June 14, 2021 By Elizabeth Kolbert The New Yorker
We’ve barely explored the darkest realm of the ocean. With rare-metal mining on the rise, we’re already destroying it.
The Deep Sea Is Filled with Treasure, but It Comes at a Price
Indonesian Miners Eyeing EV Nickel Boom Seek to Dump Waste into the Sea
May 18, 2020 By Ian Morse Mongabay
As Indonesia ramps up its mining sector to feed the world’s hunger for zero-emission vehicles, it is faced with a problem: what to do with all the waste. Now, companies building the nation’s first factories to produce the elements that power electric vehicles are seeking permission to dump billions of tons of potentially toxic waste into the waters of the Coral Triangle, home to the highest diversity of corals and reef fishes anywhere on the planet.
Deep-Sea Mining’s Environmental Toll Could Last Decades
May 1, 2020 By Alex Fox Smithsonian Magazine
Deep-sea mining, which requires extracting minerals and metals from the seafloor, has scientists and environmentalists worried because a growing body of research suggests its environmental damages are likely to be long-lasting and severe. New research published this week underscores these risks, finding that deep-sea microbes may take half a century to recover from the disturbance of mining