The engineering challenges of deep-sea mining

To most of us, it’s a murky netherworld of strange rock formations, bizarre-looking creatures and wildlife documentary makers.

But to a growing body of engineers on the fringes of the global mining industry, the seabed also represents an untapped source of mineral riches that could dwarf the deposits found on land.

The logic, according to Prof Greg Baiden, an expert in mine automation at Canada’s Laurentian University, is irresistible. ‘Twenty-nine per cent of the planet is above the water and 71 per cent is under. There is no reason to think that what’s under doesn’t have the same potential for resources as what’s above.’

The problem is that getting at these deposits requires the application of systems that have never been used for mining and, in some cases, new technology. Little wonder then that the world’s big mining corporations are watching with interest as Australian mineral exploration firm Nautilus prepares to take the first steps in this fledgling industry.