The Compton–Belkovich Thorium Anomaly is a volcanic complex on the far side of the Moon. It was found by a gamma-ray spectrometer in 1998 and is an area of concentrated thorium.
Space exploration beyond moon requires nuclear propulsion systems such as Radium Rocket Engine, I had proposed earlier. Radium can be obtained from Thorium. The Thorium anomaly on the moon is a perfect location for a Lunar Base. As seen on the image below, there is a hotspot with 10 ppm ore concentration, which is considered a high-grade deposit. It would require much less energy to extract Thorium which would generate more energy to mine more.
A lunar base at the Thorium anomaly would have the potential to generate electric even at lunar nights. Additionally, byproduct of Thorium 228 decay is Radium 224 which is an ideal nuclear rocket fuel. This fuel can be used to thrust the flying moon explorer robots. Therefore, much larger areas can be explored on the surface.
Lunar Thorium anomaly would be a perfect re-fueling base for the rockets returning from the moon to the earth and planetary exploration missions.
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