\u201cSediment samples we took from elsewhere are usually just earth. But once we arrive in the mining zone, all the samples we\u2019ve got are full of nodules,\u201d says Fan, who wishes not to disclose the specific site or company he is working for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These potato-sized nodules are packed with minerals and scattered on patches of the seabed thousands of metres below the surface. Growing demand for critical minerals such as nickel and cobalt has pulled countries and companies into a hugely controversial global race to harvest these polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China is playing an increasingly important role in the policy and practice of this deep-sea push. Experts have told Dialogue Earth that Chinese companies may not wish to mine imminently but are positioning themselves at the head of the future race to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pacific trials move forward<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Currently, two Chinese state-owned enterprises are preparing to trial deep-sea mining equipment in the Pacific Ocean next year. \u201cThis would be momentous progress and China\u2019s first step towards the commercialisation [of deep-sea mining],\u201d says Fan, who has witnessed the country expand<\/a> its deep-sea research and mining equipment development over the last decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China Minmetals<\/a> and BPHD<\/a> (Beijing Pioneer Hi-Tech Development Corporation) are preparing to conduct trials of mining vehicles in their Pacific exploration zones next year, according to announcements they made in April and May this year respectively. Fan, who is participating in a project assessing environmental impacts for China Minmetals, describes these as China\u2019s first trials of such scale in international waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both companies state they will collect environmental data alongside the equipment trials. BPHD says<\/a> the research conducted during the trial could provide \u201ca basis for formulating regulations for future deep-sea mining activities and the development of environmentally friendly technologies.\u201d Dialogue Earth contacted the companies but had not received a response at the time of publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many scientists fear the effect mining will have on deep-sea ecosystems that remain understudied. Duncan Currie, a legal adviser to the Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition, says: \u201cThere isn\u2019t enough scientific information to be able to assess the effects of a test, let alone full mining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While progress has been made in recent years on developing mining equipment in China, Fan says he hasn\u2019t noticed equivalent headway in working out environmental impacts. \u201cOur current understanding of the deep-sea environment is particularly lacking, and we have relatively few means to understand it,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China Minmetals recently developed a collector vehicle<\/a> of 9 metres long, 5 metres wide and weighing 40 tonnes. Such a vehicle would be deployed several kilometres below the surface, where it would scrape the seafloor to collect mineral-packed nodules. The trial the company is planning to launch next year will mainly involve this vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a commercial operation, these rocks would be lifted to a support vessel through an extremely long pipe. After some processing on this vessel, unwanted material would then be discharged back into the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This discharge, along with the direct disturbance of the seabed during collection, and the light and sound pollution generated by the vehicle, are some of the impacts scientists are trying to study. But they are only beginning to understand them, Fan says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before commercial mining happens, to establish these impacts scientists are relying on indoor experiments and small-scale sea trials. How accurately these can model full operations is \u201cstill arguable\u201d, Fan adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One 2019 study<\/a> found that 26 years after an experimental deep-sea mining operation in the Pacific, the diversity of seabed life remained significantly lower than before it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2016, China brought into force a deep seabed law<\/a> to boost deep-sea scientific and technological research and protect the ocean by regulating resource-exploration activities under the country\u2019s sponsorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fan says the law has effectively made environmental assessment compulsory. He said it emphasises the importance of environmental protection but does not go into details on the rules and requirements. He believes the government will roll out more detailed guidelines as research advances and international regulations are finalised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An entrepreneur, who works closely with the deep-sea mining industry in China, also says there has been major research growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe deep-sea mining research development of the past five years was the fastest since China first ventured into the field,\u201d says the anonymous entrepreneur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China began<\/a> its deep-sea mining research in the late 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s, this mainly focused<\/a> on designing mining systems and developing prototype<\/a>s, and progressed gradually. In 2017, the government published a plan<\/a> to boost work on exploring and exploiting deep-sea resources. The first sea trials for mining systems in its domestic waters followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few years later, in 2021, the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association and several state-owned companies moved from testing parts to testing an integrated system \u2013 \u00adthe entire mining mechanism. They recovered 1.2 tonnes<\/a> of nodules from the 1.3km-deep seabed of the South China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More recently, in June, Shanghai Jiao Tong University tested<\/a> a mining vehicle in the western Pacific Ocean at a national record depth of 4km. They collected polymetallic crusts and nodules in five test dives, a Xinhua report<\/a> says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While being encouraged by government support, the anonymous entrepreneur says the rapid advance of deep-sea mining in China is even more motivated by the progress made by North American and European companies, especially The Metals Company. This Canada-based outfit recovered 3,000 tonnes of nodules from the seafloor in test runs in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey took things to such an extent that it makes everyone believe [deep-sea mining] is technically feasible and economically profitable,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commercial deep-sea mining has yet to take place. The Metals Company, sponsored by the small island state of Nauru, says it intends to be the first to take that step, and will apply for a licence from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) by this year to begin commercial mining in late 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Countries have yet to agree on a regulation for mining of the international seabed. Discussions on this have been rolling for years at ISA, the UN-affiliated seabed regulator. Last week, ISA wrapped up the second part of its annual meetings. Delegates said<\/a> they made progress on the negotiation but significant issues remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ISA decided<\/a> to prioritise discussing how to handle a licence application if one comes in before the regulations are completed. But during the meetings, several nation members reaffirmed<\/a> that no commercial mining should occur without robust regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japan, India, Belgium and some small island states are also queuing for a green light to mine the deep. In parallel with its technological advances, some say China\u2019s representatives have grown more active and vocally in favour of mining at ISA meetings in the last three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Duncan Currie of the Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition is a long-time observer of ISA negotiations. He says China sent a relatively large delegation of 11 to 12 people to the ISA meetings this year. \u201cThey were very, very well prepared,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China has also increasingly found itself at odds with a growing number of nations calling for a halt to deep-sea mining. Some of these, such as Germany<\/a>, previously stood enthusiastically at the forefront of deep-sea resource exploration. To date, over 30 countries<\/a>, including Guatemala, Honduras, Tuvalu, France, Canada and the UK, have called for a pause or outright ban on this kind of mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDriving a 20-tonne truck, 5km down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Hidden-Gem-drill-ship-in-Long-Beach_David-McNew_Greenpeace_GP0STYKF6.jpg\")
<\/div>China\u2019s researchers go deeper<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-deep-sea-mineral-sample-collected-by-the-deep-sea-heavy-duty-mining-vehicle-Pioneer-II_Shanghai-Jiao-Tong-University_Handout-via-Xinhua_2XGH0EM.jpg\")
<\/div>China\u2019s growing influence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n