From gCaptain:
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.Previously:
The cobalt-rich crusts could one day curb the world’s dependence on cobalt from Democratic Republic of Congo, but most companies say deep sea mining is a distant prospect.
Maersk Supply Service, part of shipping company Maersk , is working with Canada’s DeepGreen to harvest metallic rocks from the ocean floor.
“It is a promising business area with the potential for significant future growth,” Maersk Supply Service said in an email. “Production is a few years away.”
Miner-trader Glencore has a stake in DeepGreen which would eventually give Glencore 50 percent of any copper and nickel output.
Glencore declined to comment and DeepGreen had no immediate comment.
So far only Canadian-listed firm Nautilus Minerals has gone beyond the exploration stage to try and mine off the coast of Papua New Guinea, for copper, gold and silver, but it been slowed by funding issues and local opposition.
Anglo American sold its 4 percent stake in Nautilus in May, as part of efforts to retain only its most profitable assets....MORE
July 2011
China Goes Deep (two can play the 'mining the seafloor game')
June 2012
Screw the Asteroids: "DeepGreen strikes deal with Glencore for undersea mining metals"
March 2013
So Much for "Peak" Rare Earths: "Japan breaks China's stranglehold on rare metals with sea-mud bonanza"
Sept. 2015
"We Are About to Start Mining Hydrothermal Vents on the Ocean Floor" (now with added alchemist's fallacy"
May 2017
The Wild West of Deep-Sea Mining
April 2018
First Deep Sea Mining Production Vessel Launched in China
May 2018
Maersk Begins Support Operation for Deep Sea Mining Company, DeepGreen
Japan is also one of the leaders in mining sewage, we'll leave that story for tomorrow, World Toilet Day.
