Underwater drones are being employed to hunt for trillions in riches trapped beneath the ocean floor, according to a report.
The drones survey the seafloor above the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which is about 15,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean and home to untapped reserves of rare-earth metals, CNBC reported.
Under the seafloor, potato-sized manganese nodules contain not only manganese but iron, nickel, copper, titanium and cobalt — valuable resources in building products for Apple and Tesla, the outlet reported.
Underwater manganese nodules across the globe are estimated to be valued in the trillions — and governments and private companies have raced to survey the ocean floor for them using the aquatic robots, the report said.
“We know the world will be very focused around the environmental impacts. Automated vehicles operating on the ocean floor are the only way,” said Gerard Barron, CEO of mining company DeepGreen Metals, according to the report.
Still, deep-sea mining remains highly regulated — with pushback from environmental groups, the outlet reported.
The only private company granted rights to begin deep-sea mining had gone bankrupt after a failed mission, but dozens of others have received contracts to use the drones to explore and make maps of the surface, CNBC reported.
“If you want high-resolution information, you have to put the sensor close to what you’re looking at. An AUV [automated underwater vehicle] is the best and most accurate way to do that,” said Richard Mills, vice president of marine robotics sales at Kongsberg Maritime, according to CNBC.
Source: Nypost
