Ocean Mining - What is Ocean Mining?

What is Ocean Mining?

Deep down on the seabed, there are fist-sized lumps, or nodules, that contain lots of minerals.
The nodules are made up of layers, like an onion.
They are found in areas where many sea creatures live.
The sea creatures collect and store minerals in their bodies.
When they die and sink to the bottom of the sea, the minerals in their bodies are left in the mud after their bodies have decomposed.
These nodules usually contain iron and manganese, which are used to make hard steel for tools.
Some nodules contain valuable minerals like cobalt, nickel and copper.
It is more difficult and expensive to extract minerals from the sea than from the ground.
But the reserves of minerals on land are quickly being used up. So one day soon we may need to use the sea's resources.
Special machines to mine the nodules on the seabed can be developed and will probably work by remote control.
They will most likely come into use as soon as it is economical to mine the seabed.