Huge rare earth deposits found in Pacific


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Hey, now we got options!

Either get our rare earths primarily from a communist dictatorship with a poor record on human rights AND environmental protections, OR we can go dig up the stuff ourselves from the bottom of the ocean!


Life, she sure is funny!
 

Hey, now we got options!

Either get our rare earths primarily from a communist dictatorship with a poor record on human rights AND environmental protections, OR we can go dig up the stuff ourselves from the bottom of the ocean!


Life, she sure is funny!


Don't hold your breath . . . or do?
 

Hey, you know how it works:

Once people get tired of spending $4000 on portable electronics because China decides to truly exercise a stranglehold on the rare earth supplies, we'll either go back to brick-sized cell-phones or America and Japan will mine the fuhhhgedaboudit out of those deposits.
 

Hey, you know how it works:

Once people get tired of spending $4000 on portable electronics because China decides to truly exercise a stranglehold on the rare earth supplies, we'll either go back to brick-sized cell-phones or America China and Japan will mine the fuhhhgedaboudit out of those deposits.

Fify! Cause you know the likelihood of the US doing anything in the deep sea will be next to nothing. If we are lucky we will run the cafeteria on the mining rig.
 

Readily extractable? From depths of 3,500 to 6,000 meters?

Huh.

I think I need to update my understanding of available modern undersea mining technologies and methodologies.
 


Rare earths, the name notwithstanding, are not particularly rare. The Chinese have the market cornered mainly because they're willing to stripmine their country and sell the metals for far less than anyone else can. So this is interesting but not a game changer.
 


Or we do something with Branson's new Subermersible which apparently can safely go to the bottom of most of the worlds trenches.

Robotocise the mining.
 

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