Check out the top stories from the deep, taken from coverage between 14-21 August 2023
Battery recyclers eyeing policy support, plugging talent gap ahead of Asia market scale-up
Source: Eco Business
Author: Liang Lei
Asian countries – China, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea – currently have governments or firms holding 13 of 31 exploration permits issued for deep-sea mining globally.
According to Sian Owen, director of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, it is a matter of policy priority in choosing what to focus on. Asian countries like Japan have the technology to generate battery-grade metals from old cells, Owen said. Collection and processing is currently still expensive, but money put into recycling innovation – that could lower costs – is still outweighed by funding for mining exploration.
Deep-sea mining project in PNG resurfaces despite community opposition
Source: Mongabay
Author: John Cannon
In Papua New Guinea (PNG), an embattled deep-sea mining project resurfaces, despite more than a decade of opposition from local communities on the grounds that it could harm the fisheries on which they rely as well as the broader ecosystem.
A number of countries — including Canada, the home of Nautilus Minerals — have called for an international moratorium on deep-sea mining until the environmental, social and economic risks are better understood. Scientists, human rights groups and Indigenous communities highlight the lack of evidence demonstrating its safety.
Jonathan Mesulam, the spokesperson for the Alliance of Solwara Warriors, says that in his view, PNG’s leaders are not listening to the communities’ full-throated rejection of the Solwara 1 project.
The delightfully bizarre creatures that live near deep-sea vents
Source: New Scientist
Author: Eleanor Parsons
The deep-sea holds many wonders and mysteries. We are only beginning to understand these extraordinary ecosystems.
Animals found around hydrothermal vents – from snails covered in metal plates to hairy crabs – have unusual adaptations to survive with no sunlight and extreme pressure. Deep-sea mining can be stopped before it starts – before it’s too late.