United Nations: They might look like pebbles strewn across the seafloor, but to the unique animals of the ocean deep, polymetallic nodules are a crucial habitat.
To the mining firms vying to extract them, on the other hand, they promise to be a “battery in a rock.”
These nodules, found on the seafloor several kilometers below the surface, are to be the subject of the first submarine mining contract application, which the government of Nauru is expected to soon submit to the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
The contract is for Nori, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc, a subsidiary of Canada’s The Metals Company.
This has caused concern among conservationists and scientists, who fear the severe impacts of mining a relatively untouched region of the planet that is rich in life, much of which remains unknown to science.