an interesting article for mid-week ...
history's largest mining operation is about to begin
Most people dont take much time out of their day to think about what life looks like in the deepest parts of our oceans. As far as exploration of the planet goes, our oceans still have vast spaces unexplored and it wasn't until the 1970's that we even knew that deep water hydrothermal vents existed; and certainly didn't know that life could exist there, at 8000 feet deep.
That theory capsized in 1977, when a pair of oceanographers began poking around the Pacific in a submersible vehicle. While exploring a range of underwater mountains near the Galápagos Islands, they spotted a hydrothermal vent about 8,000 feet deep. No one had ever seen an underwater hot spring before, though geologists suspected they might exist. As the oceanographers drew close to the vent, they made an even more startling discovery: A large congregation of animals was camped around the vent opening. These were not the feeble scavengers that one expected so far down. They were giant clams, purple octopuses, white crabs, and 10-foot tube worms, whose food chain began not with plants but with organic chemicals floating in the warm vent water.
Now consider that most of the world's largest mining companies are vying for rights to begin deep water mining operations... what do you think that might mean for ecological systems that we barely understand?
On another note ... what would the definition of 'rare' mineral be? What makes a diamond rare... would mining 1.4 million carats mean that they are still rare and continue to command such high prices? It's a fair question ...
read more at The Atlantic, here
ande