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Deep sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the seabed of the deep sea. The main ores of commercial interest are polymetallic nodules, which are found at depths of 4–6 km (2.5–3.7 mi) primarily on the abyssal plain.
Model of seabed mining technology. Seabed mining, also known as Seafloor mining [1] is the recovery of minerals from the seabed by techniques of underwater mining. The concept includes mining at shallow depths on the continental shelf and deep-sea mining at greater depths associated with tectonic activity, hydrothermal vents and the abyssal plains.
The majority of the world's nuclear power is sourced from uranium in such deposits. Uranium is also found in nearly all coal at several parts per million, and in all granites. Radon is a common problem during mining of uranium as it is a radioactive gas. Uranium is also found associated with certain igneous rocks, such as granite and porphyry.
Polymetallic nodules are found in both shallow (e.g. the Baltic Sea [7]) and deeper waters (e.g. the central Pacific), even in lakes, [8] and are thought to have been a feature of the seas and oceans at least since the deep oceans were oxygenated in the Ediacaran period over 540 million years ago. [9]
World copper production, 1900–2012. Peak copper is the point in time at which the maximum global copper production rate is reached. Since copper is a finite resource, at some point in the future new production from mining will diminish, and at some earlier time production will reach a maximum. When this will occur is a matter of dispute.
SMS deposits were first recognized during the exploration of the deep oceans and the mid ocean ridge spreading centers in the early 1960s. Deep ocean research submersibles , bathyspheres and remote operated vehicles have visited and taken samples of black smoker chimneys, and it has been long recognised that such chimneys contain appreciable ...
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TMC the metals company Inc., [1] doing business as The Metals Company, formerly DeepGreen Metals, is a Canadian deep sea mining exploration company. [2] The company focuses on the mining of polymetallic (nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese) nodules [3] [4] in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific.