sea nodules
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — “They look like chocolate truffles, just don’t eat them,” jokes Jean Mason, the curator of the Cook Islands Library and Museum as she reaches into a display cabinet and pulls out a black, knobbly rock.
The “rock” she is holding may well determine the future of this...

![Packed full of cobalt, nickel and manganese, these ancient formations are now valuable: the metals go into batteries that power modern life, from electric cars to mobile phones. [courtesy photo] sea nodules](https://www.samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/sea_nodules.jpg?itok=F8zHFoAc)