USA looking to join the race
The Metals Company may be the first company – commercial or state-owned – in the world to start full-scale deepsea mining. That makes their quarterly and annual reports a well-worth…
Seabed Minerals
Nodules may indeed be “battery rocks”
Nodules were originally termed “a battery in a rock” by The Metals Company (TMC) to convey to the public the need for deep sea minerals for the green shift. Polymetallic…
386 blocks
It is 59 years since Norway announced the first round of hydrocarbon concessions for the Norwegian continental shelf. At that time, the offer included 278 blocks south of the 62nd…
Drilling on the seabed
The deep sea is pitch dark, but the two ROVs provide plenty of “working light” for the drilling machine that is standing on the seabed in the hilly, inhospitable terrain…
An accidental discovery of a large mineral deposit
The aim of the drilling operation was to learn more about subsurface water circulation by drilling into a fault. But when operations began on the selected topographical high along the…
Mineral resource estimates for Nordic waters expose different lines of thinking between major Norwegian institutions
A debate has recently unfolded around how much copper – and related metals – are present in Norway’s mid-oceanic ridge system, an area where mining could take place in the…
Finding deep sea minerals with oil and gas technology
“With conventional exploration for oil and gas, electromagnetic measurements (EM) are used to map resistivity in prospects – hydrocarbons are more resistive than brines. When we are looking for minerals,…
Norway opens for seabed mineral activities
The final step in a years-long process was made in the Norwegian Parliament on January 9th, 2024. The four largest political parties, representing a strong majority, voted to open an…
What moves a grain?
Plume dispersion is not solely a matter of distance from the mine site, physical processeses are also important”, said Thomas Peacock, professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the…
Norway is getting a new marine industry
The governing parties, the Labour Party and the Center Party, together with the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party, have secured a majority in parliament on the opening of mineral operations…
Environmentally responsible mining: Not so impossible
A key milestone was met in May this year. Impossible Metals demonstrated the capabilities of their autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Eureka 1. The successful test in shallow water has brought…
Japan eyes production from REE-rich muds
The unusual deposit was first discovered by Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) in 2013 and is located in an area off the Minami-Torishima Island (Marcus Island) in…