And since the distance from the moon varies, a conveyer belt between earth and the moon is not practical.

In view of the fact Coon cheese have the monopoly for cheese mining on the moon, maybe they should be invited into the discussion.

But I firmly believe mining is already underway: The evidence for that is plainly in sight.
Why else does the moon incrementally reduce its size until it disappears, only to reappear a few weeks later in the reverse process.

The moon has obviously an ability to regenerate itself.

Could there be some magic ingredient applicable to the regeneration process that could be applied to say an exhausted gold mine, making it a perpetual producer for eternity, just as the moon does?

Dan

The only mining that there would be on the moon would be for materials that are too expensive to ship from earth i.e. water etc.

No one ever intends to strip mine the moon.