Deep sea mining: Into the deep | 60 Minutes Archive
Rare earth elements and metals used to make cellphones, supercomputers and more are sitting on the ocean floor, ready to be mined by multiple countries. In 2019, Bill Whitaker reported on the promise of deep sea mining.
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While their ship burns thousands of gallons of diesel fuel everyday! What a bunch of double standard hypocrites!
"Unless you are living in a Tree or a Cave you have no right to be whining!*
@@johnslugger stop copy and pasting coments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Greenpeace also burns thousands of gallons of diesel.*
I swear that the pursuit of EVs will literally destroy the planet. All in the name of “green” energy.
Better watch out or they will put you in the green goulag
Not any worse than anything that has already been done. Actually a lot of what has already been done is way worse than this.
The planet is completely fine. It will still be orbiting our star indifferent of human activity for billions of years after humans no longer exist.
Are you being serious? Do you know about massive oil spills that constantly happen? Or the fact that the toxic chemicals used to make EV batteries are also used in oil refinement? There's no comparison in terms of environmental damage. You can't be this delusional. Not to mention that batteries are shifting to silicone based and away from lithium. There won't be any lithium batteries 5 years from now.
*How little you know about the worlds FOOD SUPPLY. How do you think we got from 500M people in 1820 to 7B today??? OIL ENERGY! No more oil means you starve! The Electric car will be followed by the electric farm tractor.*
“Spice harvester.” - Dune
... &, like, Shi Halud IS climate change ...
... & possibly individual nodules are harbouring living microbial entities-??? ...
... & Shi Halud is climate change ...
Ancient aliens: "finally a good planet with an ocean to throw my car batteries into"
How many unknown habitat's are going to be destroyed?
Lots
all of em
Nothing can be done
We have tons of it we're I'm from, the broblem is that we rely on sea as it been a part of our culture, while it also help with our main economy that is tourism which Im not a fan of. But there has been a long discussion for a couple of years in politics, saying that it will make us rich, but it could end with an environmental cost. Which is obviously not popular with the people. So they are trying to come up with a safer option to collect it, but that is if there is a safer option?
@@Ochay682 more research needs to be done on deep sea harvesting to understand its implications on marine ecosystem.
"Oh no, we are not mining, We are harvesting.!"
...with hardhats... yeaaa
If you think this in mining then you probably think picking up shells from the beach is mining. The large machines that pick the stones up look concerning but if the opperations are over looked by a third party conservation team then I have no problem with it.
@@bradtaylor77what a horrible analogy, comparing picking up seashells on the shore with your own bare hands to sending 35ton machinery 3 miles under the deep sea off a huge ship burning massive amounts of fossil fuels. Try again. You also trust the UN to regulate things properly too, oh how gullible and naive some people are. If you knew anything of how the UN works and how much corruption and inefficiency exists, you wouldn’t be commenting such nonsense.
@@bradtaylor77 MINE your own business!!! :P
@@bradtaylor77 If it systematic and industrial scale "picking up sea shells on the beach", yes it is mining. To be exact, this is strip mining.
Why is 60mins Australia so much more awesome than it is in America.
They say "Everything's bigger in Texas" and Australia is basically an even bigger Texas!
Trumps not in Australia 😂
@@BazzaroRealm that's what makes it awesome
It's the reporters the American reporters always seem fake and boring
@@jessepage8268 it's not that they are fake 60mins reputation is flawless it's the type of stories that they cover that makes it badass. I never heard fake news until trump do you know where the majority of intelligence agencies get their information? News reporters and articles because they collect information the same way.
Its make me laugh when the CEO said that they are doing this so called harvesting to save planet earth.
And we all know its MONEY.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The alternative is we stay using fossil fuel. Because electric devices and vehicles need metals.
"Unless you are living in a Tree or a Cave you have no right to be whining!*
“Strip Harvesting”
"we took a leap of faith" *casually climbs 1 single step*
Only an office worker could say that with a straight face.
Oml 😂 ol corny as' Neega
Lol ya 60 minutes has lost all credibility I watch it for laughs now
I was thinking the exact same thing, haha.
China's poor track record of environmental protection and them having the biggest stake in this scares me.
AmeriKKKa’s poor track record with slavery scares me…!!! AmeriKKKa has become a 3rd World Country.
Top polluting country given the biggest share to pollute and destroy a part of the ocean, yeah.
Let's ignore the potential environmental impact which there definitely is (they aren't "harvesting", they are most certainly mining, it isn't a wheat field or an Orange grove but strip mining the entire surface layer of the bottom of the ocean) but let's look at the cost per ton for the raw materials, I can't imagine taking a giant robotic dredge dropping it 15,000 ft plus feet into depths of the bottom the ultra corrosive salty ocean then running it around for a few minutes going up and down with it hundreds of thousands of times to lift these materials 3+ miles to the surface of the ocean then using ultra huge commercial diesel powered mining ships to go a few thousand miles to a seaport then to unload it onto a diesel truck to take it inland to a processing plant where it will be smashed, chemically stripped then have to be smelted into rare earths then shipped to manufacturers to be turned into useful products ironically again using diesel trucks it's going to be environmentally friendly or cost efficient. I would love to see the actual figures on what this cost I got a feeling this is a pipe dream. It is one thing to use a grant or a exploration team to figure out what is out there but it is a whole different thing to make it commercially viable. Ask for the Republican senators that don't like the idea of giving power to the United Nations they are absolutely correct. The United Nations is an unelected bureaucracy it's unconstitutional to make any deals using the United Nations. I believe the United States should step out of the United Nations and let it collapse but I digress and that is a different subject for a different day.
They are going to pump it to surface. It definitely wouldn't be practical to lift that up and down with load. Marine life will definitely be affected.
AMEN AMEN AMEN !!!! But DO NOT Use Plastic Straws!!!
I think if there were very few creatures down there and it was a quarter mile NOT 3 it might be worth it. But I wonder about the SHEER COSTS of this being viable. Nickel that they say is valuable here is ALMOST WORTHLESS and big mines in Australia are shutting down because they can't compete with Indonesian mines although we have GOOD reserves fairly rich. Copper wouldn't be worth it but the cobalt would be and lithium has taken a serious price hit. But lifting it all 3 miles up, and THEN transporting the HUGE weight back to an onshore processing plant would be the real cost killer. The salt water being corrosive means nothing. I have understanding in this area due to an apprenticeship I done relating to salt corrosion and protective coatings and other tricks and methods.
@@OffGridInvestorcorrosion has everything to do with mining in this case. Saltwater will destroy stainless steel, it will destroy steel, it destroys aluminum, pretty much everything that comes in contact with salt water has a reduced life expectancy so that means an increased cost on the mining equipment, the boats snd everything in that damp environment. Those costs will have to be Incorporated to the overall cost of the material extraction and realistically they aren't miniscule generally speaking. Oil companies get away with oil or natural gas deposits/extraction just because of the volume and the value, (after you get the equipment set up and the hole drilled the cost can be figured out per barrel and every barrel if pretty much 100% oil with little to no bi products. Arguably ship wreck hunters mainly do it for the hobby but they justify it because of the potential value of the materials the they intend to salvage (think of Spanish ship wrecks from 200+ years ago). Now that isn't to say it is impossible to make a profit but it is definitely an added cost that has to be incorporated into the potential profit with this I definitely do not know everything about deep sea mining but the machinery to survive those pressures can't be cheap, add in corrosion resistance, wear and tear, and shipping costs and along with energy costs I would think it would have to be a huge deposit that is extremely valuable in a per ton context. I just can't see lithium, Cobalt or nickel having enough value in the foreseeable future to extract from 3 miles of ocean then ship 2000ish miles to land to refine it. Maybe I am wrong I just can't see it being profitable. I got a feeling it will be untapped / undiscovered on shore mining that will lower costs
@@AtomicReverend but he has an apprenticeShippingyard relating to salt corrosion
Get away from fossil fuels? What's your ship running on, sunshine?
Should people swim to these to be green?
Checkout the fossil fuel scam 😊
Whats going to be burned to charge these free batteries from mother nature? Coal?
I didn't realize Sean Penn was into deep-sea mining.. very cool!
Deep sea harvesting
He's a leftist too.
sean penn is equally the traitor as jane fonda. Both gave aid and comfor to the enemy during war. penn showed sadam love whilst our military, including myself, were in harm's way in Kuwait.
He got El Chapo, now looking for Davie Jones.
I sure hope our battery tech is 100 times more advanced in 50 years
We should NOT be putting that tractor on the freaking sea floor!
"Unless you are living in a Tree or a Cave and riding a Horse to work you have no right to be whining!*
@@johnslugger stop copy and pasting coments and ya
From my understanding the dust they keep up underwater is just about as the amount of dust mining kicks out in the air…. And that is not including any accidents that may occur during the process
When you use a generic term of 'nodule' and 'harvesting' - you're really trying to cover for your grift that is hypocritical to the cause you're representing
"Unless you are living in a Tree or a Cave and riding a Horse to work you have no right to be whining!*
So many buzzwords jammed into this almost 14 minute clip. All just to try and justify destroying the sea floor. Padding wallets that are already super thick.
They dont mention how draging machines across the sea destroys plant life and kills many things
more research needs to be done on deep sea harvesting to understand its implications on marine ecosystem.
Too bad anyone tries to research it they get called out for wanting to destroy the oceans. Meanwhile we continue to destroy the surface with mining when there is a potentially far less damaging way to mine on the sea floor.
@@freedomfighter22222 How do you know it's less damaging to the ocean? And what to do in about 50 years or less when those deposits are gone? Clean oceans are important to the health of the planet and to grow fish like tuna and mane others. Not sure this is the answer, but one thing for sure the energy needs worldwide are enormous! Oh and can the batteries be recycled? that would be a good start.
@@paulmadruga9786the rocks are sitting on top of the sea bed, there is no drilling involved, nothing is being released into the air and little to no pollutants are created. We have hundreds of oil companies drilling into the sea beds right now and people are worried about a few machines collecting stones at the bottom of the ocean.
So, let them harvest and then measure the damage, without a baseline?
What happens when someone comes out with another kind of battery that doesn't use these metals?
Well it all depends on how efficient and cost effective this imaginary new battery is. Assuming it’s efficient and cost effective, my guess is they’ll stop mining these metals as intensively…
your lack of elemental electric potential knowledge is showing.
It's ALREADY happened. Graphite batteries. No lithium needed. The trouble is working out an efficient mass production method as current production is very slow. Samsung has a prototype phone with it and tesla is playing with it too.
@@helloimclaudioalready here. Graphite batteries. They're trying to work out better methods of mass production. They don't catch on fire like lithium batteries either.
@@fuckdyoud2734already here. Graphite batteries. They're trying to work out better methods of mass production. They don't catch on fire like lithium batteries either. Tesla already has cobalt free lithium batteries and the cost of lithium now is quite low and the cost of nickel is so low that Australian mines are closing because it's no longer profitable
I love the way they're going to destroy one ecosystem to try and save another. Brilliant!
So what are we going to do with the old and used batteries?
This is already sorted LONG ago. Korea has been recycling them in a processing plant they have for over 10 years now. Germany has just built one too. Few people even know about this.
It's called recycling.
@mhand6910 oh really...I guess just like the 90% of plastic they say we recycle but really don't. Sweet!
eat them you get iron to make your bones strong and lithium for ummmmm????????!!!!!!!????!?!?
Que the tectonic plates please 😮
So these nodules clean the ocean from metals so we don’t eat fish loaded with metals…and they are going to remove them so we can have electric cars? 😱
Good point. Like "Harvesting" natures water filters. Seems like a bad idea now for sure.
So they're basically mining the sea filters of all the trash metals, now that's going to change the pH level or something.
Thank you for the education….
Very cool.
Explain how you will dispose of this ecological nightmare when the battery is dead without contaminating the soil/water like the solar panel field destroyed by hail. This occurred in Texas and the contaminants are leeching into the water table. Very bad idea.
The environment will have to step aside for this new green future. Just like here in Norway, where they have clear cut tens of thousands km2 of wilderness to build wind parks :) Cut down most of the 200 yr old trees in Oslo to make bike lanes
The EV "green" lie is collapsing.
the conservatives trying to use science makes me laugh so hard.
FYI a "dead" battery is simply one that has entered an electric state of relative homeostasis. REcharging a battery is done how? By plugging it in, and reverting the ions to a higher energy state. This can be done with a charger, another battery and a correct down-flow setup. In the same way that a galvanic salt crystal battery can be maintained by keeping the anodes and cathodes clean and replacing them and also maintaining the correct salinity, so to can metal ion batteries be maintained or recycled into other uses. Be it fertilizer, catalysts for chemical reactions. Coatings, wirings, reforged into spoons, hell who knows. Your lack of creativity is showing.
@@fuckdyoud2734they're not going to recycle it dude lmao
this is insane!!!!
Ive been scuba diving multiple times its scary going 20 feet under I cant imagine past that
The investors won't go themselves - as usual they'll send down others, to face terrible conditions at terrible terms
Why scared?
because at 20 feet you can barely see the surface a major factor is the water visibility. Scuba diving in Bermuda wasnt bad because the water is clear. Its not as fun when you cant see @@xploration1437
Good thing we aren't sending people down there lol
maybe not in this video but saturation diving is used by oil rigs @@lawrencefrost9063
The quest for money makes people blind to the fact that what they are doing still has a impact on the environment. Spinning names from mining to harvesting is justifying in ones mind that it's ok.
So what’s gunna take the metals out of the water after we take them all?
now you are goanna pollute the ocean floor as well nice keep up the good work
if they dont have permission to mine, how are they getting the rocks already?
International waters above.
only for research purposes for now
We had to destroy the planet in order to save it.
😂
💯
"Unless you are living in a Tree, Cave and riding a Horse to work you have no right to be whining!*
When a pole dancer takes money from my wallet, that is also called Strip Mining!
Harvesting These is playing with fire. They are made from the same trace elements needed in the ocean to maintain coral. This is just another nail in the coffin to our oceans coral reefs.
Having a larger ocean going naval than the world combined mean the USA does have a say just hasn't chosen how to proceed. If a war over Taiwan breaks out the whole patch goes to USA
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
As a kid, I always ask myself a question.Why Mother Nature created crude oil? I'm pretty sure there's a purpose And the only reason I see why was created!!!!!!!.To lubricate the tectonic plates on Earth Together with the magma And now this.
That may be why God created it ! 👍🏼😉
oil absorbs earthquakes and tectonic plate shifts possible to move gentler than if it dissappears completely.
More insanity from the electric robots
He looked down @ 10:15 Why can't they have a robot locate these with the metal detector and not destroy the sea floor? Much smarter than destroying the seafloor raking it
Incredible, the rare earth resources we need just at the time we need em
Indeed.
Wdym
Really !
3/4 of the earth's surface is made up of a dilute solution of these "rare" minerals.
They would need a pick and place machine, not a vacuum , scoop or plow.
For reference this company rebranded once it went public via SPAC reverse merger (blank check company). They changed the name to The Metals Company (TMC).
How about Thinking about how to dispose or recycle the batteries made from these bonanza minerals.
National Security.....huh, what about Planetary Security??
Great, we can make millions of batteries but have no way to charge them all.
They use to say this about Fossil Fuels and what do we do with the Waste Batteries will likeley leave behind
You guys are messing with something that you don't know the outcome of removing something that keeps the earth balanced in it's spot in space has devastating consequences
Nothing lives there. It's like the surface of the moon.
What could possible go wrong?
Almost nothing except not participating.
Plenty. I question the economic viability of it with nickel and lithium taking such a price hit in recent times. It's ONLY 3 MILES down and can only be accessed by a scoop.
Harvesting implies that you planted IT! Watered it gave it nutrients and every thing else that needs to be done when growing anything food field related with crops and plants.
Just like harvesting wild mushrooms and wild berries
@@kangkim150that’s called foraging.
Collecting would be a better word.
@@lawrencefrost9063 Strip mining is much more accurate.
That's one process. Of very many to go. With all the bad to go with it. 😢
Somebody should look into the role of these minerals in plankton nutrition.
❤Daimond battery ❤
I hope the hype of EV will die down .... And save the ocean floor. The ocean floor belongs to all and a reservoir of resources for future generation.
And how does that research ship get to its destination? And, that "harvester"?
60 Minutes hasn't exactly ever demonstrated a neutral agenda in its choice of stories about which they choose to pontificate. So they are actually providing a service to the public by helping us more easily identify issues about which we should be skeptical as related to their opinion and content of presentation.
Great reporting
Everything is f on land so now its time to f the ocean
thats right baby, daddy needs a new tesla and i need it now
HAhahaha SPOT ON
@@daMillenialTrucker Destination Doomsday , in silence
So simplistic thinking.
Wait until we reach type I civilizations
All this mining for EV batteries when they could just develop Hydrogen engines
You never finished high school, did you?
@@xrfa7422nobody wants to buy EV anymore. They are dangerous and unnessesary😊
How do you turn this into an actual battery or whatever? Are there processing plants active?
It's a lot of work. Grinding those rocks into powder, chemically separating the constituent metals (which has to happen on land in huge pools of chemicals that are evaporated to leave behind the separated metals), then further refining and cleansing before finally getting into a battery plant where the metals are mixed in the right proportions and glued to sheets of various plastics and vinyls that are then wrapped into cylindrical batteries. There is nothing green about lithium battery technology. The metals are hard to find, hard to process, and huge surface areas of land are required to refine them. It would be infinitely easier and produce exponentially more power if we simply built a lot of small, safe, nuclear power plants. Nothing beats nuclear power. Nothing even comes close.
Yes there are processing plants, that's how they refine lithium today. Contrary to what they tell you, lithium is not rare. What is rare is finding it in concentrations sufficient to make it profitable. Sea water contains all of these minerals, since that is how these nodules are formed. A permitted mine is what is rare, since they are ugly sources of pollution that require a lot of investment in equipment and in developed countries require the mining company to actually contain the pollution and do work restoring the land. It takes 7 or more years and millions of dollars just to obtain the permit before you can start mining. Essentially they are strip mining the sea floor, because it is cheaper than environmental impact studies and restoration work.
@@bry2k thanks
The SPICE MUST FLOW!!!!!😉
Nothing that is mined is even remotely 'green'....
Its harvested, like the vegetables you eat, or maybe you think those are mined as well?
The irony or rather flaw in this whole presentation is that the deep sea nodules are not composed of significant "rare earth elements" (look up rare earth elements) but rather cobalt, nickel, maganese, and copper. Further, the term "rare earths" while being misused in this video is also a misnomer. Technically speaking thry are not that rare. It is true that China has been dominant in the rare earth market but that has to do with the fact that they have invested heavily in the processing of "rare earth" minerals. That said, cobalt is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust but China is not like the Congo which indeed has a huge deposit of cobalt. It is very frustrating that these reporters continue to confuse all of these terms and ultimately the underlying facts/story.
Stop destroying our planet!! Leave the ocean alone!
They won't scratch the seafloor and go bankrupt
Did you NOT HEAR ANYTHING THAT WAS SAID IN THIS VIDEO?
private corporations and governments: How about I do anyway? What are you going to do about it? Gonna Cry? You are just going to vote for the same person we want anyways we always give the illusion of choice every big candidate we put will still do the same just with a different political flavor. You always buy our products that you "need" anyways the same product you use to put comments in this youtube comment section.
You should move out of your house because the squirrels, deer and birds used to live there.
Do your part and stop using an electronic device!
I don’t understand who is stopping American companies if it’s not breaking American law?
Fossil fuel and green energy competitions. The question should be what congress are being paid off by corporate lobbyists.
Until they realise that these metal nodules are somehow polarised and vital for supporting life on Earth but it is going to be too late.
Feels like 60 minutes is unique in the world.
This is great. Amazing stuff.
I fine with this as long as they don't destroy the fishing industry
me too
Or the ecosystem
Fukushima already seems to have really affected that
I think the biggest problem is we have no clue how it will impact the sea and fishing. Strip mining the sea? What could possibly go wrong?
What laws are there to even control this under water mining, its not like a inspector can just turn up ... its going to be the wild west all over again but with unknown effects ... but as history suggests its going to happen & only once its been mined out will anything be done to help the ecosystem recover ... which it wont. @@john_in_phoenix
"save the world, dont use oil... ALSO DONT MINE FOR BATTERIES OR RENEWABLES..." where then... mars or will that be destroying the beauty that nobody sees as well?
4 billion is paradise
@@President_NotSurewydm. Are u talking about the population, also oils and gas is the option
Debeers has been deep sea mining for years, no visible effects.
Debeers also use a crawler and they definitely suck up sea creatures in the process
Debeers has cut off about 30% of natural coral reef production. But ok.
normally don't watch 60 min but this is very interesting
9:05 Yum.
Fossil fuel forever!!
Where is @greenpeace on this?
So how do these 'nodules' absorb minerals from the ocean?...
This is something that would be worth liquidating your 401k plan, buying a boat and 60 AShMs, and paying these companies a visit.
Hmmm mining on the bottom of the ocean….. What could possibly go wrong?
The last time somebody suggested seabed mining they were trying to recover a lost nuclear submarine... just saying
Why disturb the surface if the metal is underneath?
The metal nodules are on the surface of the bottom of the ocean.
US don’t have a seat at the table ? What table is that ?
The Greed and $$$$ table
Time to build under water cities\industries :)
That looks incredibly inefficient.
It's just like harvesting coal out of a hill, totally not mining.
The accurate term is strip mining. From a business point of view it's brilliant, no need to do any surface restoration since nobody without a deep sea vessel will see the results. From an ecological point of view, we don't know what we don't know. I think perhaps a test should be conducted first, say a square mile, then come back in 5 years and do an actual study of the impact.
"Unless you are living in a Tree, Cave and riding a Horse to work you have no right to be whining!*
dude has any one thought that this is a debris field from the impact that formed the gulf of Mexico there's got to be more of that stuff
Perhaps all those metal absorbing nodules need leaving alone!
Did you know that the Cook Islands 200 mile zone has the largest amount of magnesium modules on its ocean floor than any other country on earth worth thousands of trillions of dollars.
Question to a so called environmentalist, how you will dispose of used batteries? And how much toxic and radioactive waste will be left from production? And how you will deal with that waste ? So called environmentalist are bigger polluters than traditional environmentalists.
Remember when Howard Hughs saidnhe was going to mine them but instead picked up a Russian sub?
I certainly do. It was a genius cover story.
we need much more than this find for ev cars, start with the grid infrastructure
"i love that this is the way we get away from fossil fules" meanwhile taking a limited resource off the bottom of the ocean floor lol an actual fossil fuel
Its the wrong way to get away. Breaking something to fix something is not environmentalism.
So you get a cheaper source of stuff to make batteries that we don't have infrastructure to charge the charging is the problem not the material for the batteries
Sounds like this new frontier needs some Freedom!!!
Just think these "harvesters" can do what they want out there with no oversight. Who will be able to see the destruction of the sea floor, no one, so that will allow these harvester to do what they want to destroy the sea floor.
Everything they will use to mine and recover those metals will use fossil fuel, smh.
Ok how much time and gas was used for him to get that first suitcase of rocks lol
"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure." ~ Agent Smith in 'The Matrix'
Oh so that's were some of that narrative comes from, well Agent Smith is a fictional character not reality. The real reality is Humanity is not expanding exponentially, birth and fertility rates are dropping. It will peak soon and after that will come a steep decline. Also our species has lived on this planet for hundreds of thousands of years in harmony with nature. The problems of today are just a blip on that timescale. What we need is to press change in how we do things with careful innovation ( doubt this mining qualifies ). And a return to the balances our ancestors well understood. What we don't need is unproductive anti human and eco fascist ideology, especially in this time of change. And speaking of that, be the change you want to see, or zip it.