"Nautilus Minerals of Australia has a license from Papua New Guinea to mine a site the size of 21 football fields for its rich deposits. The minerals are found there in very high concentrations, because a natural hot spring on the seafloor has been laying them down for thousands of years."

"Samantha Smith, the vice president for corporate responsibility at the company, says it's an operation that involves remotely piloted vehicles prowling around a mile under the surface."

Richard Harris reports for NPR's All Things Considered March 2, 2012. [2]