Maila Guilhon for the Deep-sea Mining Observer In 2007, scientists first convened a workshop to discuss conservation measures in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, leading ultimately to the establishment of the first Environmental Management Plan for mining in the Area. Now, evaluating and establishing Regional Environmental Management Plans (REMPs) are a significant component of deep-sea mining discussions. […]
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Scattered across the abyssal plain at depths from 4000 to 6500 meters, polymetallic nodules are the most abundant and broadly distributed of the three major ore types currently being pursued by deep-sea mining companies. Originally referred to as manganese nodules, this small, potato-sized accretions on the seafloor were first discovered during the Challenger Expedition in […]
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2019 was a landmark year for deep-sea mining. As the 25th anniversary of the International Seabed Authority, the pressure was on to advance the industry from promise to production. The surge in cobalt prices in 2018 led to renewed interest in new sources of this essential but often troubled resource but also yielded a precipitous […]
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In 1980, Dr. John B. Goodenough unraveled the electro-chemical reactions that would give birth to one of the single most important inventions of the 20th century: the lithium ion battery. The first commercially viable rechargeable lithium ion batteries were soon being produced by Dr. Akira Yoshino at Sony. Without these tiny cells’ immense potential to […]
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As deep-sea mining creeps towards production and the International Seabed Authority works diligently to produce a comprehensive Mining Code for exploitation in the Area, stakeholders from across the spectrum are racing to answer one question: how do we predict, assess, manage, and mitigate environmental harm in the deep sea beyond national jurisdiction? Increasingly, regulators, contractors, […]
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India is in the midst of developing deep-sea mining systems to meet the growing demand for the minerals necessary in the production of next-generation technologies. This program is part of India’s Deep Ocean Mission to dramatically expand the country’s capacity to explore and exploit the deep sea both within India’s EEZ and in the Area […]
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Mika McKinnon for DSM Observer Is Brazil’s offshore Rio Grande Rise the shreds of a former continent, or a bulge of restless volcanism? What seems a fussy niche debate for geologists has big consequences for deep-sea mining rights. It takes more than water to make an ocean and more than land goes into defining a […]
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Formed at the margins where tectonic plates collide or diverge, seafloor massive sulphides are the most geologically active and among the most metal-rich deep-sea deposits. Only discovered in 1977 (though there were some tantalizing near misses several decades earlier), exploration on these prospects is relatively immature compared to formations like polymetallic nodule fields, which have […]
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One of the most significant discussions in deep-sea mining is happening not a the International Seabed Authority, but in the offices of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York. The CLCS is responsible for assessing outer continental shelf claims, those portions of a nation’s continental […]
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Scattered throughout the ocean are thick, metal-rich crusts that grow slowly on the exposed sides of seamounts. Among the three major ore types that are the predominant focus of deep-sea mining, these cobalt-rich crusts have received the least attention. While polymetallic nodules have occupied the deep-sea mining community’s collective imagination since the genesis of the […]
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