The Breakdown: Deep Sea Mining- Treasure Chest or Pandora's Box?

The Environment
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There is always the familiar moment in horror movies when the audience silently plead with the protagonist not to open the ominous door and enter the dark abyss behind. Everyone knows that danger awaits, yet curiosity and temptation prove irresistible, and inevitably, disaster strikes.

This is the situation we are in with deep sea mining. The UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) has until 2025 to finalise regulations that will dictate whether and how countries could pursue deep-sea mining in international waters. Strong arguments are coming from both advocates and opponents, but what are the real issues and trade-offs being discussed?

What exactly does it entail?

Deep-sea mining is the process of extracting valuable mineral deposits from the sea floor, at depths of more than 200 metres below sea level. Predominantly, it is to extract manganese, cobalt, nickel, zinc, silver, gold, and other rare earth elements.

Gold, Manganese, and Cobalt… Do we also need frankincense and Myrrh?

Not exactly. These materials are intended for electric cars, mobile phones, and solar panels rather than gifts for the infant son of God.

Why do we need to go to the bottom of the sea to get these?

Mining on land is already going ahead, however, as global energy systems step up production of wind turbines and solar panels, and demand for electric vehicles soars, pressure is increasing to source greater quantities of the elements required to fulfil burgeoning global demand.

Why is it so controversial?

We don’t know what long-term effects disturbing this alien ecosystem will have.

One experiment done in the Peru Basin mimicked the physical impact of a nodule harvester roaming the sea floor, and when they returned twenty-six years later to assess the impact, they found little evidence of physical or biological recovery, even when nodules were left untouched. Aside from the effects in the immediate area, little is known about the impacts of sediment pollution and mineral loss on the wider ocean and connecting ecosystems. Scientists believe that already heavily depleted fish stocks could be under threat, as well as marine mammals such as whales and dolphins who are susceptible to the noise and light pollution.

Humanity boasts a pretty shocking record of inflicting irrevocable damage to the ecosystems we choose to exploit (fisheries, land mining, forestry, rivers), so its seems unlikely that we should be trusted with responsibly extracting resources from this final frontier.

Makes sense. So why are we even contemplating opening Pandora’s box?

Global air and sea temperatures continue to rise, oceans acidify, storms and droughts intensify, and biodiversity loss is threatening to bring about the next mass extinction.

Time is not a luxury we have in our battle with climate change, and we urgently need to transition away from fossil fuels at a faster pace and the materials on the sea floor are essential components of the zero carbon tech we will depend on.

Is this what the mining companies are arguing?

It’s one of their arguments. Mining companies such as The Metals Company cite  the technological advances in techniques that mean extracting minerals from the sea floor is not as destructive as many perceive it to be. Using vacuums that ‘suck up’ minerals, they claim that mineral disruption of the sea floor occurs, and plumes of sediment are minimised.

They have also noted the myriad of human rights and ecological issues surround land mining projects, with devastating impacts on indigenous communities, biodiverse ecosystems, and a rise in rates of murder and sexual violence.

With all the environmental and human rights issues with mining on land, surely, it’s time to embrace the technology and go underwater?

It is easy to get enticed by the lure of innovative technologies, yet the fact remains, we just don’t know enough about the sea floor ecosystem to judge the long-term consequences of any sediment disturbance. Plus, the rate at which technological advances occur mean that there is uncertainty surrounding the mix and level of demand of certain metals in the future. Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries that require neither nickel nor cobalt already account for around one-third of the share of the global EV market, and developing technologies such as sodium-ion batteries may reduce demand further.

And how are these companies going to be held to account on environmental and working standards? The technology and expense needed to go down mean they are essentially going to be marking their own homework.

So, mining might affect the terrifying, bioluminescent alien fish that live down in the depths? I might be okay with that…

You might not be if you get struck down with an incurable illness in the next 30 years though. There is much promise of marine genetic resources in the murky depths, which could provide us with crucial new medicines and antibiotics. Scientists are studying chemicals from deep-sea sponges for potential treatments of a variety of diseases, including Cancer and HIV, suggesting that much like the rainforest, the deep sea ecosystem harbours a vital natural pharmacy for humanity.

But the high seas are a common resource, so mining could help countries from the Global South close the wealth gap?

Unlikely. Although the territory beyond countries individual Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) falls under the common heritage principal, the substantial costs involved in such complex deep water mining operations render exploration prohibitive to most nations of the Global South. Allowing exploration by national governments and large corporations without a predetermined resource or technology sharing agreement would simply widen the gap between the rich and poor, reinforcing global wealth disparity and evoking memories of colonial era resource plundering.

So ecological destruction and resource grabbing by rich multinationals, sounds familiar… What’s next?

Clearly, in order to transition away from fossil fuels, we need a huge increase in minerals that power cleaner technology, however, the vast knowledge gap of the sea floor ecosystem mean that a ‘precautionary pause’ on deep sea mining must continue until a robust, collaborative framework that facilitates equitable resource and benefit sharing is adopted. Above all, this framework must be the result of independent scientific research across an extended period of time.

And in the meantime? How can we meet the demand for green tech?

More investment must go into recycling and reusing the existing mined minerals, improving ESG frameworks and conditions for workers in terrestrial mining, and researching alternative metals for components and batteries.

In summary, as humanity plays shuffleboard with the tipping points of the planetary boundaries, the urgency for green technology to replace fossil fuels is becoming increasingly apparent, yet the potential harm to underwater ecosystems, the loss of genetic material, and the fact that we know so little about this world, means deep sea mining is not the solution.

Here are some useful resources to find out more about deep sea mining:

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