Deep Sea Mining - Sayer Charnquist

The Ocean... deep... blue... full of money... the ocean... So it seems that a few of the people at the top are looking to start efficient mining programs to scrape the seafloor for minerals and metals. This all started back in 1868 when a Russian dredging ship pulled a chunk of iron ore out from the seabed. Now silver, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, and even gemstones were found along the seafloor. Which means companies are gonna want those materials. When these companies reach the maximum possible output they estimate they will be able to scrape the seafloor for thousands of square miles. Small collection vehicles will scrape the top 5 inches of the seafloor, before the sediment is sucked up through a hose, sifted through, and thrown back in. This is bad because the sediment has a high chance of containing poisonous mercury. Which could contaminate large swathes of ocean, and coat the seafloor and bury ecosystems.
The floor of the ocean is more important than the arthropods that walk around there. It is also an amazing ecosystem that deserves exploration. That's my bias showing. While the ecosystem is heavily important, the absolute quantity of resources would be absurd, and would skyrocket the economy of any country that got their hands on it. I'm both surprised and thankful that there isn't more being invested into this. Though then again, it seems nobody cares about the bottom of the ocean, not even researchers.

Article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/20000-feet-under-the-sea/603040/

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