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Scientists track damage from controversial deep-sea mining method

Researchers will monitor the environmental effects of an industrial test to extract valuable metals from the Pacific sea floor.
  1. Olive Heffernan

    1. Olive Heffernan is a science writer in Dublin.

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For decades, mining companies have been eager to extract rare and valuable metals and minerals from the deep sea — a practice that scientists have long warned could damage marine ecosystems. Now, the first large-scale test of a major industrial-mining technique promises to provide robust data on the impacts of the controversial practice.

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Nature 567, 294 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00757-y

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 25 March 2019: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect affiliation for Matthias Haeckel.

References

  1. Gillard, B. et al. Elem. Sci. Anth. 7, 5 (2019)

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