Posted on August 20, 2020
Mining advocates say the world badly needs polymetallic nodules on the seabed for materials to make batteries that will drive the carbon-free societies of the future, but it’s a gamble which Pacific countries are being warned is too risky.
The fledgling deep sea mining sector is moving quickly, and much of its interest centres on the world’s biggest ocean. The mining would take place in the dark, furthest depths of the ocean, several kilometres below the surface, a place where humankind’s destructive touch has been unable to reach – until now.
One of the key players claiming to have the technology and finance to do the work is a Canada-based seabed mining company which has explorations contracts with Nauru, Tonga and Kiribati.
DeepGreen Metals is focussed on the massive Clarion Clipperton Zone in the Central Pacific where it has marine claims under an agreement with the UN’s International Seabed Authority and sponsored by Nauru.
According to DeepGreen’s CEO and chairman, Gerard Barron, their aim is to source the metals needed for the batteries in electric vehicles and renewable power storage.
Barron said the nodules they seek were vital for the transition to a zero carbon economy, enthusing that they sit like golf balls on the seabed so that you don’t have to drill, dig or blast for them.
“They grow a little bit like a pearl grows. And it’s like Mother Nature made this resource for us, for the times that we’re entering now, because of course the world is on a massive push to move away from fossil fuels, and what do we need to do if we want to do that? We need to build a lot of batteries,” Barron said.
Source: Coastal News Today
