Help save planetary exploration

[Phaze]

A thought came to mind. If people think exploring other planets is a waste since problems on Earth need solving, what about Asteroid mining? There are countless riches in those (relatively nearby) balls of rock and the low/nonexistent gravity would mean that sending these precious metals back to Earth would be easy, once the initial investment of sending the necessary equipment up got satisfied. Heck, operations could potentially be expanded via the mined materials themselves.

That alone would solve countless problems involving mines in poorer countries with terrible working conditions and simultaneously expand useful/life-saving technology for use among larger populations for less.