What began as a covert CIA mission during the Cold War turned into a deep sea mining venture with the potential to produce large amounts of precious metals and the profits that go with them. What do cell phones, fossil-fuel free cars, and wind turbines have in common with potentially destructive mining processes? What should be the role of government in determining how natural resources are acquired and utilitzed? This article is long, but it gets into some of the nitty-gritty details in the interplay of the free market and government intervention in the question of how to acquire the metals needed to own and operate everyday commodities (like phones, cars, etc.).
"In the summer of 1974, a large and highly unusual ship set sail from Long Beach in California.
It was heading for the middle of the Pacific where its owners boasted it would herald a revolutionary new industry beneath the waves.
Equipped with a towering rig and the latest in drilling gear, the vessel was designed to reach down through the deep, dark waters to a source of incredible wealth lying on the ocean floor.
It was billed as the boldest step so far in a long-held dream of opening a new frontier in mining, one that would see valuable metals extracted from the rocks of the seabed.
But amid all the excited public relations, there was one small hitch - the whole expedition was a lie."