Terry Blanton <hohlr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> "Although it is very deep, the deposits are in highly-concentrated nodules > that can be extracted using pressurised air with minimal disturbance off > the seafloor and no need for the leaching." > Yup. The experts on NHK say it is abundant, concentrated, but expensive to reach. Sort of like space-based solar energy. This showed up again in Slate magazine: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/alternative_energy/2013/03/solar_power_in_space_ray_guns_will_beam_it_back_to_earth.html This sort of thing might get a lot cheaper if they develop the technology. I don't know about the particulars. They have made great progress in undersea exploration and unmanned recovery of valuable objects from shipwrecks. See the book "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea: The History and Discovery of the World's Richest Shipwreck." - Jed
