  There is growing interest in the possibility that the resource base of the
Solar System might in future be used to supplement the economic resources of
our own planet. As the Earth's closest celestial neighbour, the Moon is sure to
feature prominently in these developments. In this paper I review what is
currently known about economically exploitable resources on the Moon, while
also stressing the need for continued lunar exploration. I find that, although
it is difficult to identify any single lunar resource that will be sufficiently
valuable to drive a lunar resource extraction industry on its own
(notwithstanding claims sometimes made for the 3He isotope, which I find to be
exaggerated), the Moon nevertheless does possess abundant raw materials that
are of potential economic interest. These are relevant to a hierarchy of future
applications, beginning with the use of lunar materials to facilitate human
activities on the Moon itself, and progressing to the use of lunar resources to
underpin a future industrial capability within the Earth-Moon system. In this
way, gradually increasing access to lunar resources may help 'bootstrap' a
space-based economy from which the world economy, and possibly also the world's
environment, will ultimately benefit.
