As many companies are looking for mining opportunities on the moon, a Canadian company considers that it is possible to find the precious metal in places much closer than space.
It is expected a group of robots sent to the mineral deposits in the deep ocean by 2019, in an experiment for a new scheme is controversial.
With the depletion of the mineral wealth of stores in the mainland, mining has become the ocean floor more attractive as the ocean floor contain gold, copper and other precious metals that are used in the manufacture of electronic devices, tools and renewable energy and even medical imaging machines deposits.
But exploration work in the depths of the seas may have a negative effect on the marine life in the deep ocean, such as the robots to destroy the homes of marine organisms and inconvenience, including sensitive species.
The Canadian mining company is planning "Nautilus Minerals" to send a robot to "mine" the rich copper and gold places in Papua New Guinea in the water.
It seems that other countries will inflict up soon, where he was awarded the International Seabed Authority, which regulates mining operations in the deep sea, 25 international contract to search for minerals worldwide.
Said Professor Marc Hininjton, a geologist at the research "GEOMAR-Helmholtz" center in Germany, said that "there are new processes have emerged to protect the gold stocks," The Hininjton and other researchers at the American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences to prepare a list of potential for the presence of precious metals places in bottom of the sea, which will be presented at the annual meeting in Boston of 2017
Dr. James Hein, a scientist Geological Survey in the United States Authority in a report to the channel "NBC News", that the minerals to be extracted from the depths of the oceans will not replace mineral resources in the wild, despite the fact that the seabed contains appreciable amounts large metal.
Hain stressed that such mining to improve the standard of living in developing countries such as China and India, as well as the need for adequate stocks of these metals for use in the field of renewable energy, such as wind turbines and solar panels that require rare metals present in the depths of the ocean.
There are three main types of minerals, potentially found in the depths of the ocean, and deposits of polymetallic nodules which can be found at a depth of six thousand meters, while the second type is cobalt and manganese that are found at a depth of between 400 to five thousand meters, while The Third Kind of mineral deposits in metal sulphides, which are formed around the hot water vents on the sea floor, and this type of minerals containing copper, gold, zinc and silver.
The company will operate the robot "Nautilus" by crawling on the sea floor and pick up samples to be transported to the surface, this task will not be easy because of the water pressure and cold temperatures too.
Researchers at the company is working to carry out experiments simulate the exploration of the deep sea, to see how they impact on the natural environment.
Source: Daily Mail