The Metals Company, a leading deep-sea mining company, aims to be the first to mine metal-rich nodules in international waters. The company has already paid an Australian government scientific agency for access to study data. But environmentalists warn that such plans pose a threat to marine life, UNN reports with reference to AFP.
Details
After the start of deep-sea mining and exploitation of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in a remote corner of the Pacific Ocean, the inhabitants of the underwater world are threatened with a "significant reduction". The Metals Company, a leading deep-sea mining company, is preparing a project to study polymetallic nodules - a rock rich in metals used in battery production.
Reference
Large deep-sea mining companies are still looking for the best way to extract nodules,
The Metals Company has already paid an Australian government scientific agency to study data collected during trial mining in the remote Pacific Ocean.
The Metals Company aims to be the first to mine these nodules in international waters, seeking to exploit a remote area known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.
Threat to the environment
But the question remains as to how mining can be managed and what environmental consequences it will create.
Bottom dwellers such as sea cucumbers, sea worms, starfish, and crustaceans may face a "significant reduction in numbers immediately after mining."
Some of these species will partially recover within a year, but filter feeders and other tiny organisms that feed on sedimentary rocks on the seabed have shown "minimal recovery."
"On the seabed, our research shows that various mining operations have a significant local impact," scientist Piers Dunstan said during a briefing.
Recall
As a result of Russian aggression, the environment of Ukraine has suffered damages amounting to 94 billion dollars. Tons of harmful substances enter the air due to daily shelling.