From the Editor: US Mineral Policy and an atomic legacy.

Last year, for a completely unrelated project, I conducted a census of how many nuclear weapons had been lost at sea. Since then, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the interplay between military, scientific, and commercial use of the high seas, as well as, perhaps, the most improbable question of all: what happens […]

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26 years after experimental mining, a seabed ecosystem has yet to recover

In 1989, the largest attempt to model the impacts of a deep-sea mining operation was conducted across 1100 hectares of seafloor in the Peru Basin. The Disturbance and Recolonization Experiment (DISCOL) simulated polymetallic nodule extraction by dragging an 8-meter plough-harrow across a nodule field, creating 78 troughs that mimicked one likely consequence of dragging a […]

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A nodule harvester. Image courtesy DeepGreen.

DeepGreen raises $150 million as it advances towards production

DeepGreen Metals has secured $150 million in funding through a partnership with Allseas Group to launch the mining company’s first large-scale feasibility studies. These trials, slated for completion in 2023, will help pave the way for commercial exploitation of polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone. DeepGreen views polymetallic nodule extraction as an essential step […]

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UN Global Compact meeting on Oceans outlines rising demand for responsibly sourced deep-seabed minerals and related opportunities in delivering on the Global Goals

Deep seabed mining has the potential to accelerate progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by increasing scientific knowledge of the deep ocean whilst at the same time providing opportunities for economic growth on the basis of fairness and equity , highlighted Mr. Michael W. Lodge, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) […]

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A nodule harvester. Image courtesy DeepGreen.

DeepGreen closer to ocean mining battery metals after Swiss cash injection

Cecilia Jamasmie for Mining [dot] Com | 10 June 2019 Canada’s DeepGreen Metals, a start-up planning to extract cobalt and other battery metals from small rocks covering the seafloor, has secured the bulk of the $150 million it needs to carry out its first feasibility studies. The financing, provided by Switzerland-based offshore pipeline company Allseas […]

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