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If we're looking for quick production of basic useful elements, transmutation / alchemy is not feasible.
Theodore Taylor's Santa Claus machine, to break down rubbish by high heat, *does* look feasible. Someday. Given VERY cheap energy.
I guess the BELTALOWDA ship their rubbish in-system to their base in Mercury, which runs this machine to get all the elements out. Then ships all the treasure back upwell - maybe with solar sails, somehow avoiding space pirates.
