By Barbara Lewis LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - China, the leading holder of international deep sea exploration licences, has increased its lead in the race for alternative sources of battery minerals by taking samples from cobalt-bearing mountains deep in the Pacific. The cobalt-rich crusts could one day curb the world's dependence on cobalt from Democratic Republic of Congo, … [Read more...]
Maersk Supply Service AHTS Embarks on Deep Sea Mining Study in Pacific
A Maersk Supply Service AHTS has departed San Diego on its first deep sea mineral study in the ultra-deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. The departure marks Maersk Supply Service's first mineral mining voyage on behalf of the deep sea metal company, DeepGreen. The two companies began working together in 2017 to develop a method for harvesting small metallic rocks, known as … [Read more...]
First Deep Sea Mining Production Vessel Launched in China
Toronto-based Nautilus Minerals Inc. has announced that its newbuild deep sea mining production support vessel has been launched at the Mawei shipyard in China. The vessel, named Nautilus New Era, will be used by Nautilus and its partner, Eda Kopa (Solwara) Limited, to mine for gold and copper at the Solwara 1 Project site in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New … [Read more...]
Mining the Ocean Floor: Good Idea?
By Adam Minter (Bloomberg) While commodities traders still work their way out of a historic slump, Japan is looking ahead to the next boom. According to Bloomberg News, next year a group of Japanese companies and government agencies will start mining minerals at a site 1,000 miles southwest of Tokyo -- and one mile beneath the ocean's surface. It will be the first … [Read more...]
Japan Dives Deep Offshore In Search For Ocean Metal
by Masumi Suga Ichiro Suzuki (Bloomberg) As deep as 1,600 meters (5,250 feet) under water and 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from Tokyo, work has begun on the new hunting ground for metals in Japan, a country so devoid of natural resources that most of what it needs has to be imported. As the island nation depleted most of its land-based minerals in the economic boom that … [Read more...]