At The Boundary Can Deep Sea Mining Meet the World’s Critical Mineral Demand?
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Found over 4,000 meters below the ocean’s surface, polymetallic nodules may hold the key to powering the future. In this episode, Dr. Mark Luther, Director of the Ocean Monitoring and Prediction Lab at USF and President Elect of the International Marine Mineral Society, joins us to explore how deep seabed mining could help meet global demand for critical minerals like cobalt, manganese, and iron.
- What is deep seabed mining, and how does it compare to land-based mining?
- What kinds of minerals are harvested—and why is cobalt so vital for battery safety and energy transition?
- How are these resources collected from the seafloor, and what are the environmental risks, including sediment plumes and disruption of deep-sea ecosystems?
Dr. Luther shares insights on how close we are to commercial operations, including updates from the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ), and why the Cook Islands could potentially meet all global battery mineral needs for the next 30 years. He also explains the ongoing development of the international mining code, the role of the International Seabed Authority, and how the U.S might be signaling new deep sea mining ambitions through recent executive orders.
What investments and policies should the U.S. prioritize now to stay competitive in deep sea mineral access? And can we mine the ocean responsibly without repeating the mistakes of land-based extraction?
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Presented by the GNSI at USF, in partnership with the University of Paris-Saclay, the Florida Center for Cybersecurity and the USF Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing
Learn more about Dr. Luther and his work:
🌐USF College of Marine Science
🌐USF Center for Maritime and Port Studies
🌐International Marine Mineral Society
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At the Boundary from the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida, features global and national security issues we’ve found to be insightful, intriguing, fascinating, maybe controversial, but overall just worth talking about.
A "boundary" is a place, either literal or figurative, where two forces exist in close proximity to each other. Sometimes that boundary is in a state of harmony. More often than not, that boundary has a bit of chaos baked in. The Global and National Security Institute will live on the boundary of security policy and technology and that's where this podcast will focus.
The mission of GNSI is to provide actionable solutions to 21st-century security challenges for decision-makers at the local, state, national and global levels. We hope you enjoy At the Boundary.
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