New Delhi launched a mission of more than 460 million euros to develop mining in deep waters.
by Sophie Landrin (New Delhi, correspondent)
A maritime facade of 7,517 kilometers long, 1,382 islands, India has gold under the feet, or rather a potential deposit of exceptional ores in its abyss, that the government is determined to exploit, Despite the inherent ecological risks. In June 2021, New Delhi launched a mission called Deep Ocean, with a budget of more than 460 million euros over five years, for the development of mining technologies in deep waters, the exploration of resources, The study of marine biodiversity, the purchase of a research vessel for the exploration of the oceans, research on climate change of the oceans.
The subcontinent joined in 2016 the square of the countries authorized to explore the abyss, by obtaining the 25 e allowed by the International Authority for United Nations Seabed. It was awarded a site of 75,000 square kilometers in the Central Basin of the Indian Ocean, corresponding to its enlarged exclusive economic zone. India will be able to explore its marine resources such as polymetallic sulfides and nodules, gas hydrates, hydrothermal chimneys.
The government does not hide its intentions. “Mineral exploration studies will open the way to commercial exploitation in the near future, as soon as the commercial exploitation code is drawn up by the International Marine Fund authority. This component will contribute to the priority field of” Blue economy “, namely the exploration and exploitation of minerals and energy of the great seabed,” he said, in a press release, at the launch of the mission.
Mirobolical
The Ministry of Earth Sciences ensures that by using only 10 % of the reserve of these polymetallic nodules available in the region, India will be able to meet all of its coming needs to produce batteries. The figures put forward by the government seem to be miraculous: according to its preliminary estimates, the country would have, within this perimeter, 380 million tonnes of polymetallic nodules, including copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese, for a value of ‘About $ 110 billion.
To explore these great funds, the Deep Ocean mission must develop a submersible inhabited and self -propelled, capable of transporting at least three crew members and scientific equipment up to a depth of 6,000 meters in the Indian Ocean. It will take four hours to go down and as much to rise to the surface.
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