Seafloor Mining
The Battle Below
In late September, President Trump declared the U.S. dependence on China for so-called ‘rare earth’ minerals a ‘national emergency’. Those minerals are essential to technology from our phones to our top-level defense weapons. In today’s cover story, Lisa Fletcher takes us on a deep dive, literally, beneath the earth’s surface into the ocean for ‘the battle below.’
The Lawless High Seas May Soon Gain Protections Under a Groundbreaking Ocean Treaty
The high seas are legally defined as waters that don’t fall under any single nation’s exclusive economic zone. That means they technically belong to everyone. It also means they’re hard to protect against activities like fishing or mining because they’re beyond any single nation’s jurisdiction, explained Porter Hoagland, a senior research specialist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
FAQs
What is deep-sea mining? Deep-sea mining is the proposed extraction of metallic and non-metallic mineral resources from the ocean floor…
Read MoreWho Regulates Seafloor Mining?
The rules that govern mining on most of the world’s seabed are no ordinary rules. They got their start back…
Read MoreSeafloor Mining
Hot, buoyant, mineral-laden fluids rise from deep within ocean crust and mix with cold seawater. That triggers the precipitation of…
Read MoreThe Discovery of Hydrothermal Vents
In 1977, WHOI scientists made a discovery that revolutionized our understanding of how and where life could exist on Earth and other planetary bodies.
Read MoreCountries poised to roll out deep sea mining in new ‘gold rush’
quotes Stace Beaulieu
These Fearsome Robots Will Bring Mining to the Deep Ocean
mentions Stace Beaulieu and WHOI
Panel Discusses Deep Sea Mining at AAAS Meeting in Boston
mentions Stace Beaulieu and WHOI
Should we mine the deep ocean?
quotes Stace Beaulieu and mentions WHOI
Why Mine Asteroids When We Can Mine the Deep Sea?
quotes Stace Beaulieu and mentions WHOI
Panel to Discuss Deep-Sea Mining at AAAS Meeting
Home to an immense diversity of marine life, the deep ocean also contains valuable minerals with metals such as nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese, zinc, and gold, and rare-earth elements used in electronic technology like smart phones and medical imaging machines. As demand for these resources increases and supplies on land decrease, commercial mining operators are looking to the deep ocean as the next frontier for mining.
Read MoreThis Canadian Company Wants to Mine for Gold on the Bottom of the Ocean
features Stace Beaulieu and Lauren Mullineaux
Shell stops drilling for oil off Alaskan coast
mentions WHOI
The Promise and Perils of Seafloor Mining
A year ago, the Canadian mining company Nautilus Minerals was poised to launch a new industry: mining the deep ocean…
Read MoreDeep Sea Floor Mining Is Subject of International Colloquium at WHOI
Scientists, policymakers, environmentalists, and industry representatives will gather next week at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to discuss the issue…
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