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As car manufacturers and government regulations continue to push toward an EV-centric future, researchers have been trying to answer the logistical quandary of how best to sustainably source the raw materials (like lithium, cobalt, and copper) necessary to meet demand. Enter The Metals Company, a Canadian mining startup that thinks it’s found the solution at the bottom of the ocean.
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Financed by the company, The Hidden Gem is an 800 ft, former oil-drilling ship retrofitted for sea mining and has successfully begun collecting ancient black stones rich in metals called polymetallic nodules (aka “batteries in a rock”) on the floor of the deep seas. The ocean bed is estimated to contain more of some metals than all the world's dry-land deposits combined.
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The flip(per) side. Marine biologists and activists are concerned that the practice will disrupt the ocean’s delicate ecosystem in ways that are yet foreseen. One study suggests that the practice could cause irreparable damage due simply to noise pollution, similar to what we might experience as loud construction-work in a neighborhood. As of now, companies like BMW, Microsoft, Google, Volvo, and Volkswagen have pledged not to buy deep-sea metals until the environmental impacts are better understood.