Inside the U.S. deep-sea mining 'gold rush'

Inside the U.S. deep-sea mining 'gold rush'

In a vast storage room at a nickel plant in Hachinohe, northern Japan, a group of men in suits and hard hats are squatting on the floor admiring a row of trays. One contains a jet-black, rubble-like ore, which crumbles to dust when handled. In another, there are bright cubes of metal, which they are examining enthusiastically.