We wrote in an article published yesterday that stocks of metals on Earth wouldn't last forever, even if large-scale recycling programs were implemented, and that the obvious solution was to start mining operations on the Moon or other planets.

It seems that Russia is one step ahead of other nations, the country led by Vladimir Putin announcing its intention to build a lunar base by 2015. But the facility's main purpose will not be to mine metals, but a fuel which is scarce on our planet: helium-3.

This fuel would be used for future fusion reactors. One of the main advantages associated with such a reactor is the absence of radioactive waste.

In addition, aside from helium-3's obvious advantages, the Moon seems to contain large quantities, estimates placing the figure around 500 million tons.

Gazeta.ru quoted the head of the company which built the Soyuz and Progress shuttles, Nikolai Sevastyanov, as saying that obtaining helium-3 was a key priority in the moon exploration program.

According to the statements made by Sevastyanov, one ton of this isotope would generate the energy produced by 14 million tons of oil.

"We are planning to build a permanent base on the moon by 2015 and by 2020 we can begin the industrial-scale delivery ... of the rare isotope helium 3," Mr Sevastyanov told The Independent.

The mining method doesn't imply the use of any helmet or axe, the Russian scientists thinking of using lunar bulldozers to heat the Moon's surface in order to get to the raw material.