India’s government organization dedicated to developing technologies for exploring and harnessing ocean resources has been exploring parts of the Indian Ocean for the last few years. In October, the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) conducted a successful exploratory mining trial in the Andaman Sea, between India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Myanmar, for obtaining polymetallic nodules from the seabed. This trial followed surveys and identification of polymetallic nodules within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). The Indian government has rights to explore this area in the sea, which extends approximately 200 nautical miles from the coast, for resources. The area includes the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, and the Lakshadweep Island group in the Laccadive Sea. The scientists at NIOT, under India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences, employed a machine called Varaha-3, specially designed for this location. “A machine was developed that can withstand the rigors in the Andaman Sea with it being a rocky area, very unlike the soft soil found at the abyssal plain, and also mine with minimal environmental impact,” said a senior scientist from the deep-sea mining team at NIOT, who asked not to be named citing a team effort. Varaha-3 weighs six to seven tons under water and has a comb-type collector mechanism to pick up nodules embedded in the sea floor. What are polymetallic nodules? The ocean bed has tons of potato-sized rocks, formed over millions of years, called…This article was originally published on Mongabay
The post India advances deep-sea mining technology in the Andaman Sea first appeared on EnviroLink Network.