Deep Seabed Mining

China has secured rights from the International Seabed Authority to explore and mine the seabed and is eager to begin mining operations but currently lacks the technological resources and expertise that its rivals possess.

The Cook Islands hopes to transform itself into one of the world's richest countries within a decade by sending robots to the sea floor to collect minerals that it believes are worth tens of billions of dollars.

It may be understandable that a terrestrial primate such as ourselves would pay little attention to a world so foreign, inaccessible, and inhospitable as the deep sea, but with growing threats to the region, it's time we do so.

After decades of dreaming and scheming, companies say they’re finally ready to start mining the bottom of the world’s oceans for valuable minerals. Christopher Werth reports from London on one company’s plans, how environmental scientists view the prospect of digging up the sea floor, and how Howard Hughes and the CIA helped pave the way.