<p>As the global demand for critical minerals intensifies—fueled by the race for green technologies, digital infrastructure, and strategic autonomy—deep-sea mining has emerged as a new arena of geopolitical competition. Minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth are needed for all emerging technologies, such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, defence equipment, medical technologies, cell phones, computers, etc.</p>.<p>The technology for mining these elements from land is quite well established, but exploration and extraction from the Seabed are necessary as the demand surges. Seabed technology is also growing rapidly.</p>.<p>The lack of a unified global stance, the United States’ refusal to ratify UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the assertive ambitions of countries like China have created a fragmented and contested landscape.</p>.<p>International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous body under the UNCLOS, grants licenses to member countries and regulates all mineral-related activities in the International Seabed. Today, it has issued 32 contracts to explore deep-sea mineral deposits. Over 1.5 million sqkm of the international seabed have been set aside for mineral exploration. </p>.<p>Nations increasingly assert their interests in the mineral-rich international seabed, even as the ISA regulatory framework remains under negotiation. Some countries have permitted exploration within their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), but the results have been limited.</p>.<p>Most deep-sea mining interests remain focused on international waters, making the ISA’s regulatory framework crucial for the industry’s future. After delays in previous meetings, the ISA plans to finalise its commercial deep-sea mining regulations in its 30th session in July 2025.</p>.<p>The United States, which has not ratified UNCLOS, is not bound by ISA regulations. Instead, it has pursued permits through the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980. The Metals Company, a Canadian firm operating via a US subsidiary, has applied for licenses, highlighting the jurisdictional complexities outside ISA’s authority.</p>.<p><strong>Extraction technology</strong></p>.<p>Deep-sea mining primarily targets polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-sized concretions scattered across abyssal plains such as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the central Pacific Ocean at depths of 4,000–5,500 meters. Additionally, polymetallic sulfides found around hydrothermal vents and cobalt-rich crusts on underwater mountains (seamounts) are of interest.</p>.<p>These sulfides are formed by seawater seeping through oceanic crust, becoming superheated by magma (up to 350°C), and re-emerging as mineral-rich hydrothermal plumes. Mineral resources are extracted from polymetallic nodules found in the deep-sea regions of the Indian Ocean, Pacific, etc. </p>.<p>Current technology for deep-sea mining includes hydraulic collectors with caterpillar tracks and riser-lift systems. These systems suction mineral-laden sediments from the seabed and transport them to surface vessels for processing. Waste materials, including sediments and organic matter, are often discharged back into the ocean, increasing turbidity and posing risks to marine life.</p>.<p>Magma from Earth’s interior flows through the oceanic crust and comes in contact with seawater seeping in through cracks. Owing to the high temperature of magma, it shoots back as hydrothermal plumes, superheated up to 300 to 350 degrees Celsius.</p>.<p>These plumes are sulfides rich in zinc, copper, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, and many rare earth and platinum elements. Researchers have observed the temperature and chemical signatures of some mineral-rich vents and succeeded in taking images of some of these.</p>.<p>In other words, materials collected at the seabed are piped up to surface vessels for processing. Wastes like sediments and organic materials are pumped back into the water column, which can have quite hazardous impacts, as it increases the turbidity of the seawater and can considerably impact aquatic life. </p>.<p>Deep-sea mining can impact aquatic biodiversity. Cetaceans are aquatic placental mammals found in Oceans worldwide and some freshwater environments, including whales, dolphins, porpoises, and others. They can breathe only while moving in the sea’s surface water through blowholes on their heads.</p>.<p>Commercial-scale mining, expected to be operational 24/7, can overlap with frequencies at which Cetaceans communicate. It can disturb the audibility and bring about behavioural change in marine mammals. Species at the bottom of the ocean can be harmed/ killed when sediment plumes generated by mining vessels settle.</p>.<p>Further, the discharge of the sediments from processing vessels can increase turbidity in the water column. Due to the non-availability of data on the impact on aquatic life, countries like Germany, Canada, Portugal and the European Union have banned this in their national and regional water. </p>.<p><strong>India’s deep ocean mission</strong></p>.<p>India, under its Ministry of Earth Sciences, approved a Deep Ocean Mission in 2021 with a budget of Rs 4,077 crore. The mission aims to develop indigenous technologies for seabed exploration and extraction. The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, is developing ‘MATSYA 6000,’ a manned submersible capable of descending to 6,000 meters, and a powerful system to lift nodules to the surface. Tests are scheduled for the following year. Kolkata shipyard is building a Rs 900 crore indigenous research vessel that can be deployed in rough seas to collect samples and use seismic waves to hunt for minerals beneath the seabed. </p>.<p>India holds ISA licenses for two exploration zones and has applied for two more: the Carlsberg Ridge and the Afanasy-Nikitin Seamount (ANS), both rich in cobalt and nickel. Notably, in ANS, cobalt concentrations remain high even in low-oxygen conditions between 800 and 2,000 meters depth. The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa, has recorded active hydrothermal vents and deployed autonomous underwater vehicles, though navigation remains risky due to changing seafloor topography.</p>.<p><em>(The author is a retired IFS official and an environment communicator)</em></p>
<p>As the global demand for critical minerals intensifies—fueled by the race for green technologies, digital infrastructure, and strategic autonomy—deep-sea mining has emerged as a new arena of geopolitical competition. Minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth are needed for all emerging technologies, such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, defence equipment, medical technologies, cell phones, computers, etc.</p>.<p>The technology for mining these elements from land is quite well established, but exploration and extraction from the Seabed are necessary as the demand surges. Seabed technology is also growing rapidly.</p>.<p>The lack of a unified global stance, the United States’ refusal to ratify UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the assertive ambitions of countries like China have created a fragmented and contested landscape.</p>.<p>International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous body under the UNCLOS, grants licenses to member countries and regulates all mineral-related activities in the International Seabed. Today, it has issued 32 contracts to explore deep-sea mineral deposits. Over 1.5 million sqkm of the international seabed have been set aside for mineral exploration. </p>.<p>Nations increasingly assert their interests in the mineral-rich international seabed, even as the ISA regulatory framework remains under negotiation. Some countries have permitted exploration within their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), but the results have been limited.</p>.<p>Most deep-sea mining interests remain focused on international waters, making the ISA’s regulatory framework crucial for the industry’s future. After delays in previous meetings, the ISA plans to finalise its commercial deep-sea mining regulations in its 30th session in July 2025.</p>.<p>The United States, which has not ratified UNCLOS, is not bound by ISA regulations. Instead, it has pursued permits through the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980. The Metals Company, a Canadian firm operating via a US subsidiary, has applied for licenses, highlighting the jurisdictional complexities outside ISA’s authority.</p>.<p><strong>Extraction technology</strong></p>.<p>Deep-sea mining primarily targets polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-sized concretions scattered across abyssal plains such as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the central Pacific Ocean at depths of 4,000–5,500 meters. Additionally, polymetallic sulfides found around hydrothermal vents and cobalt-rich crusts on underwater mountains (seamounts) are of interest.</p>.<p>These sulfides are formed by seawater seeping through oceanic crust, becoming superheated by magma (up to 350°C), and re-emerging as mineral-rich hydrothermal plumes. Mineral resources are extracted from polymetallic nodules found in the deep-sea regions of the Indian Ocean, Pacific, etc. </p>.<p>Current technology for deep-sea mining includes hydraulic collectors with caterpillar tracks and riser-lift systems. These systems suction mineral-laden sediments from the seabed and transport them to surface vessels for processing. Waste materials, including sediments and organic matter, are often discharged back into the ocean, increasing turbidity and posing risks to marine life.</p>.<p>Magma from Earth’s interior flows through the oceanic crust and comes in contact with seawater seeping in through cracks. Owing to the high temperature of magma, it shoots back as hydrothermal plumes, superheated up to 300 to 350 degrees Celsius.</p>.<p>These plumes are sulfides rich in zinc, copper, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, and many rare earth and platinum elements. Researchers have observed the temperature and chemical signatures of some mineral-rich vents and succeeded in taking images of some of these.</p>.<p>In other words, materials collected at the seabed are piped up to surface vessels for processing. Wastes like sediments and organic materials are pumped back into the water column, which can have quite hazardous impacts, as it increases the turbidity of the seawater and can considerably impact aquatic life. </p>.<p>Deep-sea mining can impact aquatic biodiversity. Cetaceans are aquatic placental mammals found in Oceans worldwide and some freshwater environments, including whales, dolphins, porpoises, and others. They can breathe only while moving in the sea’s surface water through blowholes on their heads.</p>.<p>Commercial-scale mining, expected to be operational 24/7, can overlap with frequencies at which Cetaceans communicate. It can disturb the audibility and bring about behavioural change in marine mammals. Species at the bottom of the ocean can be harmed/ killed when sediment plumes generated by mining vessels settle.</p>.<p>Further, the discharge of the sediments from processing vessels can increase turbidity in the water column. Due to the non-availability of data on the impact on aquatic life, countries like Germany, Canada, Portugal and the European Union have banned this in their national and regional water. </p>.<p><strong>India’s deep ocean mission</strong></p>.<p>India, under its Ministry of Earth Sciences, approved a Deep Ocean Mission in 2021 with a budget of Rs 4,077 crore. The mission aims to develop indigenous technologies for seabed exploration and extraction. The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, is developing ‘MATSYA 6000,’ a manned submersible capable of descending to 6,000 meters, and a powerful system to lift nodules to the surface. Tests are scheduled for the following year. Kolkata shipyard is building a Rs 900 crore indigenous research vessel that can be deployed in rough seas to collect samples and use seismic waves to hunt for minerals beneath the seabed. </p>.<p>India holds ISA licenses for two exploration zones and has applied for two more: the Carlsberg Ridge and the Afanasy-Nikitin Seamount (ANS), both rich in cobalt and nickel. Notably, in ANS, cobalt concentrations remain high even in low-oxygen conditions between 800 and 2,000 meters depth. The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa, has recorded active hydrothermal vents and deployed autonomous underwater vehicles, though navigation remains risky due to changing seafloor topography.</p>.<p><em>(The author is a retired IFS official and an environment communicator)</em></p>