Could Deep Sea Mining Break China’s Grip on Critical Minerals?

Miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean lies a vast stretch of seabed littered with what look like dull, dark rocks.

Those rocks are actually polymetallic nodules, rich in the minerals that drive modern economies. They could help the United States break its reliance on China, which otherwise controls the market. But nobody has ever mined seabed nodules at scale, much less processed them for industrial use.

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