GS Paper III

News Excerpt:

India plans to apply for deep-sea mineral exploration licenses in the Pacific Ocean to secure critical minerals for energy transition technologies.

More about News:

• India will apply for licences to explore for deep-sea minerals in the Pacific Ocean as it competes to secure supplies of minerals critical for energy transition technologies.t.
• The UN-backed International Seabed Authority (ISA) has issued 31 deep-sea exploration licences, including two for India in the Indian Ocean, but is yet to allow mining because ISA is still working on regulations.
• India also expects to receive two more exploration permits from the ISA this year for the Indian Ocean, focused on the Carlsberg Ridge and Afanasy-Nikitin Seamount regions, known for polymetallic sulphide deposits and ferromanganese crusts.
• China, Russia, and some Pacific Island nations have already secured exploration licences for the Pacific Ocean.
• India plans to focus on the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast plain between Hawaii and Mexico known to hold large volumes of polymetallic nodules.

Clarion-Clipperton Zone:

• The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) or Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone is an environmental management area of the Pacific Ocean, administered by the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
• It is located  between Hawaii and Mexico and is as wide as the continental United States.
• Lying atop the muddy bottom or embedded just beneath it are trillions of potato-size polymetallic nodules. These rocklike deposits contain nickel, manganese, copper, zinc, cobalt, and other minerals.
• At these depths—completely dark but for occasional flashes of bioluminescence—the nodules are often the only hard substrate on a seabed of soft clay, which makes them attractive homes for creatures in need of anchor or habitat. 
• The sediment surrounding the nodules also harbors remarkably high biodiversity. 

Polymetallic nodules: 

• Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are rock concretions formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core.
• First discovered by British sailors in 1873, the potato-shaped nodules take millions of years to form.
• Polymetallic nodules primarily consist of precipitated iron oxyhydroxides and manganese oxides, onto which metals such as nickel, cobalt, copper, titanium and rare earth elements sorb. 
• The enormous tonnage of nodules on the seabed, and the immense quantities of critical metals that they contain, have made them a target for future mining operations.

Challenges for India:

• Unlike China, India lacks seabed mining expertise and will take at least three to four years before it is ready to extract minerals from the ocean's depths
• As countries across the world including India gear up to mine the deep seabed for minerals, there is a growing number of organizations across the world that are seeking a moratorium or pause to such plans until marine biodiversity concerns are assessed and addressed.
• The IUCN stresses that the concern is that the scraping of the seafloor and pollution from mining processes can wipe out entire species – many of which are yet to be discovered.
• Possible impacts from noise, lights, operational discharges and emissions.

Critical Mineral:

• Critical minerals are those minerals that are essential for economic development and national security. 
• The lack of availability of these minerals or concentration of extraction or processing in a few geographical locations may lead to supply chain vulnerabilities and even disruption of supplies. 
• The future global economy will be underpinned by technologies that depend on minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium, and rare earth elements. 
• These are essential for the advancement of many sectors, including hightech electronics, telecommunications, transport, and defense. 
• They are also vital to power the global transition to a low carbon emissions economy, and the renewable energy technologies that will be required to meet the ‘Net Zero’ commitments of an increasing number of countries around the world.

Deep-ocean mining can not only deliver the metals necessary for this transition but can do so with a low carbon footprint. The precautionary approach, adaptive management and best environmental practices are essential to the development of a polymetallic nodule resource.