the ores of Iron, Aluminium and Silicon respectively – in the Basaltic minerals? Well, although I’ve shown how to get the metals out of the ores, I didn’t really show how to get the ore-essences out of the Basaltic minerals. And frankly, I wouldn’t – it’s awfully too complicated. But, if we were to compare the ores with the Basaltic minerals we’d see some of their similarities:  Indeed, we can see that the Fe₂O_3, Al₂O₃and SiO₂in the below Basaltic minerals:

1)      (Ca,Na)(Mg,Fe,Al)(Al,Si)₂O

2)      CaAl₂Si₂O

3)      NaAlSi₃O

4)      (Mg,Fe)₃SiO₄

Once we take the ores out of the Basalt, the later extraction of the (7) Iron, (8) Aluminium and (9) Silicon would be much easier. Moreover, we could even extract (10) Calcium, (11) Sodium, and (12) Magnesium, from the Basaltic minerals too. Iron and Aluminium would most likely share the common purpose as the forming the infrastructure of the cloud-cities. Other than that, Iron could be used as a catalyst in the Haber-Bosch process of producing (13) Ammonia, and the Fischer-Tropsch process of converting Carbon Monoxide into Hydrocarbons; specifically as (14) Lubricants and (15) Hydrocarbon fuels^[1]. Aluminium could also play a major function as (16) Aluminium foil, which as-we-know is a good packaging material. Moreover, (17) Alumina itself could be used as a catalyst, as for the Claus process. We also could produce the (18) Aluminium compounds like Aluminium Sulphate and Acetate have a variety of functions, in this case, as in water treatment and astringency, respectively ^[1].(19) Transistors and (20) Diodes could be manufactured, by utilizing semiconducting material, most appropriately Silicon from the Basaltic Silica. Moreover, Silicon could be used to manufacture (21) Silicone Oil and Grease, (22) Silicone Rubber, (23) Silica Gel, and even (24) Cement ^[1]! More importantly, Silicon could be used in the production of the effective-Venusian fuel; (25) Silane.

Bibliography

Achinthya Nanayakkara (31.03.2025)

Originally written - 2019