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There is a very special type of rock at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that could be the key to millions of future electric vehicles.
Researchers at the Maersk Launcher, currently docked in San Diego Bay, are looking for the best, safest way to get them to the surface.
“We are trying to better understand the area at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, where there is a very large, abundant supply of these polymetallic nodules,” said Gerard Barron, who was holding a lumpy black rock in his hand.
However, the CEO and chairman of the Vancouver-based Metals Company said the black nugget was an electric vehicle battery in a rock and there could be trillions of them on the ocean floor about 1,100 miles off the coast of San Diego. The company estimates that it will be enough for a billion electric vehicles.
“They are literally just lying there like golf balls on a driving range,” Barron said with a smile.
Barron’s company has exclusive access to the area known as the Clarion Clipperton Zone where the rocks were found.
“The great thing about them is that they contain everything we need to build EV batteries,” said Barron.
Every rock contains metals like nickel, cobalt and copper. Barron said the breakdown of these elements was devastating to the environment.
“When we think of metals in the past, there are some pretty bad practices involved,” said Barron. “You don’t have to drill, dig or blast to get there [the polymetallic nodules]. These rocks are literally on the ocean floor. “
Because of this, the crew aboard the Maersk Launcher will make their fifth voyage to the Clarion Clipperton Zone to investigate how best to remove the rocks and what impact this could have on the marine environment. Barron said the current process of mining these metals is burning fossil fuels, consuming an incredible amount of energy, destroying the environment and producing billions of tons of waste.
“We need to understand how to collect them with the least amount of impact,” said deep-sea ecologist Andrew Sweetman.
“Everyone says the future is green, but the reality is that a green future is metallic,” added Barron. “And Mother Nature was very kind to put a very high concentration of these rocks in a small area.”
The Metals Company’s mission is to be as green as possible when removing the metals. Barron said their process would produce no solid waste and 90% less carbon dioxide compared to conventional mining.
Barron said they have been working and researching on this process since 2011. The company hopes to bring the rocks to the surface and deploy them as early as 2024.
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