> This could be big business. James Hein of the United States Geological Survey and colleagues estimated in a paper in 2012 that the CCZ holds more nickel, cobalt and manganese than all known terrestrial deposits of those metals put together
Terrestrial versions of mining for these metals are extremely polluting and destroy local ecosystems. Fortunately, the pollutants only travel so far before settling down, unless they get into the water ways. How are they planning to avoid this pollution in one giant waterway with extremely strong currents? The article doesn’t say a word about pollution from mining and only fleeting mention of it with fish farming and monitoring capabilities of Saildrone.
Instead of trying to mess up more of our home, maybe we should be more focused on off-world exploration.
> The article doesn’t say a word about pollution from mining
Yes, it did.
"In order to satisfy the ISA, this new machine does not just have to show it can harvest nodules; it also has to show that it can do so in an environmentally sensitive way."
"It will have two drone escorts, one to move ahead of it and one behind. They will monitor how much silt it disturbs, and will shut down the operation if necessary."
"Mining minerals on land can require clearing away forests and other ecosystems in order to gain access, and moving hundreds of millions of tonnes of rock to get down to the ores. Local and indigenous people have often come out poorly from the deals made between miners and governments. Deep-sea mining will probably produce lower grade ores, but it will do so without affecting human populations."
"It will also deliver those ores straight on to ships which can move them directly to processing plants on any coast in the world, including those using solar or wind power, thus reducing the footprint of mineral extraction even more."
That’s the point - we don’t know what “environmentally sensitive way” is. We have a bunch of assumptions and predictions, but cannot guarantee the outcomes precisely because we haven’t done it yet.
The question is should we even try or is it better for the environment and our own longevity as a species to take this activity somewhere it has a lot fewer direct ways of harming us.
Terrestrial versions of mining for these metals are extremely polluting and destroy local ecosystems. Fortunately, the pollutants only travel so far before settling down, unless they get into the water ways. How are they planning to avoid this pollution in one giant waterway with extremely strong currents? The article doesn’t say a word about pollution from mining and only fleeting mention of it with fish farming and monitoring capabilities of Saildrone.
Instead of trying to mess up more of our home, maybe we should be more focused on off-world exploration.