The big deep sea mining news this week is that the US Department of Defense (often simply referred to as “The Pentagon,” which has a rather dystopian ring to it) will spend $2 million to study US mineral processing. And deep sea minerals will be part of this study.
This move has been building for a long time. The US notes certain minerals, used in modern weapons and other tech, as “national security concerns.” Many of those minerals can be found in the deep sea, and many countries are exploring deep sea mining. Those minerals will need to be processed into usable form somewhere – but not necessarily in the country that mined them. Calls for a US seabed mineral processing plant were already alive and well last year.
In early 2024, the Department of Defense was instructed to produce a report on domestic deep sea mineral processing. (It’s not yet clear when we’ll see this report.) And, if you really want a closeup look, I covered The Metals Company’s proposed Texas seabed mineral processing plant earlier this year, in the online journal Deceleration.
Given its desire for minerals, it’s no surprise the US government is now formally exploring processing possibilities. However, the question remains whether the US will actively pursue deep sea mining itself. Processing plants are easier: there’s less infrastructure to build. And fewer environmental protests are likely to arise for processing facilities than for active deep sea mining.
Norway, which is seeking to build its own deep sea mining program, is now being sued for it by the World Wide Fund for Nature. In the US, where lawsuits are an even bigger part of how things operate, environmental groups would almost certainly sue over deep sea mining plans. (Studies continue to highlight the environmental issues: one new study suggests risks to deepwater mussels from deep sea mining’s copper pollution.)
However, if the minerals are already out of the ocean and just being processed, such formal resistance will likely be smaller. The US, for now, is playing it safe.
So, deep sea mining continues to tick toward reality.
But wait! There’s more! In more inspiring news, superstar South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho is apparently making a hand-drawn animated film (real animation, none of this computer stuff) about deep sea life. And it’ll be voiced by superstar German filmmaker Werner Herzog.
I’m not big into film, but I’m pretty much always up for a good film about the deep sea. It’ll be nice to see the setting move out of the realm of documentary and adventure, giving full rein to all the imagination the deep can inspire. The film may be finished by 2025 or 2026. If the miners get their way, its release could actually align with the beginning of commercial deep sea mining.