There are many unknowns when it comes to the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining and virtually no international or regional regulations exist to govern it. The sustainable use of this new method, and whether commercial development is a risk worth taking, has spurred debates amongst investors and international environmental groups. Predictions of dwindling metal resources on land have only made exploration of the rocky outcrops of the ocean floor look more attractive to prospects......
As soon as the first successful extraction takes place, hundreds will most likely follow which puts a great risk to vital underwater ecosystems. Damage done to the pristine and virtually untouched world of the sea is hard to replenish and may even abolish dozens if not hundreds of undiscovered species. If the economy remains in a desperate state, there is a strong possibility that the underwater “modern gold rush” could cause damage that will not be realized until it’s too late.
http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2012/07/trillions-gold-beneath-oceans-spurs-modern-gold-rush/
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