Key points
- Impossible Metals plans to test its Eureka 3 underwater collector robot in BGR’s exploration contract area, with operations expected around 2027.
- The company projects all-in sustaining costs of roughly $1,500 per metric ton of nickel, approximately one-tenth the cost of conventional land-based mining, by harvesting four metals simultaneously from polymetallic nodules without terrestrial infrastructure.
- The Eureka robots use hovering flight and selective harvesting to leave 60 percent of seafloor nodules undisturbed, with computer vision and AI designed to identify and avoid fauna.
- CEO Oliver Gunasekara acknowledged mining will create sediment impacts and emphasized that comprehensive environmental impact assessments conducted over multiple years will enable regulators to decide whether impacts are acceptable.
