Proponents say they want to dredge the seafloor for metals needed for clean technology. Indigenous Pacific Islanders call it a threat to life, culture, and the ocean itself.

Drilling for minerals deep in the ocean could have immense consequences for the tiny animals at the core of the vast marine food web — and ultimately affect fisheries and the food we find on our ...

Deep-sea mining in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean could harm ocean life including whales and dolphins, new research shows. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest sci-tech news updates. The ...

A new study led by researchers at the University of Hawaii (UH) at Mānoa published in Nature Communications is the first of its kind to show that waste discharged from deep-sea mining operations in ...

Deep-sea mining is threatening vital marine life in the ocean’s “twilight zone,” reveals new research. The findings raise “urgent concerns” about long-lasting effects if large-scale commercial mining ...

With growing interest in mining critical metals from the seafloor, countries are now negotiating international rules. The Trump administration is forging ahead on its own, speeding up environmental ...

The rush to mine the deep ocean is no longer a distant possibility. It’s here, thanks to global demand for minerals like cobalt and nickel rising, meaning governments and corporations are eyeing the ...

Deep-sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the seabed in the deep ocean. Most of the interest is in what are known as polymetallic nodules, which are potato-sized mineral deposits that have ...

Deep-sea mining targets mineral deposits on the ocean floor, typically at depths of 3,000–6,000 meters. Most attention focuses on polymetallic nodules—potato-sized rocks lying on abyssal plains—and on ...

Scientists have discovered that deep-sea mining plumes can strip vital nutrition from the ocean’s twilight zone, replacing natural food with nutrient-poor sediment. The resulting “junk food” effect ...