Date: 28/09/2022

Relevance: GS-3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development, and employment Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Key Phrases: International Seabed Authority, International Indian Ocean Expedition, Global Industrial Metals Supply Chain, Lithium-Ion Batteries, Polymetallic Nodules, United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea

Why in News?

• A strategic re-evaluation of the global industrial metals supply chain has been triggered in the world economic order.

Major forces triggering a strategic re-evaluation of the global industrial metals supply chain:

1. Acceleration in the demand for electric vehicles:
   • Climate change has accelerated the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) which are primarily dependent on lithium-ion batteries.
   • The cathode for this battery is made up of layered crystals of lithium metal oxides which is usually a mix of nickel, cobalt, aluminium, and manganese.
   • Nickel by itself can give the most energy-dense batteries, meaning cars with longer driving range, but it is unstable.
   • Cobalt plays the role of boosting energy density and battery life because it keeps the layered structure stable as lithium ions are exchanged from the cathode during battery operation.
   • The dramatic rise in demand for EVs has put the supply of all these metals under stress.
2. Trade tensions between China and the US:
   • The trade war between the global superpowers has a ripple effect on industrial metals because China is often the largest ‘refiner’ of these metals.
   • For instance, about 80% of the world’s lithium refining capacity is controlled by China.
   • In the case of lithium, China imports the raw material from Australia and then refines the ore into usable lithium carbonate or hydroxide used in the batteries.
   • It then supplies this refined lithium to several ‘gigafactories’ that manufacture a disproportionate share of EV batteries.
3. Russia- Ukraine War:
   • The conflict in Ukraine has put the mineral supply from Russia at risk.
   • Russia is a major producer of many metals but is a key producer of nickel.
   • The Russian city of Norilsk has the world’s largest deposit of nickel, copper and palladium.
   • Even though Russia is the third-largest producer of nickel by tonnage, sulphide-sourced nickel from Russia is more suitable for EV batteries.
   • The companies are now exploring to diversify away from Russia for nickel in particular and the Democratic Republic of Congo for cobalt.
   • For example, European manufacturers are now turning to alternate sources from Russia and Ukraine that may be geographically distant, like China, adding to shipping delays and exacerbating the metal supply chain issues there

What are the sources of these metals?

• The largest sources of these metals have been identified on ocean floors at a depth of 5,000 m or more.
• The most massive of such fields are located at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii in an area called the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ).
• Approximately the size of the continental United States, the CCZ is home to potato-sized rocks called polymetallic (PM) nodules, which form on or just below the vast sediment-covered abyssal plains.
• PM consists primarily of precipitated iron hydroxides and manganese oxides on which are found metals like nickel, cobalt, titanium, copper, and rare earth elements (other than lithium, typically).
• There is an enormous quantity of these nodules on the seabed, making it an attractive target for mining.

How are mining activities regulated?

• The International Seabed Authority (ISA) based in Kingston, Jamaica, is the agency that is chartered to “organize, regulate and control all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area for the benefit of mankind as a whole.
• The ISA is organized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
• It regulates 54% of the world’s deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction.
• The ISA maintains a Deep Seabed and Ocean Database that serves as a spatial, internet-based data management system.
• The United Nations Organization for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the ISA are the only pan nation-state organizations that work to manage a common property resource.

Environmental impact of mining of minerals:

• Disturbance of the seafloor:
  • The scraping of the ocean floor by machines can alter or destroy deep-sea habitats, leading to the loss of species and fragmentation or loss of ecosystem structure and function.
  • Many species living in the deep sea are endemic and physical disturbances in just one mining site can possibly wipe out an entire species and thus, is one of the biggest potential impacts of deep-sea mining.
• Sediment plumes:
  • A significant area of study has been the ‘sediment plume’ left behind after scooping up PM from the ocean floor.
  • Some forms of deep-sea mining stir up fine sediments on the seafloor consisting of silt, clay, and the remains of microorganisms, creating plumes of suspended particles.
• Pollution:
  • PMs take millions of years to form and provide critical habitats for an array of unique and understudied species.
  • Species such as whales, tuna, and sharks could be affected by noise, vibrations, and light pollution caused by mining equipment and surface vessels, as well as potential leaks and spills of fuel and toxic products.
  • Deep-sea habitats evolve slowly, so recovery from mining could take several centuries.

What are the rights of India related to PM exploration?

• India has been an active member of the ISA and accorded exclusive rights to explore PMs in the Central Indian Ocean Basin.
• Located due South of Kanyakumari, these rights cover about 75,000sq-km of the area and hold a resource potential of 380 million tonnes, containing nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese.

What are the various Indian initiatives for mineral exploration?

• National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT):
  • Its mandate is to develop reliable indigenous technologies aimed at harvesting the non-living and living resources of the ocean.
  • It has conducted research, including the use of a mining machine for locomotion and manoeuvrability at depths greater than 5,000 m.
• Matsya 6000:
  • India is designing a manned submersible vehicle called Matsya 6000, capable of ploughing depths of 6,000 m.
• Samundrayaan:
  • By launching its First Manned Ocean Mission Samundrayaan joined the elite club of nations such as the USA, Russia, Japan, France, and China to have such underwater vehicles for carrying out subsea activities.
  • This niche technology shall facilitate in carrying out deep ocean exploration of the non-living resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulphides and cobalt crusts, located at a depth between 1000 and 5500 metres.

Conclusion:

• India has had a mixed track record of mining on land in a commercially purposeful, environmentally safe, and community sensitive way.
• While deep-sea mining facilitates migration to cleaner technologies and has no local human communities to worry about, it has high technical complexity and a potentially harsh environmental impact.
• Yet, as the world begins to tread on the deep ocean floor, India may have to follow.

Source: Live-Mint

Mains Question:

Q. The confluence of three major forces has triggered a strategic re-evaluation of the global industrial metals supply chain. Elaborate. (150 words).