The Rather Interesting Michael Bailey
The Rather Interesting Michael Bailey avatar

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Hostile Takeover For Nautilus Mineral
Hostile Takeover For Nautilus Mineral avatar

We have been following Nautilus Mineral for some time. As a quick recap, they are the company that is actively pursuing the mining of massive sulfide deposits, i.e. hydrothermal vent chimneys, from the seafloor particularly off of Papua New Guinea. Since July their stock has taken a huge plummet from over 2.5 Canadian dollars per . . . → Read More: Hostile Takeover For Nautilus Mineral

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James Cameron And The Dawn Of DeepTruth?
James Cameron And The Dawn Of DeepTruth? avatar

Image on left: Seafloor Production Tool (SPT) that will be operated at a depth of 1600 meters off the coast of Papua New Guinea by Nautilus Minerals to extract copper and gold from high grade seafloor massive sulphide deposits. Image on Right: Computer generated Bucket-Wheel Excavator used to extract unobtanium from Pandora in James . . . → Read More: James Cameron And The Dawn Of DeepTruth?

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Animals Vs. Equipment
Animals Vs. Equipment avatar

The following images came across my desk last week humorously labeled “There’s something wrong with the ROV”. The startling shots show what appears to be an unfortunate mako shark that has become entangled in the mechanics of a large ROV [remotely operated vehicle] #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; . . . → Read More: Animals Vs. Equipment

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Mining The Deep: All About $ For the Government
Mining The Deep: All About $ For the Government avatar

The PNG Mine Watch blog posts some unfortunate news today about mining the hydrothermal vents of the PNG coast at the Solwara 1 site. Papua New Guinea’s Mining Minister, John Pundari told Nautilus chief executive officer Steve Roger that the PNG government was fully committed to supporting the project as indicated through its decision to . . . → Read More: Mining The Deep: All About $ For the Government

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Does Weeping Help? Recent Conservation News
Does Weeping Help? Recent Conservation News avatar

Recently, news streams, scientific journals, and the web are exploding with conservation news. Below is few highlights from the past few weeks. I’ll take my fish in oil please. PLoS One published an article by Fodrie and Heck concluding that immediate catastrophic loss of fish was avoided in the Gulf oil spill. They also found . . . → Read More: Does Weeping Help? Recent Conservation News

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Deep Sea mud as precious as diamonds?
Deep Sea mud as precious as diamonds? avatar

Interesting news coming out of Nature Geosciences this weekend. Kato et al (2011) are reporting a veritable treasure trove buried in deep-sea Pacific sediments: rare-earth elements. Elements such as yttrium are critical components for consumer electronics–thus, much sought after in today’s technology-driven world. Occurrence of rare-earth elements in deep-sea mud. Image taken from Kato et . . . → Read More: Deep Sea mud as precious as diamonds?

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Deep-Sea Mining is Coming
Deep-Sea Mining is Coming avatar

In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Van Dover compared the deep sea to America’s Wild West and cautioned that wildlife losses could be similar if mining companies and the International Seabed Authority — the regulatory agency in charge of the ocean’s mineral resources — fail to establish environmentally sound mining practices before deep-sea exploitation . . . → Read More: Deep-Sea Mining is Coming

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First ever underwater lease granted to Nautilus
First ever underwater lease granted to Nautilus avatar

Well this can’t be good The government of Papua New Guinea has granted the world’s first deep sea mining lease to Nautilus Minerals of Toronto for the development of its Solwara 1 project in the Bismarck Sea. The lease covers an area of approximately 59 km2 surrounding Solwara 1, 50 km north of Rabaul, where . . . → Read More: First ever underwater lease granted to Nautilus

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China and the deep sea
China and the deep sea avatar

On the one hand, you have China’s brand-spanking new Jialong submersible capable of reaching 7000 meters depth, 500 meters deeper than its nearest competitor, representing an amazing tool for unraveling the secrets of the wonderous deep. On the other hand, you have China’s move to mine to sulphide deposits hydrothermal vents in international waters. In . . . → Read More: China and the deep sea

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