CLEAN SHELL ????? $MCPIQ FKA WILL THIS EVER TRADE ????? Picture a lump of rock about the
size of a potato. Now pack it with some of the most valuable metals on earth,
like nickel, cobalt, and other minerals known as rare earth elements.
There are trillions of these nodules, that's what they're called, just waiting to
be picked up. The problem is they're on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
The nodules were discovered more than a century ago.
Now new technology has triggered a fierce competition to go get them.
These metals are critical for modern life: cell phones, electric cars, and supercomputers.
Nineteen countries, including China and Russia, have already jumped into
the deep. But the one country on the sidelines?
The United States. More on that in a moment, but first, we wanted to take a look
at this new frontier.
