With many nations increasingly focused on the notion of energy independence, the pressure to increasingly extract all useful local resources is also increasing.

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Together, the argument goes, the two companies could better direct scarce resources to extract iron, copper, nickel and so on where the most value is to be gained, and do so faster than they could individually.

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The fossil industry revolves around applying technology to tapping resources that are much harder to extract.

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But with resources being ever more costly to extract from the earth, the markets for recycled products are increasing.

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Despite the early financial support from wealthy investors and the backing of well-known space-exploration researchers, Planetary Resources faces many technical questions and uncertainties about costs and the technology required to extract materials from asteroids.

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For the first time in several generations, it has become clear that abundant domestic energy resources are within our reach, and that we have the technology to responsibly and safely extract it.

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Athough 10% interest may be the correct commercial price to extract from banks, it will do nothing to enlarge their profit margins or provide banks with the resources to provide additional loans to households and businesses.

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He added that Providence Resources would now have to go through "due process" in order to secure permits to extract the oil, which would include a period of public consultation.

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