In the future, Germany may look for valuable in the Indian Ocean raw materials search. The approval was approved on July 21 by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Jamaica, reports the "Spiegel" in advance from its new edition. The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Raw Materials (BGR) in Hanover wants to be southeast of Madagascar Explore an 10.000 square kilometer area at a depth of 3000 meters.
“Down there, some fields have a copper content of 24 percent, which is the highest metal enrichment ever from Seabed are known ”, the magazine quoted the responsible BGR expert Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera. The preparations for the expedition were already under way. "We are currently constructing a sniffing sled equipped with sensors that will be pulled behind our exploration ship," said Schwarz-Schampera.
License is valid for 15 years
Germany had applied for the license to explore at the end of last year. According to the information, it cost 500.000 dollars (about 372.000 Euro) and secures the Federal Republic for at least 15 years exclusive access to the deep sea treasures in the area. On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Energy, BGR is responsible for the maritime raw material exploration.
There is still no deep-sea mining worldwide. However, a handful of states and private companies are preparing for it. Germany already holds exploration licenses for the Pacific. The goal is to get a politically secure access to certain raw materials, said the head of marine natural resource research at BGR, Christian Reichert, last year. In addition, it is about giving impetus to German technology and development.
Treasury of Greenland
Previously, BGR had already identified Greenland as a treasury for raw materials. There are therefore particularly many of the coveted rare earths, which are also known as high-tech metals. Although they are not as rare as the name suggests, but the promotion is complex, expensive and often not environmentally friendly. Therefore, the rare earths were previously promoted mostly in China, which gave the country a quasi-monopoly.
Greenland had allowed 2013 to mine uranium for the first time in October, previously banned for decades by law. Rare earths are often mixed with uranium, which was an argument for lifting the ban.
Source: http://www.t-online.de/wirtschaft/boerse/rohstoffe/id_67184964/deutschland-bekommen- license-zur-rohstoffsuche-im-indischen-ozean.html
