Mount Tropic: an underwater treasure that fuels tensions between Morocco and Spain

Considered a "lost island", Mount Tropic, 120 million years old, has an older existence than the Canary Islands. Its summit is located about 1,000 meters below the sea, and its base descends to 3,000 meters, making it a geological giant. The mount contains minerals, the most important of which is tellurium, essential for the manufacture of new-generation solar panels, as well as cobalt, used in battery production.

According to the Spanish channel RTVE, Tropic is located in a "hypothetical extension of the waters of Western Sahara, that is, outside the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Morocco and Spain, and it is up to the United Nations to determine to whom this mount belongs". Despite the potential value of the minerals, their extraction will have to wait, as their depth of more than 3,000 meters poses problems such as pressure, darkness and unstable terrain, As reports.

Experts estimate that it will take between twenty and thirty years before these minerals can be extracted. Furthermore, this submarine mount contains corals, fish and little-known species. This is why the International Seabed Authority has called for the utmost caution before any extraction.