Deep-Sea Mining May Have Deep Economic, Environmental Impacts

It is claimed that our current environmental crisis is one of the imaginations: we are in desperate need of new means to understand relations between humans and their environment. The underground was once central to the evolution of Western environmental imaginations. Yet, this has waned throughout the 20th century as eyes and minds turned up and out. After outlining some of the history of the underground as a site from which to evolve environmental imaginations, the article will explore how the underground might propagate environmental imaginations fit for pressing contemporary environmental concerns. It will do so using examples of three caves evolved through an ongoing arts practice-based research collaboration with artist Flora Parrott. Exploring these three caves, I will explore how the underground offers a powerful site for doing the imaginative work that our current environmental crisis requires, focusing in particular on the challenges of engaging lively earths and deep times (pasts and futures) that have become commonplace in the Anthropocene. To close, the article begins to reflect on the possibilities of collaborative creative geographies as a means to rethink the idea of the imagination within geography, as not just something that might be studied but that these creative practices might enable the creation of much-needed new imaginations.

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Strategic Investigation of the Jackpine Mine Expansion Dispute in the Alberta Oil Sands

International Journal of Decision Support System Technology ◽

10.4018/ijdsst.2015010104 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 50-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yi Xiao ◽

Keith W. Hipel ◽

Liping Fang

Keyword(s):

Federal Government ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Oil Sands ◽

Graph Model ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Environmental Concerns ◽

Global Level ◽

Environmentally Responsible ◽

The Government ◽

Government Of Canada

The Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) methodology is employed to ascertain strategic insights into a serious conflict over environmental concerns connected to the expanded exploitation of oil sands at the Jackpine Mine Expansion project located in Alberta, Canada. In fact, the expansion of extracting bitumen from large tracts of oil sands in Alberta and its associated potential negative environmental impacts have received increasing attention at the global level. Accordingly, environmentally responsible extended mining of bitumen at the Jackpine site is urgently needed. Hence, the GMCR methodology and its associated decision support system GMCR II are utilized to systematically investigate the conflict of the Jackpine Mine Expansion project. The results imply that the Federal Government of Canada is more concerned about the economic benefits generated by the oil sands projects rather than environmental impacts. It is suggested that more effort should be devoted to the environment conservation by the government.

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ROBOMINERS – Developing a bio-inspired modular robot-miner for difficult to access mineral deposits

Advances in Geosciences ◽

10.5194/adgeo-54-99-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 99-108

Author(s):

Luís Lopes ◽

Balazs Bodo ◽

Claudio Rossi ◽

Stephen Henley ◽

Gorazd Žibret ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impacts ◽

Mineral Deposits ◽

Innovative Technology ◽

Modular Robot ◽

The Future ◽

Mining Methods ◽

The Creation ◽

Social And Environmental Impacts

Abstract. Within the ROBOMINERS project an innovative technology for the future exploitation of small and difficult to access mineral deposits is being studied. The project has two main objectives. First, the development of a bioinspired reconfigurable robotic miner prototype, able to navigate, explore and mine selectively with a certain degree of autonomy. The robot-miner will be able to work under different conditions, making the exploitation of many mineral deposits economically feasible, while reducing social and environmental impacts associated with conventional mining methods. The second objective is the creation of a vision of a new mining ecosystem, its function, parts, research roadmaps and visions for years 2030 and 2050, including creation of novel ideas from other sectors, particularly robotics. The robotic ecosystem concept will be tested in representative sites across Europe with simulations, showcasing the different mining environments and conditions where it can be applied.

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Comparison of Environmental Impacts of Deep-sea Tailings Placement Versus On-land Disposal

Water Air & Soil Pollution ◽

10.1007/s11270-019-4336-1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 230 (12) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Y. T. John Kwong ◽

Simon C. Apte ◽

Gert Asmund ◽

Michael D. E. Haywood ◽

Elisabetta B. Morello

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impacts ◽

Waste Disposal ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Mine Waste ◽

Viable Option ◽

Ore Grades ◽

Land Disposal

AbstractWith increasing metal prices and declining ore grades, new mines are getting larger and mine waste disposal and management have become more difficult, particularly from an environmental perspective. While technologies keep on improving, the available space for terrestrial mine waste disposal is limited. Thus, several coastal countries still consider deep-sea tailings placement (DSTP) as a viable option. This brief review compares the environmental impacts of DSTP versus on-land disposal and suggests several factors to consider in selecting the most suitable options for mine waste disposal.

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SHOULD THE AREA BE MINED? THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ON DEEP-SEA MININGA ÁREA DEVERIA SER MINERADA? O PRINCÍPIO DA PRECAUÇÃO E OS IMPACTOS AMBIENTAIS DA MINERAÇÃO EM FUNDOS MARINHOS

Caderno de Relações Internacionais ◽

10.22293/2179-1376.v10i19.1178 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (19) ◽

Author(s):

Felipe Kern Moreira ◽

Felipe de Macedo Teixeira

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impacts ◽

Precautionary Principle ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Document Analysis ◽

Analysis Procedure ◽

Mining Activities ◽

The Precautionary Principle ◽

International Seabed Authority

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of the precautionary principle in the regulations of seabed exploitation activities. In order to do this, it relates the current Mining Code with the events that served as the basis for the Code negotiation. The methodology applied in this research is predominantly qualitative and of the document analysis procedure. The documents examined are the rules and jurisdictional decisions emanated from the International Seabed Authority. In summary, this article analyzes the adoption of the precautionary principle in recent normative and decisional constructions regarding mining activities and environmental impacts in the deep seabed. In conclusion, it is pointed to the construction of a normative arrangement of jurisdictional consolidation of the precautionary principle in the exploration activities of the deep seabed. Moreover, given the uncertain nature of the consequences that mining in the deep seabed will bring, the adoption of the principle arises to ensure the reduction of environmental impacts.

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Baseline variability of benthic activity in the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone as the basis to assess environmental impacts of deep-sea mining

10.7185/gold2021.4794 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Felix Janssen ◽

Antje Boetius ◽

Massimiliano Molari ◽

Frank Wenzhöfer ◽

Matthias Haeckel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impacts ◽

Fracture Zone ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Clipperton Fracture Zone ◽

Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone

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Considerations for Seabed Rare Earth Mining in the Pacific

Volume 3: Materials Technology; Ocean Space Utilization ◽

10.1115/omae2013-10844 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Hugh A. Wolgamot ◽

Wei Zhang ◽

Evangelia Kiosidou ◽

Sung-hee Kim ◽

Musa Bashir

Keyword(s):

Rare Earth ◽

Rare Earths ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Mineral Resources ◽

Environmental Concerns ◽

Seabed Sediment ◽

The Pacific ◽

The Subject

A number of deep-sea mineral resources are well known and have been the subject of mining proposals. However, a recent paper has identified a new resource on the deep seabed in the form of rare-earth-rich seabed sediment. This paper considers issues associated with harvesting this resource from some of the identified locations, including demand for rare earths, methods of exploration, environmental concerns and some technological aspects.

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