India dives deeper into seabed mining

The country just asked permission to double its mineral exploration on the High Seas

It’s a tried-and-true geopolitical flex: A country develops futuristic technology to explore beyond its own borders, usually in the name of science. India has been doing this in spades of late.

Last year, India became the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon and the first to do so on the moon’s icy south pole. It was a triumph for the Modi administration, particularly after a Russian lander crashed into the moon just days prior. India has also maintained research bases in Antarctica since the 1980s. Now, the south Asian nation’s latest foray has led to the bottom of the ocean.

Last week, India requested two new exploration permits for potential seabed mining in the Indian Ocean. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) routinely approves such requests. Assuming that happens here, India would wind up with four total exploration permits on the high seas—more than any nation besides China, which has five.

If approved, India would hold at least one exploration license for each kind of deep-sea resource: (1) polymetallic nodules that form on sediments, (2) metallic crusts that cover seamounts, and (3) sulfide deposits around hydrothermal vents.

Notably, the three resource types require different extraction technologies. And those technologies can’t simply be bought off the shelf (yet), which means they’re expensive. By pursuing all three, India appears willing to invest widely in finding metals on the seabed.

The country has already spent half a billion dollars on the initiative, including designs for a dedicated mining research vessel and a submersible to carry three people to 6,000 meters depth. And public statements reveal an administration itching to do more than explore: “The exploration studies of minerals will pave way for the commercial exploitation in the near future,” according to a 2021 press release.

India is just the latest Asian country to make a major move toward seabed mining, raising concern among scientists and environmental advocates. China and Japan have also accelerated investment in the industry. Soon, China and India together will likely hold more than a quarter of the exploration permits granted by the ISA.

For now, it still appears that The Metals Company (based in Canada and operating through a subsidiary in Nauru) will be the first to request an exploitation permit from the ISA. But India or one of its neighbors may not be far behind.