A few years ago, asteroid mining was all the rage. With the commercial space sector rapidly growing, the dream of commercializing space seemed almost imminent.

Basically, the notion of having platforms and spacecraft that could rendezvous and mine Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), then return them to space-based foundries, was right up there with sending commercial crews to Mars.

After a great deal of speculation and ventures going under, these plans were placed on the back burner until the technology matured and other milestones could be accomplished first.

Related: Are Asteroids Really Worth a Fortune? Here's What We Know.

Nevertheless, the dream of asteroid mining and the "post-scarcity" future it would bring remains. In addition to the need for more infrastructure and technical development, further research is needed to determine the chemical composition of small asteroids.

In a recent study, a team led by researchers from the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) analyzed samples of C-type (carbon-rich) asteroids, which account for 75% of known asteroids. Their findings demonstrate that these asteroids could be a crucial source of raw materials, presenting opportunities for future resource exploitation.