Source: Portugal News
Scientists from the JPI Oceans “MiningImpact” project will embark on a six-week expedition to the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone in the Pacific at depths of more than 4,000 metres, in a European consortium that includes five Portuguese institutions.
The oceanographic mission that takes place 1,500 kilometres off the Mexican coast aims to investigate and monitor the environmental impacts of polymetallic nodule mining in the deep sea of a pre-prototype ore collection vehicle.
“The intention of the project is to assess the impact of the nodule extraction vehicle on marine organisms and provide the international authority with the scientific basis to legislate on mineral exploration of the ocean floor” revealed a researcher from the Marine and Environmental Research Centre (CIMA) of the University of Algarve to Lusa.
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