Why China struggles as US plunges into deep-sea mining for valuable metals and rare earths
Beneath the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean lie small, black, potato-sized treasures – polymetallic nodules rich in valuable metals and rare earth elements – waiting to be unearthed. Strewn across the sea floor of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, the coveted nodules and other forms of ocean deposits are gaining widespread attention. Yet…