FAQs Archive

Q: C.16 What deep sea mining legislation has been passed?

US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act , 1953 US Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA) , 1980 International UNCLOS , 1982 India Offshore (Development and Regulation) Areas Mineral Act , 2002 Cook Islands, Seabed Minerals Act , 2019

Q: B.4 Will fishing be materially impacted by deep sea mining?

No. 90% of global fishing activities are carried out within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) and Extended Continental Shelf (ECS). Most deep sea mining exploration is in areas beyond national jurisdiction (‘area’), although the Cook Islands and India will have deep sea mining within their EEZ. Local sediment disturbance has been shown not to rise more than a few meters, many meters away from phytoplankton (food for fish), which needs light for photosynthesis. Impossible Metals has no riser system with a mid-water discharge plume, so this will not impact phytoplankton photosynthesis. See more details in the ISA Fact-check 2024/2 – Status of fishing activities in the Area .

Q: B.3 Will carbon stored in the ocean be released into the atmosphere and have an impact due to deep sea mining?

No. Although the ocean is the largest carbon reservoir on Earth, holding significantly more carbon than the atmosphere or terrestrial biosphere, sequestering about 25% of the annual anthropogenic CO 2 emissions released into the atmosphere. Less than 1% of the CO 2 sequestered in the ocean’s upper layers reaches the deep sea floor annually . As the carbon-based organic matter sinks to the bottom of the ocean, much of it is processed before reaching the ocean floor. Due to lower productivity and reduced input of organic matter, deep-sea sediments have an overall low organic carbon content of approximately 0.05% of the dry weight of the sediment. Nodules do not sequester CO 2 and do not contain a meaningful amount of carbon. Sediment disturbed by the collector vehicle has no pathway to the atmosphere. Local sediment disturbance has shown not to rise more than a few meters, many meters away from phytoplankton, which need light for photosynthesis. Impossible Metals has no riser system with a discharge plume, so this will not impact phytoplankton photosynthesis. Impossible Metals has committed to carbon neutrality, so we will either offset any emissions from the ships, charging of the underwater robotics, and metal refining, or use new technology to eliminate these emissions. See more details in the ISA Fact-check 2024/1 – The carbon cycle in the Area.

Q: B.2 How much of the seabed will likely be mined in the next 30 years?

There are 22 exploration-licensed areas for nodules. Let’s assume all areas go into production and no new areas are added. The average size of each licensed area is 75,000 sq km. Only 50% of that area is mined due to sea slopes, leaving marine protected areas. So the impacted area is approximately 22 * 75,000 * 50% = 825,500 sq km over 30 years. The total surface area of the world’s oceans is approximately 361 million square kilometers. So deep sea mining for nodules will likely be just 0.23% of the world’s oceans after 30 years. In the case of Impossible Metals, we have committed to leave 30% of the nodules undisturbed by weight which is 60% by numbers, so the number would reduce to 577,850 sq km. or 0.16% of the world’s oceans. Every year, 1.4% of the ocean is impacted by trawling fishing, according to a paper published in nature .

Q: B.1 How do we know what the environmental and social impacts will be from deep sea mining?

That is the purpose of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) , which must be conducted before any mining is approved. This work typically takes 3-5 years and is performed under an exploration license that does not allow commercial mining. The cost is typically around $30–80M USD and requires many baseline studies with hundreds of scientists. All this data is made public. A regulator will decide if deep sea mining can start commercial operations only after the impacts are known. For more details on the EIA, see this blog post .

Q: D.27 How does the underwater robot's design and propulsion system handle strong ocean currents?

From the extensive exploration data, we know that there are very few currents in the deep ocean. We have thrusters and control surfaces for navigating the underwater robot in the water column. Also, in the mission control software, we receive the sensor data in real-time via USBL and update the mission parameters.

C.16 What deep sea mining legislation has been passed?

D.27 How does the underwater robot’s design and propulsion system handle strong ocean currents?

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