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Mining the ocean floor: 5 deep-sea sources of critical minerals essential to technology, and the fragile marine life at risk

  • Written by Leonardo Macelloni, Director of the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute and Center for Marine Resources and Environmental Technology, University of Mississippi
Mining the ocean floor: 5 deep-sea sources of critical minerals essential to technology, and the fragile marine life at riskA mechanical claw holds a polymetallic nodule, one of several seafloor sources of critical minerals.ROV-Team/GEOMAR via Wikimedia, CC BY

You may be hearing a lot lately about critical minerals and rare earth elements. These natural materials are essential to industry and modern technology – everything from cellphones to fighter jets.

They...

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