Ferric Twins Metal Binary

The Ferric Twins are two metallic asteroids, 1.8 and 1.1 kilometres across, circling each other every 31 hours at 2.9 AU. Both are the exposed cores of a shattered protoplanet, and they are almost pure metal: 91 per cent iron-nickel by mass.

Rukmini Sato's magnetometry team found them in 2183 when a Pickaxe Survey Drone launched from a Valkyrie Survey Corvette recorded the strongest magnetic anomaly in the Belt Aeromagnetic Grid. Surface sampling with Tether Anchor Kits holding crews in place showed 9.4 g/t iridium and 31 g/t platinum dissolved in the metal.

Total metal mass is estimated at 7.8 billion tonnes. Claim FV-0650 is leased to Vesta Crucible Refining Combine, which has parked an Ironmonger Field Refinery on the larger twin, positioned by a Basilisk Salvage Tug. The refinery's carbonyl process strips iron and nickel and leaves a platinum-group residue that a Leviathan Ore Hauler carries back to Vesta.

Work on the Twins is planned in campaigns that match the binary's orbit, and every crew on the surface must complete the Guild's microgravity anchoring course first. Survey data is published in the Belt Aeromagnetic Grid.