The Mining in deep water It could impact marine life, from the smallest creatures of the depths to predators such as sword fish and sharks, an investigation funded by the industry revealed Thursday.
The Metals Company, a Canadian firm of deep water mining, paid the scientific agency of the Australian government to review the information collected in mining evidence in the Pacific.
Large Trechos of the Pacific Marine bed are covered with polymetallic nodules, bulbous rock bumps rich in metals used in the production of batteries, such as cobalt and nickel.
The Metals Company seeks to exploit those nodules in international waters, in a remote extension known as the Clarion-Clipperton zone.
The scientific agency of the Australian government on Thursday disclosed a series of technical reports that detail how that mining will be administered.
Creatures such as sea cucumbers, marine worms, sea stars and crustaceans could register “immediate significant declines in their abundance with mining,” the investigations point out.
Some of these species could partially recover in a year, but those that feed by filtration and other tiny organisms that nourish the sediments of the seabed shows a “minimum recovery.”
“In the seabed, our research shows that there are considerable local impacts for various mining operations,” said scientist Piers Dunstan.
Deep mining companies still look for the best way to recover the nodules, which can be five kilometers or more under the marine surface.
Most efforts focus on robotic collection or trackers of the seabed.
Australian scientists analyzed how sharks and fish would be harmed by sediment feathers discharged as marine waste.
In some scenarios, large predators could have an accumulation of toxic metals in their blood after prolonged exposure to those feathers.
The simulations revealed that the metal concentrations in the blood would not exceed international health guides, and the impact would be less if the sediment is discharged in greater depth.
“This project helps to ensure that, if mining progress in deep water, there will be clarity about the potential risks and impacts for marine life and ecosystems,” said Dunstan.
The Metals Company seeks to initiate the exploitation of the Clarion-Clipperton zone in the next two years.