We are all a part of nature and the sea world is something that is so very new to us. No matter how much we say science has brought us a long way, we would be lying to say that it is just the tip of the iceberg. We have studied on our school days how there are so many raw resources and materials on the surface of the seabed and even under it. It would be a great help to humanity if we could extract this. Thus, there have been a lot of methods that were suggested for it but the one experts put into use was deep-sea mining. Deep-sea mining is the way toward recovering mineral deposits from the deep sea – the space of the sea under 200 m which covers about 65% of the Earth’s surface. There is developing interest in the mineral deposits of the deep sea. This is generally due to draining earthly deposits for metals like copper, nickel, aluminum, manganese, zinc, lithium, and cobalt, combined with rising interest for these metals to deliver cutting edge applications, for example, cell phones and green advancements, for example, wind turbines, sun powered boards, and electric stockpiling batteries. A seabed mining robot being tried on the Pacific Ocean floor at a profundity of over 4 km (13,000 ft) has become confined, the Belgian organization running the exploratory preliminary said on Wednesday., 28th April 2021.
What do we know about the situation right now?
The deep-sea mining method has been rumored to be put into use in many places but the one we have news about is supposedly the first one of its kind. So it’s a lot of money and man-hours at stake here. Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), the deep-sea exploratory division of dredging company DEME Group, has been trialing Patania II, a 25-tonne mining robot prototype, in its concession in the Clarion Clipperton Zone since April 20. The machine is meant to collect the potato-sized nodules rich in cobalt and other battery metals that pepper the seabed in this area, and was connected to GSR’s ship with a 5km cable. “On its final dive in the GSR area, a lifting point separated and Patania II now stands on the seafloor,” a GSR spokesman said in an emailed statement. “An operation to reconnect the lifting point begins this evening and we will provide an update in due course.” The GSR trial is being observed by independent scientists from 29 European institutes who will analyze data and samples collected by the robot to measure the impact of seabed mining. While several companies and countries have seabed exploration contracts, regulations governing deep-sea mining have not yet been finalized by the International Seabed Authority, a U.N. body.
The backlash they received
Taking care of our mother earth is of utmost at this point in time of global warming and whatnot. We need to learn about the consequences that we would have to face if we do not tread lightly. Environmentalist David Attenborough has told the world how seabed mining is untested and has a largely unknown environmental impact. Google, BMW, AB Volvo, and Samsung SDI have backed a call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. GSR has said it will only apply for a mining contract if the science shows that deep seabed minerals have advantages, from an environmental and social perspective, over-relying solely on land mining.
