- Write by:
-
Monday, February 19, 2024 - 19:21:47
-
132 Visit
-
Print
Deep-sea mining is likely just a matter of time, according to the head of the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
“Clearly now, we are reaching a very high level of interest so I would say that yes it seems to be inevitable,” said Michael Lodge, the secretary-general of the ISA, in an interview with CNBC.
“One of the main drivers of industrial interest is the potential to produce larger quantities of minerals at equivalent or lower cost to what can be produced on land,” Lodge added.
His comments come as the ISA prepares to recommence talks on deep-sea mining in Kingston, Jamaica, next month.
Recently, Norway’s parliament greenlit seabed mining exploration in the country’s territorial waters. The determination on January 9 made Norway the first country to formally authorize seabed mining activities in its waters.
Minerals and metals such as cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese can be found in potato-sized nodules on the ocean floor. Reserves are estimated to be worth anywhere from $8 trillion to more than $16 trillion.
According to a study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, producing battery metals from nodules could reduce emissions of CO² by 70-75%, cut land use by 94% and eliminate 100% of solid waste.
Meanwhile, scientists have warned that the full environmental impacts of deep-sea mining are hard to predict, and environmental campaign groups say the practice can lead to ecosystem destruction and species extinction.
“It hasn’t been done yet, so it is very hard to say conclusively that it would be as destructive as some people claim that it would be,” said Lodge.
Short Link:
https://www.miningnews.ir/En/News/628023
![Copper price set for worst week since 2022 as China Plenum disappoints](/Incsys/Photo.aspx?image=/Uploads/News/20240723142415052.jpeg&width=236&height=180)
Copper prices have retreated from a record in May on concerns about the strength of demand in China, where growth was ...
![Zimbabwe’s Kuvimba signs $310 million lithium mine deal](/Incsys/Photo.aspx?image=/Uploads/News/20240723141944589.jpeg&width=236&height=180)
Zimbabwe’s state-owned Kuvimba Mining House has signed a $310 million deal with a consortium of British and Chinese ...
![Copper output from Codelco this year to top 2023, chairman says](/Incsys/Photo.aspx?image=/Uploads/News/20240723141842581.jpg&width=236&height=180)
Codelco chairman Maximo Pacheco said on Thursday that the state-run copper giant expects production this year to outdo ...
![China copper smelters eye more output cuts as raw material supply tightens](/Incsys/Photo.aspx?image=/Uploads/News/20240723141202374.jpeg&width=236&height=180)
A shortage of copper concentrate this year has forced a few smelters in China to cut output, and more curtailments could ...
![Turkish envoy visits Niger to secure uranium supplies](/Incsys/Photo.aspx?image=/Uploads/News/20240723141041657.jpeg&width=236&height=180)
Turkey’s foreign, defense and energy ministers visited Niger on Wednesday to secure access to the West African nation’s ...
![Mercedes, Stellantis in talks to back Serbia’s lithium plans](/Incsys/Photo.aspx?image=/Uploads/News/20240723140454191.jpg&width=236&height=180)
Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Stellantis NV are in discussions with Serbia’s government to invest in lithium-processing and ...
![China copper smelters plan to cut output after margins fall](/Incsys/Photo.aspx?image=/Uploads/News/20240723135544917.jpg&width=236&height=180)
Two Chinese copper smelters have laid out plans to reduce production next year as an imbalance between mine supply and ...
![Copper price edges down to two-week low amid demand uncertainty](/Incsys/Photo.aspx?image=/Uploads/News/20240723135256664.jpeg&width=236&height=180)
Copper edged down to a two-week low in choppy trading, amid uncertainty over supply and demand in China and weakness in ...
![Antofagasta expects 2024 copper output at low end of yearly forecast](/Incsys/Photo.aspx?image=/Uploads/News/20240723135052294.jpg&width=236&height=180)
Chilean miner Antofagasta said on Wednesday it expects full-year copper output at the lower end of its 670,000 to ...
No comments have been posted yet ...