The U.S. Department of Labor just published its 2024 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. The four metals our autonomous underwater robots will collect from deep sea polymetallic nodules are nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese. All four metals are on this list of labor exploitation. When deep sea mineral collection scales, we can replace minerals supplied by these countries, avoiding terrible labor practices.
Photo and image credit: U.S. Department of Labor
