A cnidarian is attached to a dead sponge stalk on a manganese nodule in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Diva Amon and Craig Smith, University of Hawaii at Mānoa Picture an ocean world so deep and dark it ...

The rush to mine the deep ocean is no longer a distant possibility. It’s here, thanks to global demand for minerals like cobalt and nickel rising, meaning governments and corporations are eyeing the ...

CEO of The Metals Company holds a nodule brought up from the sea floor. The company plans to mine the seafloor for these nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean. Carolyn Cole / Los ...

A robot the size of a small house crawls across the ocean floor like a giant’s pool cleaner, vacuuming up potato-sized rocks called polymetallic nodules. Packed with nickel, copper, manganese, and ...

For more than a decade, The Metals Company has poured millions of dollars into researching and developing technology for mining seafloors at extreme depths, funding scientific studies to evaluate the ...

On April 24, President Trump issued another questionable executive order, this one calling for deep-sea mining in both federal and international waters. The former is within his control; the latter ...

Even as opposition grows and the U.S. territory maintains a moratorium on seabed mining, NOAA began a $20 million survey of ...

Several developments last month are likely to shape the future of the controversial deep-sea mining industry. A congressional hearing on the subject highlighted the widely touted promise of seabed ...

Seeking to counter China's mineral dominance, the Trump administration recently signed a sweeping executive order to fast-track deep-sea mining within U.S. and international waters. The move is ...

Scientific studies show substantial reductions in deep-sea biodiversity following mining tests, with impacts potentially lasting decades. Governments are split between environmental caution and the ...

More than 20 financial institutions worldwide have publicly vowed not to finance deep-sea mining — an activity scientists say could cause irreversible harm to ocean ecosystems. However, a DW ...