Mining robot stranded on Pacific Ocean floor in deep-sea mining trial
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[April 29, 2021]
(Reuters) -A seabed mining robot
being tested on the Pacific Ocean floor at a depth of more than 4 km
(13,000 ft) has become detached, the Belgian company running the
experimental trial said on Wednesday.
Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), the deep-sea exploratory division of
dredging company DEME Group, has been testing Patania II, a 25-tonne
mining robot prototype, in its concession in the Clarion Clipperton Zone
since April 20.
The machine is meant to collect the potato-sized nodules rich in cobalt
and other battery metals that pepper the seabed in this area, and was
connected to GSR's ship with a 5km cable.
"On its final dive in the GSR area, a lifting point separated and
Patania II now stands on the seafloor," a GSR spokesman said in an
emailed statement.
"An operation to reconnect the lifting point begins this evening and we
will provide an update in due course."
The GSR trial is being observed by independent scientists from 29
European institutes who will analyse data and samples collected by the
robot in order to measure the impact of seabed mining.
While several companies and countries have seabed exploration contracts,
regulations governing deep-sea mining have not yet been finalised by the
International Seabed Authority, a U.N. body.
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Patania II, a 25-tonne seabed mining robot, is lowered into the
Pacific Ocean to begin a descent to the sea floor, in the Clarion
Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, April 2021. GSR/Handout via
REUTERS
Critics, including environmentalist David
Attenborough, say seabed mining is untested and has a largely
unknown environmental impact. Google, BMW, AB Volvo, and Samsung SDI
have backed a call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.
Dr Sandra Schoettner, deep-sea biologist at Greenpeace, said:
"Losing control of a 25-tonne mining machine at the bottom of the
Pacific Ocean should sink the idea of ever mining the deep sea."
A spokesman for GSR said the company has not lost control of Patania
II, and that projects like this always have challenges to contend
with.
GSR has said it will only apply for a mining contract if the science
shows deep seabed minerals have advantages, from an environmental
and social perspective, over relying solely on land mining.
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by William Maclean and David
Gregorio)
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