India in undersea race to mine world’s battery metal

Subject: Geography

Section: Eco Geography

Context:

India is advancing its exploration for critical minerals in the ocean depths (under Samudrayaan Mission) to support renewable energy and clean technology, amidst increasing global competition.

Key Developments:

India holds two licenses in the Indian Ocean and has applied for two more, competing with nations like China and Russia for essential minerals such as cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese.
The International Seabed Authority (ISA), overseeing deep-sea mineral exploration, has issued 31 licenses globally.
India’s new applications, if approved, would bring its total licenses to nearly match Russia and slightly trail China.
India, China, Germany and South Korea already have exploration licences for polymetallic sulphides in the Indian Ocean ridge area.

Exploration Areas and Challenges:

Polymetallic Sulphides: India aims to explore chimney-like mounds near hydrothermal vents containing copper, zinc, gold and silver -in the Carlsberg Ridge of the Central Indian Ocean.
Another aim is to explore the cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts of the Afanasy-Nikitin Seamount in the Central Indian Ocean.

Environmental significance:

Renewable Energy Goals: With ambitions to greatly increase its renewable capacity by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2070, India recognizes the necessity of securing critical minerals.
Despite its potential to offset land mining issues, deep-sea mining faces opposition due to possible environmental harm and insufficient understanding of deep marine ecosystems.

Geopolitical significance:

The global race for critical minerals is intensified by geopolitical tensions, especially concerning China’s dominant role in processing these materials. The US, among others, seeks to diversify supply chains through partnerships like the Minerals Security Partnership, which India has joined.
The US is not part of the race to mine international waters as it has not ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the agreement which led to the creation of the ISA. Instead, it aims to source minerals from its domestic seabed and process ones mined by its allies from international waters.

Samudrayaan Mission (India’s Deep Ocean Mission)

Samudrayaan, or the journey into the sea, is a mission launched in 2021 to unlock the mysteries of the deep ocean for mineral resources and develop deep sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources.
A sub-component of India’s Deep-Sea Mission, the Samudrayaan mission aimed at supporting the Blue Economy initiatives of the Indian government by developing niche technology, vehicles to carry out subsea activities.
The MoES is the nodal ministry to implement this multi-institutional ambitious mission.
The estimated cost of the mission will be Rs 4077 crore for a period of 5 years to be implemented in a phase-wise manner – cost for the first phase (2021-2024) would be Rs 2823.4 crore.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (Pune) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will actively participate in this mission.
It was conceptualised based on the forthcoming Gaganyaan mission – ISRO’s attempt at a crewed mission into space – expected in late 2024 or 2025.

MATSYA 6000

It is a manned submersible vehicle developed by NIOT under the Samudrayaan mission to facilitate humans in the deep ocean in exploring mineral resources like Nickel, Cobalt, Rare Earths, Manganese, etc.
Expected to be launched in 2024-25, it would make India only one among six countries (US, Russia, Japan, France, and China) to have piloted a crewed under-sea expedition beyond 5,000 metres.
MATSYA-6000 is a spherical, titanium hull (made by ISRO) equipped with life-support, capable of floating underwater and collecting soil and rock samples from the seabed with attached robotic arms.

Source: BBC