Posted on 02/06/2013 5:52:26 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Will Deep-sea Mining Yield an Underwater Gold Rush?
Some environmentalists say the lure of precious minerals threatens ocean life and local cultures.
A mile beneath the ocean's waves waits a buried cache beyond any treasure hunter's wildest dreams: gold, copper, zinc, and other valuable minerals.
Scientists have known about the bounty for decades, but only recently has rising demand for such commodities sparked interest in actually surfacing it. The treasure doesn't lie in the holds of sunken ships, but in natural mineral deposits that a handful of companies are poised to begin mining sometime in the next one to five years.
/snip
While different vent systems contain varying concentrations of precious minerals, the deep sea contains enough mineable gold that there's nine pounds (four kilograms) of it for every person on Earth
/snip
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
P!
Oh please let the wakos focus their energies on this so I can go back to burning tires and clubbing baby seals.
I would expect the same thing with a natural horde of undersea gold.
This is one of the many reasons why asteroid mining is so silly.
Ice in space is much more valuable than gold in space. You don't undertand asteroid mining, and the value of having large volume/weight consumables already in an orbit and NOT in earth's gravity well.
Gold and other stuff is just a side benefit.
/johnny
Goldbug Ping.
Just so it is too deep for a reality show.
Asteroid mining is rational when touching the earth with a spade disturbs sacred ground, hurts indigenous peoples and negatively affects women and minorities, who along with children and the elderly (especially the disabled and people of color), who are hardest hit.
Recently, while passing though a university town in the middle of the US I saw a bumper sticker protesting a proposed mining project in Alaska. Go figure.
Asteroids have no earthly constituency or lobbying group of any consequence, yet.
I dunno, I’m thinking the deepest parts of the ocean might be a great place for a reality show.
Actually, there are likely few if any serious mineral deposits in the ocean floor, other than manganese nodules.
The reason is that mineral deposits are caused by hot or cold water percolating up or down through rock. It dissolves trace amounts of the type of minerals that particular action will dissolve, then concentrates the mineral where different kinds of rock meet.
This is why you see veins of minerals in rock strata.
And you know what tone will prevail when the first comment about the article starts with:
“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 ...”
What a target rich environment. Too bad for-profit work takes a priority. Gotta build some savings before going Gault.
Don't be surprised when environmentalists suddenly find something "sacred" or "pure & pristine" about asteroids that are in orbit millions of miles away. These people are irrational and the only thing that matters to them is Earth worship and shutting down any economic, material or technological progress in America.
bump
Maybe if enough sea floor mining occurs someone will find owebama’s birth certificate...
This must be blocked immediately. Everyone knows that every human attempt to exploit earth’s resources results in disaster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELDVjutzan8
“Oh please let the wakos focus their energies on this so I can go back to burning tires and clubbing baby seals.”
LOL! Thanks.
Just terrific! I HAVE to side with the EnviroWeenies on this one! I don’t WANT more gold available; less gold in the chute makes mine all the more valuable.
I hate it when stuff like this happens... ;)
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