National Geographic Daily News
An underwater robot samples a seafloor vent.

A black smoker of a seafloor massive sulphide system.

Image courtesy Nautilus Minerals

Meghan Miner

for National Geographic News

Published February 1, 2013








Can an Industry Be Born?



Animation: How Robots Could Mine Seafloor

Source: Nautilus Minerals







An Unknown Impact

At least that's the plan.























Mining for Dollars








Lane Harbour
Lane Harbour

This brings new meaning to Wallerstein's World Systems Theory and the core's exploitative relationship with the periphery. I can't say that I'm surprised, but I am disappointed. 

Georgia Green
Georgia Green

It's sad that we have to destroy all this natural beauty all for what a few measly diamonds. We need to leave at least one of a natural environments to be explored and properly discovered and not mined for our own greed.

Rebeca Ware
Rebeca Ware

The company says it will have trouble operating because PNG government gets 30%. Oh gee, is this too much to ask? This country and its people will suffer the long term effects for the rest of their lives and their future generations, just so some greedy folks can take it now. How can this developing country even expect to develop rules and regulations for this type of mining operation or prepare for the impacts if "the company" wont even give them 30%. Seems typical take from the needy and give to the greedy. Check out what the Nickel company is doing in the same area.

C. Cyr
C. Cyr

Oh great, it's not enough for us to screw up the Earth's land & air, now we've got to exploit the ocean too in the name of greed for precious metals, etc. If the ocean dies eventually everything will die as it is the beginning of the food chain (i.e. algae & plankton). It's high time the human race realizes that this planet's biosphere is more important than we are as it can always evolve another sentient species. We need the planet, but the planet does not need us.

Rodman Papros
Rodman Papros

ocean floor–the safest place to do something fishy

Albert Batista
Albert Batista

Tragic news! Once all the mining platforms are out there, where is all their additional pollution going? Goodbye Barriers and Reefs!

Ken Truitt
Ken Truitt

Each mining operation should be required to simultaneously conduct some kind of study to promote the environment and add to our understanding of this unique region.  They will add to science just by doing what they're doing, but additionally they should be required to do some kind of studies, both on the extent of their impact on the environment but also just simple science of the region (deep sea).

Richard Alexander
Richard Alexander

Is it necessary to mine active vents? I understand that inactive vents exist, in which all those life forms have died out. 

I'm excited by the prospect of deep sea mining, but I also want to see nature protected and preserved, particularly the rare, poorly-understood and beautiful deep sea life. I hope that commercial entities could fund scientific expeditions, as happens in other parts of the world.

Frank Johnson
Frank Johnson

I sincerely hope this does not happen. 

These deep sea vents are where the earliest life forms were formed.

Who knows how long it will take before people on the surface start noticing the die offs or better yet, how long it will take before someone who has a megaphone can get their voice heard by the rest of the world.

Corporations want to mine these thermal vents not just because of the value of the concentrated minerals but because there are no laws or regulations yet governing the protection and well being of the seafloor fauna and its environment. It becomes even more lucrative because it's difficult for the public and environmentalists to ascertain or prove what is going on a mile below the ocean. Regular people do not exactly have the means to rent a submarine to take down to do any inspections.

Essentially, we are trusting these selfish profit-minded corporations to police themselves.- like they did with the our banks.

Like the "Wild West", the motto is "Just do it" and apologize later --and only if caught red-handed--meaning  the damages are discovered and can be traced back and directly attributed to the mining.

Corporations know no one is looking and even if  they are caught, it's still safe because no one's name or family are on the line since everyone hides behind a corporation.

This is very similar to what we saw with the collapse of the Wall Street banks. No one personally was arrested. The corporations get a slap on the wrist and then just pay a fine--which they easily can afford--and continue on.

There is already devastating pollution occurring on the land  in Papua New Guinea by giant mining corporations. Hoodwinked  by their own greedy leaders  whom were blinded by sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity, the villagers have no audible voice. 

 What is out of sight is out of mind. The ocean's depths will provide a veil as the mines wreak havoc thousands of feet below. 

More whales and dolphins will start to mysteriously beach themselves and die and we will all believe the "scientists" when they say they "died of natural causes", as we continue to follow up on what the Kardashians are wearing. By then, it will be too late.

Robert Lee
Robert Lee

someday they might dig a china syndrome's tunnel  

allegre sleep
allegre sleep

self defeating.. if they mine that gold, the price will plummet.. it's hardly worth 150 trillion.

Val Livada
Val Livada

In the late 1970s the world went into a tizzy because Howard Hughes build a ship that was supposed to mine the vast manganese nodules deposits on the ocean floor.  The subsequent Law of the Sea conferences droned on for ever, ultimately resulting in the Treaty that guaranteed sovereignty over tracts of the ocean floor. 

It turned out that the US still hasn't signed that Treaty, nobody mined the manganese and Hughes' ship was a CIA ploy to recover a sunken Russian nuclear sub. deja vu all over again without the spies 

Daniel Knight
Daniel Knight

 @Georgia GreenIt's sad that people like you have to making begging the question fallacies with their comments, actually, why do you do that? Who said any natural beauty was being destroyed? And why don't you think imbecile: how much natural human beauty and man made would there be if morons like you were always whining and complaining mindlessly when any tree is cut down or a rock picked up? Get a life and think. Stop being simpleton leech. You're using a computer aren't you, to post your self centered hypocritical comments? You're like the idiots who say we're overpopulating, well then go kill yourself first and stop implying others should. Murder your own baby, not mine.

Daniel Knight
Daniel Knight


Daniel Knight
Daniel Knight


Jeffrey Smith
Jeffrey Smith

They should limit mining to areas where the sea floor is spreading. This way they can mine the minerals that have already moved away from the active vent and not disturb this very fragile ecosystem. There could be a minimum distance from an active vent that they must maintain. It should be relatively easy and non-controversial to establish this distance by determined how far from an active vent these unique organisms are found.

Ed Wapole
Ed Wapole

@Craig Dillon Don't worry, the greedy liberals sucking on the .gov teat will get their "fair share".  The UN's Law of the Sea Treaty will tax the heck out of these mining companies.

How to Feed Our Growing Planet

  • Feed the World

    Feed the World


See blogs, stories, photos, and news »

The Innovators Project

  • Teen Wonder: Taylor Wilson

    Teen Wonder: Taylor Wilson


See more innovators »


See more posts »

Latest News Video

  • How a T. Rex Packs for a Road Trip

    How a T. Rex Packs for a Road Trip


See more videos »

See Us on Google Glass

Shop Our Space Collection


    Be the First to Own Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Shop Now »