Concern at ocean-floor battery mineral mining

DETERMINED to cash in on rapidly increasing battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales and soaring demand for minerals, nothing it seems is off the agenda for mining companies when it comes to procuring the ingredients needed to make batteries.

Accelerating global battery electric vehicle uptake that will last well into the future has caused a gold rush effect of mining companies moving into overdrive in their feverish search for minerals, with some already tapping deep oceans for critical battery materials. 

In a re-run of ocean oil exploration and recovery from last century, mining companies are racing to access rich deposits kilometres under water, striking deals with governments, developing new technologies and machinery while at the same time attempting to be eco-friendly.

Opposing the headlong dive into the depths are environmental groups which at the very minimum want to slow the process until more research is done into the potential effects of ocean mining.

As expected, some groups are totally opposed as they say it is impacting a largely untouched area of the planet with unknown potential consequences.

This could be viewed as somewhat ironic because the same groups have been intensively lobbying for greater EV use on environmental grounds.

But they are supported by a number of car-makers and their suppliers, including BMW, Volkswagen, Volvo, Google and Samsung, all of which have declared a moratorium on ocean bed mining for minerals.

According to a report in publication Automotive News, vast fields of rocks containing high concentrations of nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese needed for EV batteries cover areas of sea bed known as the abyssal plains.

The area makes up 70 per cent of the ocean floor and is located at depths in excess of 3000 metres. Of great concern is the fact that it is the largest habitat on Earth.

Automotive News reports that “pebble- to potato-size rocks coating the sea bed, called polymetallic nodules, contain vastly more nickel and cobalt than land reserves. Terrestrial mining of these materials is burdened by dependence on China, environmental impact and child labour use in Africa.”

One part of the Pacific Ocean floor is thought to contain nearly three times the amount of nickel as all known land-based reserves. With cobalt, the picture is even starker as ocean floors hold nearly seven times greater the amount than known land reserves.

The Automotive News report says mining companies are developing technologies such as tractor-size vacuums and autonomous robots to collect polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor with technology from the oil boom sometimes repurposed for sea bed mineral exploration and recovery.

Experts in the mining field say sea bed mining has not yet taken place at scale but technology is evolving fast, aided by the fact that loading ore for transportation by ship is simplified as it takes place nearby.

This eliminates the double, and sometimes triple, handling to get minerals to a processing plant and then a battery factory.

Automotive News reports that most companies are targeting the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, located between Mexico and Hawaii. Its proximity to the North American market and location "in friendly waters" makes it attractive.

Some oversight is conducted by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) that was created decades ago by the United Nations, with 200 member countries.

To obtain exploration rights, companies must apply to the ISA – responsible for 50 per cent of the world’s oceans.

A total of 19 permits have been issued by the ISA since 2001 with the body currently developing a mining code that outlines "regulations to govern the exploitation of mineral resources" on the sea bed. 

It means the imprimatur is there for seabed mining at scale, a development that will no doubt spur vehement opposition from environmental groups.

According to Automotive News, Pacific Island countries like Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu have voiced opposition to sea bed mining, and Chile has asked for a 15-year pause to study the impact. Others including the Cook Islands and Nauru are in favour.

Meanwhile, the whole sea bed mining issue may come to naught if new battery technology from Australian company GMG comes to full fruition.

Their battery technology promises less weight, faster charging, longer life and better environmental credentials than lithium-ion along with significant improvements in energy and power density.

Brisbane-based Graphene Manufacturing Group’s graphene aluminium-ion battery (GAIB) technology may change electric vehicle technology as we know it by offering a far superior product compared to lithium-ion.

As reported previously by GoAuto, GMG says graphene aluminium-ion batteries offer “three to five times” the energy density of lithium-ion cells and cannot catch fire, offering obvious safety benefits in vehicles both in the event of a collision and where thermal runaway events can cause significant fires.

Graphene aluminium-ion batteries are also not lethal if swallowed, are completely recyclable and require no cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, or other rare earth metals to be mined for their production.