Polymetallic Nodules
Polymetallic Nodules
and human communities ,” argues The Metals Company ’ s Chief Ocean Scientist , Dr Greg Stone .
Dr Stone is leading the company ’ s research program in collaboration with the UK National Oceanography Centre , the Natural History Museum and a host of academic institutions worldwide . Involving over 100 researchers , they are studying the entire water column - from seabed to surface - involving ROVs , nets , sail drones and sophisticated sensors and moorings . Dr Stone hopes the data collected for The Metals Company ’ s environmental and social impact assessment ( ESIA ) will enable informed decision-making and regulatory development ahead of the company ’ s proposed polymetallic nodule collection project .
Polymetallic nodules , also called manganese nodules , contain four essential battery metals : cobalt , nickel , copper , and manganese , in a single ore . Formed over millions of years by absorbing metals from seawater , these nodules lie unattached to the abyssal seafloor and are almost entirely composed of usable materials . Unlike land ores , they don ’ t contain toxic levels of heavy elements , and producing metals from nodules generates 99 % less solid waste , with no toxic tailings .
Polymetallic nodules could help with the growing need for battery metals to enable a full transition to clean energy and electric vehicles . They were first discovered more than a century ago . In the 1970s , four consortia started to collect the rocks in trials . Tests confirmed that the nodules could be collected and processed to produce usable metals with the technology available at the time , but the activity was paused because there were no regulations or governing body in place to protect the deep ocean , especially in international waters . The International Seabed Authority ( ISA ) was set up by the United Nations in 1994 , and the organisation granted the first license for exploring polymetallic nodules to Nauru Ocean Resources Inc . ( NORI , a subsidiary of The Metals Company ) in 2011 .
Miningglobal
. com 89