Mr Dasenna/
Shutterstock.com
Sustainability Sustainability
Under the sea
Though scientists have understood its theoretical potential for over a century, recent years have seen deep-sea mining explode, with entrepreneurs eager to exploit the enormous bounty of metals and other minerals waiting at the bottom of the sea. Not that everyone is happy about that prospect, however, with diplomats and environmentalists worried about the impact of underwater extraction to fl ora and fauna alike. Andrea Valentino investigates, speaking to Oliver Gunasekara, CEO at Impossible Metals, and Dr Kirsten Thompson, a population biologist at the University of Exeter.
I 40
n September 2017, an operation in the East China Sea changed mining forever. Tapping a geological feature called a ‘hydrothermal vent’ – a crack in the ocean bed that spews magma and minerals up from the earth’s crust – the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) was the first organisation to carry out large-scale mining operations in this way. From an economic perspective, the scheme went well: JOGMEC deployed excavators to capture ore at a depth of around 1,600m, while officials argued they’d secured enough zinc to fulfil Japan’s national consumption for an entire year.
With such wealth beneath the seas, other pioneers have unsurprisingly followed the Japanese example. From Madagascar to Norway, mining vessels have been busy hunting for ores and perfecting extraction techniques, with research by UC Santa Barbara suggesting that dozens of such missions have occurred over the past decade. And why not? In terms of mineral quantities alone, the numbers are astounding. According to one recent study, there is $150tn worth of gold under our oceans – or nine pounds for every single person on the planet. Across the sector more broadly, Global Mining Review suggests annual compound growth
World Mining Frontiers /
www.nsenergybusiness.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47
