Rich new rare earth deposits found in middle of Pacific ocean challenge China's mineral dominance

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333415]

http://news.yahoo.com/ocean-floor-muddies-chinas-grip-21st-century-gold-183205516.html

"China's monopoly over rare-earth metals could be challenged by the discovery of massive deposits of these hi-tech minerals in mud on the Pacific floor, a study on Sunday suggests.

China accounts for 97 percent of the world's production of 17 rare-earth elements, which are essential for electric cars, flat-screen TVs, iPods, superconducting magnets, lasers, missiles, night-vision goggles, wind turbines and many other advanced products."


"....But a new study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, points to an extraordinary concentration of rare-earth elements in thick mud at great depths on the Pacific floor."

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333429]

"A bigger question is whether the technology exists for recovering the mud at such great depths -- 4,000 to 5,000 metres (13,000 to 16,250 feet) -- and, if so, whether this would be commercially viable.

In an email exchange with AFP, lead author Yasuhiro Kato, a professor of economic geology and geochemistry at the University of Tokyo, said the response from mining companies was as yet unknown, "because nobody knows the presence of the (rare-earth) -rich mud that we have discovered."

"I am not an engineer, just a geoscientist," Kato said. "But about 30 years ago, a German mining company succeeded in recovering deep-sea mud from the Red Sea. So I believe positively that our deep-sea mud is technologically developable as a mineral resource."

[Anonymous No.3333435]

>hitech minerals

their so fucking indy it hurts

[Anonymous No.3333444]

The real question is:

How do we get a chinese sweatshop down there to process the minerals?

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333463]

>>3333444

>>How do we get a chinese sweatshop down there to process the minerals?

Very long straws.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333480]

Chinese military submarines cannot protect the mining site because they have a crush depth of around 800 feet.

America is the only country currently producing next generation high speed, maneuverable full ocean depth submersibles like the one shown.

Not endorsing anything unethical of course, just saying we've got the tool for the job.

[Anonymous No.3333499]

>>3333480
Why send people down there? Absolutely retarded. Just use ROVs like they are used in deep see oil drilling operations, no problem to get to 5000m whith those and they work just as well as if someone was actually down there. Pump the shit up and process it. BAM.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333507]

>>3333499

>>Why send people down there? Absolutely retarded. Just use ROVs like they are used in deep see oil drilling operations, no problem to get to 5000m whith those and they work just as well as if someone was actually down there. Pump the shit up and process it. BAM.

You don't send people down there to mine. You send them down there to disrupt the mining operations. And you use people instead of ROVs because a piloted craft doesn't need a tether.

[Anonymous No.3333514]

>>3333480

And thus naval/air dominance wins again.

[Anonymous No.3333536]

>>3333507
So what, you want to wage wars in those things?

[Anonymous No.3333553]

You do realize how unfeasible and stupid this would be just to get minerals?

There are probably dozens of countries that can produce rare earth elsewhere, on land, and much cheaper than what could be found here.

The only reason China has a dominance is that they monopolized the market early, and other countries did not develop/closed down existing mining.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333574]

>>3333536

War? No. If the goal was to wage war you'd just destroy the surface support ship.

This is a plausibly deniable way to constantly frustrate their efforts to mine. It's 2.5 miles down. If something goes wrong with their robot, who can say why?

Get a carrier sub just outside of their detection range, launch weaponized submersible which then cruises along the bottom until it locates the mining robot. Destroy robot, return to carrier, lurk away undetected.

[Anonymous No.3333572]

>>3333480
They cannot outrun a torpedo.

[Anonymous No.3333579]

>>3333553
The US mines shut down because the Chinese mines were cheaper.

[Anonymous No.3333583]

>>3333574

>just destroy the surface support ship

why do you value minerals over human lives? just curious

[Anonymous No.3333591]

>July 3
>I've known about this for at least 2 years...

Uh... so either this is old news or I'm a psychic

[Anonymous No.3333598]

Let's further dominate the world and encourage the production of nuclear weapons as a deterrent.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333607]

>>3333553

>You do realize how unfeasible and stupid this would be just to get minerals?

I understand that you, personally, believe it's stupid. But the business case works out, which is why five nations (Canada, India, Australia, Japan and China) are now mining the sea floor.

The foremost seafloor mining company is Nautilus Minerals, currently retrieving precious metals like gold, silver and platinum from the Solwara 1 site in Papau New Guinea.

http://www.nautilusminerals.com/s/Home.asp

Pic related, Nautilus mining robot.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333620]

>>3333583

>>why do you value minerals over human lives? just curious

You misread my post. I said that's what we'd do if we *did* want to wage war, but that I would favor instead an approach which secures the minerals without costing human lives.

[Anonymous No.3333624]

http://sandiego.indymedia.org/media/2007/02/125025.pdf

How does page 14 make you feel?

[Anonymous No.3333638]

Precious minerals, they said.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333676]

>>3333572

>>They cannot outrun a torpedo.

...Fired from a military submarine that cannot go deeper than 800 feet? I doubt the guidewire is even long enough to reach the target.

In this specific context, submersibles have a legitimate military use. They are the only vessels that can operate at the depths required. ROVs require a tether and surface support vehicle. Torpedos require a guidewire and are fired from subs with a crush depth of only 800 feet.

In the instance, under these specific circumstances, weaponized submersibles make sense.

[Anonymous No.3333683]

So what are these rare earth metals used for? Since we've effectively increased the know, mine-able amount of these elements overnight by an order of magnitude, what does this imply for science? I look at the Wikipedia page for rare earth elements and see most uses involve lasers.
thisisawesome.png

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3333702]

>>3333683

All sorts of stuff. From the first post:

>>"which are essential for electric cars, flat-screen TVs, iPods, superconducting magnets, lasers, missiles, night-vision goggles, wind turbines and many other advanced products."

Basically all modern electronics as well as the technologies we need to maintain our present standard of living in a post-oil world.

[Anonymous No.3333710]

>>3333683
>which are essential for electric cars, flat-screen TVs, iPods, superconducting magnets, lasers, missiles, night-vision goggles, wind turbines and many other advanced products.

[Anonymous No.3333716]

>>3333710

there's nothing "advanced" about at least half of those

[strawman !!vdYpvbZXNQi No.3333724]

fuck yeah, let's get that shit before the chinks do

[Anonymous No.3333753]

>>3333716

Compared to the tech of rubbing sticks together, they're pretty advanced.

[Anonymous No.3333788]

>>3333683
>what does this imply for science

nothing really, it's not like they discovered a new element. There's just more of the shit available which will be sold by other faggots, not just china.

[Anonymous No.3333810]

There's lots of other places where REMs can be produced but China is doing it most cheaply. I'm happy to have them poison their land while I enjoy the products for prices I can easily afford

[Anonymous No.3334115]

Why does /sci/ have so many tripfags who insist on making idiots out of themselves?

[Anonymous No.3334137]

They're more concerned about protecting those minerals from the Mongorians.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3334156]

>>3334115

>>Why does /sci/ have so many tripfags who insist on making idiots out of themselves?

Pardon? I'm not sure what I've said that could be reasonably construed as idiotic.

If you're saying this because I've offended you at some point in the past, I apologize. And if you're just venting at me because something else happened to you recently that has put you in a bad mood, I certainly hope your luck improves.

[Pifag !vy0gvdbJXk No.3334216]

>>3334115
was it strawman? im sure he is only kidding.

[Anonymous No.3334306]

>>3334115


btw mad sci, any idea on how one might seek to invest or profit from this?

[richard the magnificent !!Q8IJ6ZfRJpW No.3334325]

>>3334306
it probably wont be for a while, but if nautilus is a public company, it wouldnt be a terrible idea to put some money into it.

hi ms

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3334426]

>>3334325

Sup Richard. And yeah, seconding the investment advice. Everyone's going to need rare earths, and the first corporation to establish itself in the deep will become richer than the king of popes.

It's really the same rationale behind mining asteroids, but closer to home with a near term payoff and using subsea technology. I like to think of the ocean as the tutorial level before we conquer space, in that respect.

[Inuyasha !!mhnKW82iEgG No.3334492]

this sounds like it could accelerate research into ROV's and other underwater machinery. Sounds like engineers might get more jobs.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.3334518]

>>3334492

>>Sounds like engineers might get more jobs.

Why would engineers create robots that eliminate the need to build long, rigid living structures in which sweaty shirtless men coexist in cramped conditions?