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Key points The Eureka Collection System uses underwater robots with camera-based artificial intelligence to selectively pick polymetallic nodules from the seabed while avoiding visible life and minimizing sediment disturbance, leaving a large percentage of nodules untouched. A full…

Key points The debate pits Impossible Metals CEO Oliver Gunasekara, arguing seabed mining is essential to meet growing metal demand, against Caladan Capital’s Victor Vescovo, arguing against, moderated by Eric Young. Gunasekara says Impossible Metals’ robot removes only about 6%…

Key points CTO and COO Jason Gillham tours Impossible Metals’ custom-built tow tank lab, a darkened room with a steel frame holding a chain-driven vehicle that moves over a water tank to simulate deep-ocean conditions. A Stewart platform gives the vehicle six degrees of freedom,…

Key points Bob Galyen, retired chief technology officer of CATL and chairman of the SAE Battery Standards Steering Committee, outlines four factors behind China’s battery industry success: government support, private equity investment, available technology and human-machine…

Key points DeepFocus, a Portuguese startup founded in 2023, uses machine learning workflows to generate predictive maps for polymetallic nodules, crusts and seafloor massive sulfides, presented by CEO Joao Carvalho. In a 300,000 square kilometer Clarion-Clipperton Zone assessment, the…

Key points Lucia Fogler, a University of Virginia public policy and global security researcher, presents open-source mapping of China’s deep-sea mining contract areas and research vessel movements to assess risks to US defense posture in Oceania. Of 16 critical minerals the DoD and…