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Deep Sea Mining

Deep sea mining refers to the extraction of minerals from the seabed. The main ores that attract commercial interest are unattached polymetallic nodules, which are found at depths of 2.5–3.7 miles (4-6 km), and contain nickel, copper, cobalt, and manganese.

  • The Chinese deep-sea drilling ship Meng Xiang
    Science
    China's deep-sea drilling plan to pierce the Earth’s crust
    China is going full Jules Verne as it prepares to go where no drill has gone before. As part of its Deep Ocean Drilling Program, the special-built Meng Xiang (梦想号, "Dream") drill ship is gearing up for a multi-year effort to pierce the Earth's crust.
  • The Metals Company has been looking into ways to extract polymetallic nodules from the sea floor since 2011 using collector vehicles like this one – and it may soon get its way
    Marine
    The deep blue sea might soon become a mining frontier
    Deep sea mining has been off limits because it's awfully hard, and because governments haven't yet firmed up regulations around extracting minerals offshore. That might soon change with The Metal Company's latest move – perhaps sooner than it should.