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By Henk van Muijen

From an interesting and intriguing scientific research topic, deep sea mining has altered into an interesting mining prospect over the last years. Ten years ago most of the focus was on geological investigations, searching for typical deep sea deposits and getting answers on where we can find them and how these deposits were formed. At this moment we know much more about the interesting deposit possibilities and with our quest for minerals, metals and other materials to feed global economic growth, answers as to the technical and economic feasibility to mine these deposits are sought. This is not a new phenomenon as we already witnessed such question late 1970?s and early 1980?s. Most of the focus was on mining manganese nodules and brines in the Red Sea driven by the report of the Club of Rome that predicted shortages in near future at that time. Development went different, but later in the 1990?s a rival of interest could be noticed for mining deep sea deposits.

Jan 1, 2010

By Dilip Sarangdhar

"SeaTech Solutions International (S) Pte Ltd, Singapore are the designers of world’s first seabed mining ship. The ship is now under construction and expected to be delivered next year. The Deep Sea Mining industry is eagerly awaiting commencement of her seabed mining operations and the success of this story will go a far way in accelerating investment in Deep Sea Mining and hopefully we should see many such projects take off and many such ships launched in the near future.Based on own experiences SeaTech discusses in this paper, various important issues that need to be considered for design of such Deep Sea Mining ships, the challenges faced and possible solutions to address them.From a ship designers’ perspective, there are not many direct previous references available, the seabed mining methods and associated equipment are also a new technology & products are still developing, there is no standard method and equipment for processing of mineral ore onboard, and above all there is the huge challenge of loading, storage and discharge of ore cargo efficiently in the confines spaces. Associated with the uncertainties of such issues is the uncertainty of weight, space, power, services and maintenance requirements, which can vary through the design and construction period and put the initial ship design at huge risk. Sufficient design margins need to be provided and a constant & strict control is absolutely necessary to ensure that the budget on each technical aspect is not exceeded. The local strength of the vessel particularly needs to be robust to take ultra-large loads due to huge equipment and their lifting /handling equipment/winches and tall mining process modules."

Jan 1, 2017

In 1983, the GEMINO research project (Geothermal Metallogenesis Indian Ocean) was initiated in order to locate and evaluate sites of recent or fossil hydrothermal activity in the largely unexplored Indian Ocean. During GEMINO cruises 1 and 2 with R/V SONNE in 1983 and 1986, the Central Indian Ridge between 21°S and 24°S was the subject of detailed exploration, including SeaBeam and magnetic mapping, hydrocasts, sediment coring, TV-grab sampling, and camera/video tows. Although hydrothermal sulfide mineralization was not located, a hydrothermal component in the sediment composition, hydrothermally altered basalts, and maximum concentrations of 27.5 nmol/kg Mn and 45.6 nl/l CH4 were discovered (Plüger and Herzig 1986; Herzig and Plüger 1988a). Leg 1 of the GEMINO-3 cruise in 1987/88 identified a neovolcanic ridge in the rift valley of a 30 km segment at 22°55'S as a site of weak hydrothermal activity and photographed smectite-like precipitates on basalt talus and a chimney structure on top of a ridge-parallel fault scarp. Water temperature data and the distribution of Mn and CH4 were interpreted as indicative of diffuse, low-temperature hydrothermal activity (Herzig and Plüger 1988b).

Jan 1, 1989

By Robert G. Paul

President Reagan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Proclamation of March 10, 1983, extended United States ocean jurisdiction 200 nautical miles offshore our coastal states and territories. The accompanying policy statement noted that this action was a result of recently discovered deposits of polymetallic sulfides and cobalt-rich manganese crusts, which could be a major source of minerals important to the U.S. economy and security. Within these 3 billion acres of exclusive economic jurisdiction, the United States has sovereign rights to explore, develop, conserve, and manage the mineral and other natural resources of the seabed. The President has directed the Department of the Interior (DOI) to encourage exploration and production of minerals from this area. The DOI, through the Minerals Managment Service (MMS), is responding to this presidential directive by developing a leasing program for nonenergy minerals in the EEZ. The authority to develop this leasing program is the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, as amended in 1978, which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to grant leases for oil, gas, sulfur, and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Solicitor of D01 has determined that the definition of the OCS for legal purposes extends at least 200 nautical miles offshore of our coastal states to the EEZ boundary. Section 8 (k) of the Act allows the Secretary to lease minerals, other than oil, gas, and sulfur, on the basis of competitive bonus bidding and under such terms and conditions as he may prescribe at the time of offering the area for lease.

Jan 1, 1985

Recent focus by terrestrial mineral explorers (and investors) on cobalt has increasingly highlighted the future critical need for this metal, with new-age batteries being the primary utilisation. We present an overview of the world’s current terrestrial cobalt resources and put this in perspective of currently known seabed resources, particularly polymetallic nodule and crust deposits. We focus on comparison of the key exploration, development and exploitation risks for such deposits, and provide a framework for financial evaluation and appraisal.

Jan 1, 2018

By Nii Allotey Odunton

One of the primary responsibilities of the International Seabed Authority?s Secretariat (the Secretariat) is to assess the quantities of metals present in seabed polymetallic nodules in the International Seabed Area under the Authority?s jurisdiction. To carry out this responsibility, the Secretariat periodically undertakes an assessment of the reserved areas in the Clarion-Clipperton region of the northeastern Pacific (CCZ) using the data submitted by the registered Contractors and maintained in the Authority?s POLYDAT database. The results of its most recent assessment demonstrated that the information submitted by the Contractors, though satisfactory for some purposes, does not permit the in situ quantities of metals in these areas to be estimated with a degree of confidence that is comparable to many land-based mineral resource estimates. Our strategy is to divide the work into two distinct but closely related efforts; one to draft a Prospector?s Guide that provides a narrative description of the key geological and oceanographic data that may be related to deposit abundance and metal content, and another that we call the Geological Model, that summarizes and documents the quantitative resource assessments accomplished in the project.

Jan 1, 2005

By Lisa Koch, Eleanor Martin

"Each underwater mining project is different. However, most have one thing in common: To be successful. We will draw on our experience advising hundreds of international clients each year on mining, offshore oil & gas and shipping matters to highlight some legal, commercial and practical issues to consider when structuring underwater mining projects. We will look at new ways of allocating risks and rewards in order to obtain much needed investment for underwater mining projects to commence both the exploration and exploitation phase.HighlightsRisk profileWe will look at a typical underwater mining project from the viewpoint of an investor and highlight some of the perceived risks, and potential mitigants.Contractual structureWe will analyse how the mining industry and oil & gas service industry have responded to low commodity prices to examine innovate contractual arrangements with suppliers and stakeholders, and how they can be tailored to the underwater mining industry. FinancingWe will explore some potential financing structures which could be relevant to the underwater mining industry."

Jan 1, 2017

By Carsten Rühlemann

Between 2008 and 2013, the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) carried out five exploration cruises to the German license area in the eastern Pacific Nodule Belt. The first two expeditions were mainly dedicated to multibeam mapping to obtain an overview of the seafloor topography and acoustic backscatter strength. These data were used to identify ten to fourteen prospective nodule fields for potential future mining, which together cover about 16% of the total license area of 75,000 km2. During the last three cruises, three of these potential mining areas were explored in detail. For this purpose, the BGR developed a suite of exploration methods to map nodule size distributions and nodule abundances. These methods include acoustic surveys with vessel-based multibeam systems as well as near-bottom video mapping complemented by in situ sampling. The economically most valuable field has a size of ca. 2,000 km2, of which 34% is covered by medium to large nodules (> 4 cm long axis of nodules) with an average abundance of 22.4 kg/m2 and 44% is covered by small nodules (< 4 cm) with a mean abundance of 17.5 kg/m2. The total mass of nodules in this field comprises more than 30 million tons wet weight and could sustain deep-sea mining for at least 10 years.

Sep 14, 2011

By Kiseong Hyeong

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), where the southeast and northeast trade winds converge, is the effective climatological barrier that separates the southern and northern hemispheres in terms of dust budget. Asian and N. American dusts dominate in the Pacific north of the ITCZ, while Central and S. American dust prevails south of the ITCZ. In order to understand the nature of latitudinal and depth-related variations of mineral composition in terms of position relative to the ITCZ, deep-sea core sediments were collected from 9°N to 17°N at a 2° intervals along the 131.5°W meridian and analyzed for mineral composition. The amount of illite in surface sediments decreases gradually from 65% at 17°N to 31% at 9°N. In contrast, smectite increases from 11% to 56% southward. The observed mineralogical variation toward the ITCZ is attributed to the increased supply of volcaniclastic material transported via the southeast trade winds from the Central and South America source regions. Smectite-illite transition, a phenomenon that the amount of smectite increases over illite, occurs at around 10°N, the northern margin of the ITCZ. This result indicates that the change in latitudinal position of the ITCZ in the geological past could be recorded by the smectite-illite transition in deep-sea cores. The cores studied show down-core variation of mineral composition from illite-rich at the surface to a smectite-rich clay suit at depths, similar to the latitudinal variation. The smectite-illite transitions observed in these cores are likely the records of changes in latitudinal position of the ITCZ. The depth and age of the smectite-illite transition is getting shallower and younger towards the equator, implying that the ITCZ was located farther north during late Tertiary and has shifted southward to the present position of 5°N~10°N.

Jan 1, 2004

By Brian Parsons

In June of 2013, Odyssey Marine Exploration conducted sea trials of the newly installed SeaBat 7150 full-ocean multibeam sonar system on the M/V Dorado Discovery over the Fierberling Guyot in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Fieberling Guyot is located approximately 990 kilometers west of San Diego, California and it rises abruptly from the deep ocean floor (~4300 meters) to a minimum depth of approximately 438 meters. The SeaBat 7150 operates at two distinct frequencies, 24 kHz (shallow to 3000 meters) and 12 kHz (full-ocean depth greater than 2000 meters). Onboard operational data are managed by a suite of state-of-the-art software. A SQL Server 2012 database provides the highly specific management and visualization tools as ArcGIS 10, Micromine 2013, and Geobank 2013 database. The 7150 is mounted on a gondola one meter lower than on previous system and greatly reduces bubble interference. The 7150 generates 880 beams

Sep 14, 2011

By Kris van Nijen

IHC Merwede, a Dutch supplier of ships and equipment for dredging and mining activities, and DEME, a Belgian dredging and environmental services group, will enter into a joint venture for deep-sea mining activities. Under their cooperative agreement, IHC Merwede will be responsible for the development and construction of technical solutions, while DEME will be responsible for operations. Together the companies will offer a unique pioneering total solution. The joint venture will be known as OceanflORE.

Jan 1, 2011

By Sung-Hyun Park

Core sediment samples collected from the KODOS area of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone in the NE Equatorial Pacific were analyzed for chemical and mineralogical compositions to investigate the depth- and time-related variation of paleoenvironmental and paleoceanographic conditions during their deposition. These core sediments are divided into three layers from top to bottom by its color; 1) brown layer (Unit I), 2) pale brown layer (Unit II), and 3) black brown layer (Unit III). Geochronology of 10Be indicated the depositional age of Quaternary for Units I and II and of late Pliocene for Unit III with a potential short hiatus between them. Analyses of interelemental correlation identified three major groups of elemental groups that show moderate-to-strong correlations: 1) Al, Ti, K, and Fe representing for terrestrial alumino-silicate fraction of sediments, 2) Ca, P, REEs, Cu, and Zn for biogenic apatite, and 3) Mn, Ni, and Co for hydrogenous Mn-oxide. With an exception, Fe content was very high and showed fair correlations with Mn, Ni, and Co in Unit III. Unit III shows high smectite but low quartz and illite contents compared to the overlying two units, indicative of reduced supply of terrestrial materials. In a meanwhile, major elements (Fe2O3, CaO, P2O5), minor elements (Cu, Zn) and REEs are highly enriched in Unit III compared to the upper two units. All these elements other than Fe reflect the fraction of biogenic apatite, which indicates higher fraction of biogenic components in Unit III. This is also supported by higher amount of smectite formed by the consumption of siliceous biogenic components. The reduced supply of terrestrial material and/or increased productivity of surface water at the time of Unit III deposition are attributed to Pliocene warming preceding Northern-pole glaciation during Quaternary. Unit III also includes clinoptilolite and unidentified 8Å mineral, likely amphibole, that are absent in Units I and II, suggestive of the possibility of different source region and/or materials during Pliocene. Higher contents of Mn and Fe in Unit III are likely due to the high fraction of Mn-oxide that was formed by diagenetic process after deposition.

Jan 1, 2003

By Georgy Cherkashov, Livia Ermakova

Active development of the exploration and further exploitation of deep-sea minerals requires special emphasis on the protection of the marine environment. The complexity of this subject lies in the fact that potential impact and effects of future mining activity are not completely known. One of the main sources of potential impact near the seafloor, as it expected, would be a generation of sediment plumes, their dispersion and redeposition of sediment. Meanwhile, their dimensions, rates of dispersion and redeposition are a big issue. Other plumes are expected in the surface layer as a result of discharges of processing waters and particles after sorting on board of mining vessel, and their features are also not clear. At the same time, understanding of these aspects would be crucial for definition of environment impact area, delineation and designation of different types of protected areas (Areas of Particular Environmental Interest, Impact and Preservation Reference Zones) and future assessment of environmental impacts. Attempts to address these issues demonstrated wide variations between the data of field experiments on the one hand and the results of analytical and numerical models on the other. According to in situ measurements, plumes were detected at a distance vary from one to less than 20 km [e.g., Burns et al., 1980; Sharma et al., 2001; Nautilus Minerals, 2008 etc.], whilst some models show results up to 100 km [Rolinski S. et al., 2001] and more. It seemed that results of in-situ experiments are preferable, but they were not many indeed. However, these data were used in different investigations rather widely, but their focus, as far as we know, was not on the matters related directly with plumes.

Jan 1, 2018

By Joshua Brien

DEEP SEABED MINING IN NATIONAL JURISDICTION: KEY CHALLENGES The talk focuses on the key challenges that arise from deep-seabed mineral exploration and development within areas of national jurisdiction, including legal and institutional challenge and options to address these challenges. Joshua Brien has acted for a range of Governments throughout the world, including smallisland States and the developing world. This has included engagement in matters before the International Court of Justice, the Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in contentious and advisory proceedings, including provisional measures applications and prompt release cases.

Jan 1, 2018

By Malcolm Clark, Robin K. H. Falconer

There are a number of likely impacts from mining operations, but a key issue is uncertainty about the environmental effects of sediment plumes created by disturbance to the seafloor and discharge of processed waters. The New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is undertaking a research project to improve understanding of such impacts (relevant to both mining and trawl fisheries), by examining the extent and persistence of sediment plumes, the immediate impact and subsequent recovery of seafloor exposed to these plumes, and the effect on functioning of ecologically significant species. The project will use a combination of field survey experimentation with in situ observations and controlled laboratory-based experiments. The field work begins in May 2018 when an area of up to 1km2 at depths of 400-500 m on the Chatham Rise, 450 km east the New Zealand South Island will be subjected to disturbance by an upgraded former NOAA Benthic Disturber. The suspended sediment load created by the disturbance will be tracked and monitored, with the effects on seafloor animals examined by pre-and post-disturbance sampling. A wide range of seafloor sampling, benthic landers, towed cameras, oceanographic moorings and water column monitoring will be carried out over a three week period. Monitoring surveys will be repeated in 2019 and 2020 to determine the longer-term resilience and recovery of disturbed communities. The laboratory-based side of the programme, also starting in 2018, involves holding live deep-sea corals and sponges in tanks at NIWA, and exposing them to various levels and duration of particle loads in the water in order to reveal lethal thresholds as well as sub- lethal effects of settled and suspended sediment.

Jan 1, 2018

By M. E. Williamson

In September 2005 Williamson & Associates, Inc. delivered the BMS2 remotely operated seafloor coring system to the Japan Oil, Gas & Minerals National Corporation (JOGMEC). During acceptance trials aboard the JOGMEC research vessel R/V Hakurei Maru No. 2 the BMS2 successfully recovered 7.44 m of rock core in 3377 m water at a site near the crest of a seamount about 500 nm SE of Japan. Hydrogenous ferromanganese oxide crust, basaltic lava, sandstone and volcanic sediments were sampled with near 100% core recovery. The BMS uses rotary rod coring tools to collect samples to a maximum depth of 30 m in water depths up to 6000 m. Depending on bottom type to be sampled, the BMS tool magazine can be loaded with various drilling tools including core barrels with different bit types, drill rod and bore hole casing. The drill has 9 video cameras, a suite of sensors and 60 hydraulic functions powering thrusters, telescoping legs, seawater pumps and all of the standard drilling controls. The BMS provides deep water investigations with the functionality of conventional diamond bit rod drilling currently the mainstay of exploration programs in land mining.

Jan 1, 2005

By Paulo Chaves, Márcia Gonçalves, João R. S. Carvalho, Fernando J. A. S. Barriga, Edgar Carrolo, Tiago Luna, Ricardo Rato, Anabela Bento

INTRODUCTION For the last decades, deep-sea marine resources such as seabed massive sulfides (SMS), polymetallic nodules and ferromanganese crusts (Fe-Mn crusts) have received an ever- increasing amount of attention worldwide for their abundance in critical metals and potential commercial value. This interest has mostly been driven by the growing world demand for raw materials, in particular for high- and green-technology applications (e.g., hybrid and electric cars, batteries, photovoltaic solar cells, cell phones, super magnets), as well as by industrialized countries governments other than BRICS states need to secure a more diversified supply of metals, resulting in a new deep ocean exploration boom. Since the oceans and its resources are increasingly seen as indispensable for humans needs and their challenges in the decades to come, this boom increments pressure on marine areas, either in international or within countries economic exclusive zone (EEZ). Since 2002, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has signed up 29 contracts with several entities and national governments from multiple countries (e.g., Japan, China, Germany, France, Russia, India, Rep. of Korea, UK, Canada, Brazil) for exploration for deep-sea mineral resources in international waters, either for scientific or commercial proposes, which together cover over 1.3 million km2 [1]. In turn, over 300 exploration licenses, covering more than 650,000 km2, have been granted within the EEZ of Pacific countries such as Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu [2, 3]. This number is expected to increase very rapidly, as 77 countries have proposed to the United Nations the extension of their continental shelf in order to extend their EEZ and jurisdiction over potential deep-sea mineral resources [4]. Its estimated that 42% of the potential areas for SMS occurrences, 54% for cobalt-rich Fe-Mn crusts, and 19% for polymetallic nodules lie within the EEZ of coastal countries [5]. In addition, a huge amount of seafloor is yet to be explored and evaluated. Combined, the size of the granted exploration areas represents less than 10% of the overall area thought as most favorable for the occurrence of the 3 types of deep-sea mineral resources above mentioned. This means that today’s assessments on deep-sea mineral resources are only a rough approximation.

Jan 1, 2018

By David M. Holmes-Smith

Many attempts have been made to design and build an AUV that is small, meets the sensing objectives and is cost effective. Many inventors have already designed smaller vehicles but the problem observed is an increased vehicle instability resulting in instrument instability where data gathered is not trustworthy. Additional problems include instrument weight to vehicle weight ratios and the lack of space for power storage and electrical components. The UFOceanic seeks to remedy these concerns by employing a completely different design and propulsion system. Still in the design stage ? now with a mock-up unit for testing, the results are encouraging. We have chosen a very low voltage embedded systems design using multiple PIC processors and fuzzy logic programming. We are designing the craft to rotate for stability and to provide friction reduction to minimize the need for instrument stability compensation and propulsion power. Additionally, we are looking and experimenting with a number of power plant drive systems including flywheels, GNP (plasma), fuel cells and more conventional systems. We of course plan for the UFOceanic to run for months at a time supported by a self-charging system.

Jan 1, 2001

By P. A. Rona

The first hydrothermal mineral deposits found at a seafloor spreading center were discovered in the Red Sea by multi-national research vessels between 1963 and 1965. At that time, the deposits were considered a special case related to continental rifting and an early stage of opening of an ocean basin. Since that time, examples of almost all major varieties of volcanic- and sediment-hosted hydrothermal deposits associated with basaltic rocks in the geologic record have been found at present spreading centers. Review of over 100 hydrothermal mineral occurrences presently known at oceanic ridges and rifts indicates that a range of deposit sizes from small to large (> 1 x 106 tonnes) occurs at all seafloor spreading rates. However, larger deposits but fewer per unit length of spreading axis appear to form at slow- than at intermediate- to fast-spreading centers based on available data. Larger deposits are more common in sediment-hosted than in volcanic-hosted settings regardless of spreading rate. A spectrum of hydrothermal deposit varieties (stratiform, stockwork and disseminated sulfides; various forms of sulfate, carbonate, silicate, oxide and hydroxide deposits) occurs in almost all of the tectonic settings. High-intensity, ore-forming, subseafloor, hydrothermal convection systems that conserve heat and mass and concentrate hydrothermal precipitates are extremely localized by anomalous physical and chemical conditions relative to nearly ubiquitous low-intensity hydrothermal activity at and flanking seafloor spreading axes at all spreading rates. Two distinct shapes of volcanic-hosted

Jan 1, 1989

By M. E. Williamson

From December 2004 through March of 2005 an extensive geophysical program was conducted to delineate polymetallic sulfide deposits in the Bismark Sea for a major mining concern. Deeply towed sidescan sonar, interferometric swath bathymetry, subbottom profiling, magnetic gradiometry, electrical resistivity, induced polarization. self-potential, gravimetry, water temperature/conductivity and towed video were among the methodologies tested against known occurrences of polymetallic sulfides in 1500 m -- 2200 m water depths. Known active and currently inactive sulfide areas were characterized using the various remote sensing techniques followed by survey with these same tools in other areas where they successfully discovered new prospects. Dredge sampling was used to ground truth both previously known sulfide areas and newly found deposits.

Jan 1, 2005