2 February 2021
by Shardell Joseph

New data gives confidence boost for battery-grade metals on deep sea floor

DeepGreen Metals has found higher concentrations than previously known of important base metals in its exploration contract area in the Pacific.

Polymetallic rocks contain rich concentrations of nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese, which are essential to generate and store clean energy and power electric vehicles © DeepGreen Metals

Exploring for deep-ocean polymetallic nodules as a lower impact and more cost-effective alternative to terrestrial mining, DeepGreen Metals announced that the nodule resource is now estimated as 4 megatons (Mt) measured, 341Mt indicated and 11Mt inferred mineral resources - an upward revision to what was previously reported. 

The untapped deposit of battery metals - nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese - is contained in polymetallic nodules that sit unattached on the Pacific seafloor in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ), between Hawaii and Mexico. 

DeepGreen is planning to produce metals from polymetallic rocks to power electric vehicles (EVs), and the company’s updated mineral resource estimate shows that the abundance of nodules in the company’s contract area increased 5.4% compared to its 2019 estimation.

In addition, the company reported a notable uplift in grades of manganese (2.2% higher), cobalt (5.4% higher) and nickel (6.1% higher). According to S&P Global, analysts warn that new land-based discoveries of battery-grade nickel may not keep up with the predicted demand.

'Unlike mineral exploration on land, resource confidence in polymetallic nodules is unusually high due to the two-dimensional nature of the resource. You can actually see the nodules lying on the seafloor,' says Anthony O’Sullivan, DeepGreen’s Chief Development Officer. 

'We have done the sampling and research to understand the fundamental variance of the nodule resource and we’ve found that it is remarkably consistent. It’s unlike anything that you see on land.'

 

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Authors

Shardell Joseph

News Writer