Energy Metals Go Deep Into The Ocean

Demand resources from the deep sea

The global deep-sea mining market is expected to grow from $650 million in 2020 to $15.3 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 37.1%, according to a report released by Trend Market Research.

In recent years, driven by the global energy transition, the demand for lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt, aluminum and other metals has risen rapidly, and the prices of various metals have also risen. Take copper as an example, this year, the global copper market appears obviously in short supply situation, high new energy demand and copper producer country policy fluctuations continue to push up copper prices, as of August this year, the global copper futures price has exceeded 90,000 yuan/ton, up 40% from the same period last year.

Land resources appear insufficient, people will focus on the seabed. It is understood that deep-sea minerals usually exist in the way of polymetallic nodules on the sea bed, often formed in the interaction of seawater and magma, mostly in the form of sulfide, also known as "black smoke", mostly distributed near the bottom of the sea volcano.

According to the United Nations, the deep-sea seabed is rich in metallic minerals, such as cobalt, manganese, lithium, iron, nickel and copper, and even gold and silver. In the Clarrion-Clipperton area in the eastern Pacific Ocean, for example, where water is between 3,500 and 5,500 meters deep, it is estimated that this deposit alone contains more nickel, manganese and cobalt than all three mineral resources combined on land. Other potential areas include the Central Indian Ocean basin and the exclusive economic zones of the Cook Islands, Kiribati and French Polynesia.

根据研究人员发表的一项研究the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway's offshore continental shelf contains more copper than the world currently produces each year. Steinar Loeve Ellefmo, assistant professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said that although the amount of copper in Norway's oceans would not be enough to completely replace onshore resources, it would be enough to contribute to meeting the growing demand for the metal.

Many countries plan to increase spending on deep-sea mining

Deep sea mining market demand. In January, the Norwegian government announced that it was sending a new research team to study the feasibility of mining and producing minerals on the seabed in the high seas area. Before that, Norway sent a deep-sea mineral exploration team and found large quantities of copper, zinc, cobalt, gold, silver and other metallic minerals on the seabed off Norway,

According to Reuters, the Norwegian government has expressed interest in granting permits to deep-sea mining companies, and the country could begin deep-sea mining as early as 2023. Norway plans to become one of the first countries in the world to start deep-sea mining to meet demand for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and photovoltaic equipment, according to the Norwegian Ministry of Oil, Gas and Energy.

It's not just Norway. TMC, a Canadian mining company valued at $2.9 billion, went public in The U.S. in September. The company, a new giant in deep-sea mining, said it is rich in cobalt, nickel, copper and other metals under the sea, which will effectively solve a possible shortage of energy metals in the future. TMC has now secured a licence to explore parts of the Pacific seabed, where it is expected to mine rocky minerals rich in battery metals.

According to TMC, the company's mineral resources have proven large quantities of high-purity nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese and other minerals, which can meet the metal demand of at least 280 million electric vehicles. The company said it expects to complete trials of collecting metallic minerals from the seabed as early as 2022, and gradually move from the seabed exploration phase to the formal development phase after 2023.

Up to now, major economies such as France, Germany and Russia, as well as Pacific island nations such as Nauru, Cook Islands and Kiribati, have participated in seabed mineral exploration in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and have a presence in the field of deep-sea mining, according to the UN.

The issue of environmental protection continues to provoke controversy

Despite rising demand, deep-sea mining is still a nascent industry, and the lack of practical experience and supporting policies means it is still a long way from commercialization. While the International Seabed Authority has granted TMC a mining license, the agency has yet to reach agreement on regulations governing and supervising the exploration and exploitation of seabed minerals, According to Price.com.

Under the circumstances, several environmental groups and academic institutions around the world have called for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

In the view of Marine miners, the adverse impact of deep-sea mining on the human social environment is much lower than that of land-based mining activities, avoiding the problem that mining damages the local living environment or even endangers the health of residents. Meanwhile, Gerard Barron, chairman of THE TMC, said that deep-sea mining was a solution to the global climate crisis, and that producing battery metals would reduce the use of fossil fuels.

However, deep-sea mining may not be as "green" as it appears to environmentalists. , Reuters reported after the deep-sea mining plans announced the Norwegian government, many environmental groups strongly protest, think that people in deep-sea mining can bring harm to the Marine ecosystems and poorly understood, deep-sea mining potential environmental impact is not conclusive findings, relevant departments should stop all the deep-sea mining project as soon as possible.

"We are not completely saying no to seabed mining," Peter Haugan, a professor at the University of Bergen, was quoted as saying by Reuters. But it is clear that deep-sea mining has a far greater impact on the habitat of life on the seafloor than offshore oil and gas extraction."

In December last year, released by experts from 15 countries of the world's oceans, according to a report before starting the industrial scale of deep sea mining operations, the social from all walks of life should know more about your impact on the environment, and try to cut these negative effects to an acceptable level, to ensure that the deep-sea mining will not bring do more harm than good to the global consequences.