Are there treasures waiting for us under the sea?
Emmanuel Macron is convinced of this.
He made the exploration of "the
deep seabed, an extraordinary lever for understanding living things, access to certain rare metals, and innovation
", one of the ten objectives of the France 2030 plan presented on October 12.
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France is both the second largest maritime power in the world and one of the twenty-two countries with an international seabed exploration contract.
This universe whets appetites.
Certain depths, often between 3 and 6 km below the surface of the oceans, are full of polymetallic nodules, concretions the size of a fist or a cannonball placed on the seabed.
These nodules, very present in the Pacific, in the immense Clarion-Clipperton zone which extends over 4.5 million km2 between Hawaii and Mexico, are rich in cobalt, copper, manganese and even nickel.
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Hydrothermal vents or cobalt-rich crusts are also found in the deep sea.
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