Well, I had plum forgotten that I was talking to Trickquestion in this thread.
 
I was thinking it was itsthinking instead.
 
Glad I know now.

Science, Schmience, when do we get to the Einhoofer part of the equation?  
“AFTER ONE THOUSAND YEARS I’M FREE, AND IT’S TIME TO CONQUER EARTH!”  
And then a tiny spaceship flies around from the dark side of the moon preparing to engage in mortal battle with giant mechanical diamond dogs.

And yes, I have think about this quite a lot. Why do you ask?

CONCRETE!  
Ok, thats more for building a lunar base…
 
The only thing that immediately comes to mind that can be mined from the moon profitably vs on Earth is Helium-3. Its harder to find on Earth and is a probable fuel for fusion reactors.
 
Also, trick is right: probably anything that is not a byproduct of living organisms would be found on the moon; current theories say that the moon was formed from the Earth getting smashed by something big and thus is made of similar stuff.
 
The main reason for colonizing the moon would probably be to build infrastructure for going out further into the solar system. A lower gravity environment would allow for cheaper space craft launches than from Earth (from a fuel point of view).
 
The problem is profit. Currently IRL, lunar mining is not profitable mostly due to transportation costs. The estimated LEO payload cost per lb for the space shuttle was $4,729, and getting to LTI is extra (Trends in Price Per Pound to Orbit, 1990-2000 September 6, 2002). HOWEVER, the majority of the price is probably getting into space to begin with. Getting into orbit is what burns up the majority of your fuel.
 
If you could, I don’t know, TELEPORT everything to at least LEO, you’d cut out the majority of fuel needed and thus save a ton of money. LEO is about 1,200 mi up.

Wow 64. Nice job on the science.

OK I see this as 100% feasible.  
Now if you don’t mind I’m going to bed, g’night.

@sixtyfour215
 
No problem, I think we ironed out every major details of this plan. When the sun rises, the rest of the bronies will lock upon our brilliance, and despair.
 
Good night my friend.

@Sixtyfour215  
Huh, I’ll be damned.
 
My point still stands though. We can dig anywhere we want with no regard for the environment, seeing as the moon dosen’t have one. Cuts costs, and allows for a greater yield.

Also, could you wrap this up quick, I gotta get up in like five hours.

@Trickquestion  
The moon actually has a molten core.

@sixtyfour215
 
I’m pretty sure you can find all the same stuff that’s on Earth, minus fossil fuels like oil and coal. I mean, the moon is made out of the same space rock that formed the Earth, just without an atmosphere. A major benefit of mining on the moon however is you can mine anywhere, with minimal obstructions. No rainforests, no swamps, no bodies of water,just soil waiting to be split. Plus, seeing as the moon dosen’t have a molten core, we can dig all the way through!

@ze  
That better have real-world science to back it up, I’m trying to make this a reasonably logical discussion.

Ok, I’m beginning to see this as feasible.  
I just have one last question, what kinds of minerals are there to be mined on the moon?

@Ze  
While the plan does involve getting sent to the moon, I don’t plan on doing anything drastic. Luna, an immortal alicorn who nearly destroyed all life as we know it, got a thousand years. So mouthing off to the God queen will probably get us, say, maybe, six months, a year max?
 
Once we’ve developed the moon and shown how much money there is to be made, the forces of economics will kick start a more reliable space program. Remember, the first moon mission was calculated with less computing power then is present in a modern I-phone, and ponies have arcade games. Magic could provide a work around for any advanced technology.
 
Once people start settling on the moon, we sell them the minerals, rent out the condos, serve moon pies and cheese, and rake in the bits.

They also found water on the moon. Where?  
EVERYWHERE.
 
Also, they found a lake of what appeared to be pure, liquid martini

Getting equipment is a problem, however, we do have to remember that Unicorns have magic and that you don’t have to explain magic. All you would need is a special select set of unicorns who are specialized in fields including:  
mining  
resource finding  
manufacturing  
refining  
transmography  
alchemy  
SCIENCE!  
regular science  
spelunking  
teleportation
 
As for shelter

Have we at all considered luna helping?

@Sixtyfour215
 
My friend, sometimes progress requires sacrifice. More specifically, the sacrifice, of one’s anus. We’ll have to break the equipment down, store it in our rectums, then deficate it out once we’ve arrived on the moon.
 
I know this sounds tough, but I knew of a man who survived with a pocket watch stashed up his rectum in a Vietcong prison camp for twelve years, surely you’ll survive the short amount of time a moon banishment takes.

@Trick  
Yeah, solar expeditions aren’t really feasible… UNLESS WE DO IT AT NIGHT. GENIUS!
 
@64215  
Maybe fusion, not fission. After all, the sun is a giant ball of fusion.
 
As for solar panels: photovoltaics don’t use water; there are some types of solar power that do use water (most prevalent and obvious is solar water heating).
 
As for getting the materials off the moon: consider that our moon’s gravitational pull is 1/16th that of Earth’s.
 
The hard part is getting it back to Earth and it be profitable. This would include costs in: launching materials into Low Lunar Orbit, launching materials to TLI, and heat shielding or loss of materials in atmospheric reentry. Utilization of materials in orbit, for lunar infrastructure or systemwide expansion would probably be a bit more efficient.
 
Not to mention, that since you pissed off a main governing party, this would most likely be a clandestine operation, which further complicates things…

@Trickquestion  
I cannot argue against your moon cheese theory since we don’t know if luna was on or in the moon.  
also what about housing?  
you’d have to bring building materials, unless you’re gonna live in caves, but that means getting equipment up there too.

@sixtyfour215  
Moon’s made out of cheese, ain’t it? What else was Luna eating for a thousand years?  
And if Celestia figures us out, what can she do? We have a backup plan for the sun, and if she moves us back to Earth, then we can work on the space program in person.

You’d need a way to feed them until then.  
Also, Wouldn’t Celly wise up eventually?

@Sixtyfour215  
The cheap housing will draw more ponies to the moon via the “express route”, and once we’ve got enough people and mined minerals, we announce the moon is open for business via the method Twilight used above, giving the ponies incentive to develop a space program beyond “piss off the God-Empress” and one Moon Landing later, we are in business.

@Itsthinking  
Well, you would need to be able to sell the minerals you mine to someone not on the moon and well getting off the moon and all that.
 
Also it’s past 3am where I am, so I’m not gonna be able to talk for too much longer.

@Itsthinking  
I guess I’m cool with that.