Deep-sea mud in the Pacific Ocean as a potential resource for rare-earth elements

Kato, Yasuhiro; Fujinaga, Koichiro; Nakamura, Kozo; Takaya, Yutaro; Kitamura, K; Ohta, Junichiro; Toda, Ryuichi; Nakashima, Toshio; Iwamori, Hikaru

doi:10.1038/ngeo1185

Cited by 457 publications

(284 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Recently, high concentrations of REEs have been found in the deep-sea mud at numerous sites throughout the eastern South and central North Pacific (Kato et al 2011). However, the REE resources are not exploited commercially at the present time because of the technical difficulty and high cost of mining.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions of microorganisms with rare earth ions and their utilization for separation and environmental technology

Moriwaki

Yamamoto

2012

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol

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In recent years, rare earth elements (REEs) have been widely used in various modern technological devices, and the global demand for REE has been increasing. The increased demand for REEs has led to environmental exposure or water pollution from rare earth metal mines and various commercial products. Therefore, the development of a safe technology for the separation and adsorption of REEs is very important from the perspective of green chemistry and environmental pollution. In this review, the application and mechanisms of microorganisms for the removal and extraction of REEs from aqueous solutions are described.In addition, the advantages in using microorganisms for REE adsorption and future studies on this topic are discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions of microorganisms with rare earth ions and their utilization for separation and environmental technology

Moriwaki

Yamamoto

2012

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol

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“…gold, copper, zinc, and cobalt), and hydrocarbons (e.g. oil, gas, and gas hydrates), which will pose new potential threats to the deep-sea ecosystem (Halfar & Fujita 2007;Kato, 2011;RamirezLlodra et al, 2011;Rona, 2003). Mineral and hydrocarbon resources are already technologically exploitable today, with extraction being mainly limited by cost-efficiency constraints.…”

Section: Main Threats To Deep-sea Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Twenty thousand sterling under the sea: Estimating the value of protecting deep-sea biodiversity

Jobstvogt

Hanley

Hynes

et al. 2014

Ecological Economics

137

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The deep-sea includes over 90% of the world oceans and is thought to be one of the most diverse ecosystems in the World. It supplies society with valuable ecosystem services, including the provision of food, the regeneration of nutrients and the sequestration of carbon. Technological advancements in the second half of the 20th century made large-scale exploitation of mineral-, hydrocarbon-and fish resources possible. These economic activities, combined with climate change impacts, constitute a considerable threat to deep-sea biodiversity. Many governments, including that of the UK, have therefore decided to implement additional protected areas in their waters of national jurisdiction. To support the decision process and to improve our understanding for the acceptance of marine conservation plans across the general public, a choice experiment survey asked Scottish households for their willingness-to-pay for additional marine protected areas in the Scottish deep-sea. This study is one of the first to use valuation methodologies to investigate public preferences for the protection of deep-sea ecosystems. The experiment focused on the elicitation of economic values for two aspects of biodiversity: (i) the existence value for deep-sea species and (ii) the option-use value of deep-sea organisms as a source for future medicinal products. Acknowledgments:We thank Mirko Moro, Dugald Tinch and Neil Odam for their invaluable input on survey and experimental design. Funding for this project was provided by MASTS (Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland).

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“…From the perspective of mining, deep ocean deposits have a number of advantages: they are typically near the surface of the ocean floor requiring minimal overburden removal, explosives are not required, and they often contain high ore grades, including many critical minerals such as cobalt, zinc, copper, PGMs and REEs [67,68]. However, some of the deposits (particularly active hydrothermal vents) are considered to have highly unique, specialized ecosystems, and while it is likely that such sites will be preserved and "mined-around", there is still some concern raised [69].…”

Section: Viability Of Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Minerals and Energy–Impacts and Limitations of Moving to Unconventional Resources

et al. 2016

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Abstract:The nexus of minerals and energy becomes ever more important as the economic growth and development of countries in the global South accelerates and the needs of new energy technologies expand, while at the same time various important minerals are declining in grade and available reserves from conventional mining. Unconventional resources in the form of deep ocean deposits and urban ores are being widely examined, although exploitation is still limited. This paper examines some of the implications of the transition towards cleaner energy futures in parallel with the shifts through conventional ore decline and the uptake of unconventional mineral resources. Three energy scenarios, each with three levels of uptake of renewable energy, are assessed for the potential of critical minerals to restrict growth under 12 alternative mineral supply patterns. Under steady material intensities per unit of capacity, the study indicates that selenium, indium and tellurium could be barriers in the expansion of thin-film photovoltaics, while neodymium and dysprosium may delay the propagation of wind power. For fuel cells, no restrictions are observed.

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Deep-sea mud in the Pacific Ocean as a potential resource for rare-earth elements

Cited by 457 publications

References 20 publications

Interactions of microorganisms with rare earth ions and their utilization for separation and environmental technology

Interactions of microorganisms with rare earth ions and their utilization for separation and environmental technology

Twenty thousand sterling under the sea: Estimating the value of protecting deep-sea biodiversity

Critical Minerals and Energy–Impacts and Limitations of Moving to Unconventional Resources

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