Molycorp.Inc. (fka MCPIQ)

[mick]

Gerard Barron: (LAUGH) I love the fact that they're the way we're gonna get away from fossil fuels. I love the fact that in these, are all the metals we need to go and build those batteries. I mean, it's-- it's-- it's the most amazing coincidence that I've ever encountered Mother Nature made these nodules --

Bill Whitaker: They're just sitting there.

Gerard Barron: It's like, "Okay, you guys, you've messed up planet Earth. Come and get me."

Bill Whitaker: So you call yourself an environmentalist. But you're also a miner. (LAUGH) How do you combine the two?

Gerard Barron: Well, you know, I don't call myself a miner-- but we are collecting nodules off the ocean floor.

Bill Whitaker: So if you're not a miner, what-- what do you call what you will be doing?

Gerard Barron: Well, we call it-- harvesting.

Bill Whitaker: Harvesting.

Gerard Barron: Harvesting nodules from the ocean floor.

Unlike on land, there's no drilling or digging. Instead, enormous deep sea robots will do the heavy lifting. To see one of the most advanced, we travelled to Antwerp, Belgium. In a country better known for beer and chocolate, we met Patania.