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By Lars-Kristian Trellevik, Jan Arvid Ingulfsen

Swire Seabed is dedicated to being at the forefront of the Autonomous Subsea Revolution. The company is currently working along and developing operational, technical and market strategies where autonomous technology is the driving force. Swire Seabed’s vessel Seabed Constructor is currently mobilized and operating eight Hugin AUVs and 6 Surface going USVs. This significant and revolutionary spread is owned by Ocean Infinity. Ocean Infinity and Swire Seabed is currently involved in the search for the missing MH370 – in about 3 months the vessel and autonomous spread have fine combed an area of deep sea floor spanning over more the 100 000 km2 . With such a considerable spread with a depth rating of 6000 meter – Swire Seabed and Ocean Infinity is challenging long held paradigms in subsea mapping and resource surveys. Highly accurate and precise data can be acquired for large areas in record time, and at a comparatively much reduced cost. As one earlier required several vessels and associated crews and logistical support – Swire Seabed and Ocean infinity are now able to operate a large number of AUVs and USVs, through technological advances in automatic data-processing and interpretation, from a single offshore vessel. This opens up vast possibilities for emerging markets such as subsea-minerals. Swire Seabed is also developing strong collaborative relationships with academic institutions. Along with UIB Swire Seabed is developing methodology for deep sea geological and geophysical resource searches applying AUVs at an industrial scale – this work is based on UIBs groundbreaking work and significant experience in the same fields. In particular Swire Seabed and K.G Jebsen Centre for Deep Sea Research (UIB) have developed methodologies for conducting detailed Seep-Searches at a large geographical scale. UIB and Swire Seabed is further pursuing a formalized long term relationship for academic and industrial cooperation and exchange in AUV operation and methodology development. Whilst K.G Jebsen Centre for deep sea research have been involved in basig deep sea research for years, Swire Seabed have specialized in cost-effective heavy duty operations in water depths greater the 3500 meters. This collaboration affords the subsea mining community a unique pool of both insight and operational capacity.

Jan 1, 2018

By William D. Siapno

Mining the deep ocean by the year 2000 may seem far fetched. The year 2000 is but a decade away, a scant 10 years. Remember, the youngsters of today will grow up in a little more than a decade and rebut the wisdom of the ages, especially the traditions of their elders. Rude perhaps, but none the less a fact of life. Ocean mining exhibits many of these same traits. We should all brace ourselves for some rude shifts in our rapidly moving society. Major shifts in economics, politics, and social orders are the rule of the day. Communism is in retreat, our own economic structures chaotic. So in this moment of cataclysmic change, a shift in the international market place of mineral resources should not be a great surprise.

Jan 1, 2011

By Ian B. Corbett

De Beers Marine Pty Ltd. (South Africa) (DEBMARINE), a wholly owned subsidiary of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. specializes in the provision of contracting and consulting services for offshore diamond exploration, Mineral Resource Management and mining. Established in 1983, the company is strongly focused on driving and sustaining growth of the offshore diamond mining industry into the 21st century. DEBMARINE provides full Mineral Resource Management and produce almost half a million carats annually for the Namibian Diamond Corporation (Pty) Ltd. from their offshore mining licence. The company is also extensively involved in feasibility studies to establish new mining ventures and in the exploration of several offshore Prospecting Licence Areas for other clients. As a pioneer in this field, DEBMARINE remains highly focused on technological development. A specialized section, the Technical Development Business Unit, has been established. Through relationships with various technology leaders, this unit develops new sub-sea mining technology and delivers productivity innovations aimed at realizing maximized carat extraction. This talk provides a broad perspective on the development of the Namibian offshore deposits and examines the critical role played by high-resolution orebody characterization and high-confidence Mineral Resource development at De Beers Marine.

Jan 1, 1998

By J. R. Woolsey

In late 1988, the Committee for Coordination of Joint Prospecting for Mineral Resources in South Pacific Offshore Areas (CCOP/SOPAC), Suva, Fiji, consulted the Continental Shelf Division of the Marine Minerals Technology Center regarding low-tech, low-cost, reconnaissance sampling systems for a variety of nearshore needs. Materials of interest to several member island nations included silica and calcareous aggregate for cement manufacture, sand for beach replenishment, heavy minerals, and precious metals. A principal criteria of the system was that it be of low-tech design, and as far as possible, suitable for construction on the islands from available materials. It should also be operable with SOPAC personnel on island vessels of opportunity. The system selected to satisfy these requirements was a convertible drill of basic airlift design, capable of operating with easy modification as either a vibralift or airlift, depending on the desired application. The basic system included a drill pipe constructed of heavy duty 76 mm (3") black iron pipe, divided into three 3 meter sections (for ease of transport), fitted with an air intake manifold and bit at the lower end. A 25 mm (1") galvanized pipe assembled in three similar sections and clamped to the drill pipe served as a water jet to assist in cutting. Air was supplied to the manifold by means of a 12 mm (1/2") pipe also clamped along the length of the drill pipe. Suitable hoses supplied water and air to the upper ends of the respective pipes by means

Jan 1, 1989

By Michael J. Cruickshank

The State of Hawaii has expressed concern over deterioration of the tourist beaches at Waikiki, which are becoming seriously depleted of sand. In this report the options for acquisition, transportation and placement .of sand on the beach are examined with respect to feasibility and cost. Ten sources of sand were compared, including commercial, from Australia, Maui, and Barbers Point (3), deposits offshore of the Reef Runway (3), offshore of Waikiki (3), and offshore of Molokai from the Penguin Bank (1).

Jan 1, 1991

By Robert Heydon

With the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development fast approaching it is timely to reflect on the integral role seafloor polymetallic nodule mining will play in facilitating sustainable development and alleviating global poverty. Polymetallic nodule mining presents mankind with a unique opportunity to advance the world?s sustainable development aspirations, particularly given the ultimate beneficiaries from polymetallic nodule mining will be the billions of people around the world that require greater access to more affordable minerals for their social and economic development. This paper discusses the importance of polymetallic nodule mining in the context of sustainable development and forecasted growth trends, supply and demand dynamics, the decreasing grade and quality of terrestrial mineral resources, and the Green Economy, as well as in light of a comparative analysis that demonstrates polymetallic nodule mining offers a socially and environmentally advantageous alternative to terrestrial mining.

Jan 1, 2011

By Marlene Olivares Cruz

The particles that make up the deep-sea sediments have two main sources: 1) those that are created in situ from dissolved components and 2) those that are washed into the ocean in solid phases from the continents, atmosphere, space and interior of the Earth. Many particles as they sink through the water column reaches the seabed and are known as pelagic sediments with terrigenous, biogenic, authigenic, and cosmogenic components. Among the minerals found in the terrigenous fraction of pelagic sediments are quartz, clay minerals, feldspar, micas, ferromagnesians, and the biogenic fraction with remains of siliceous organisms, such as, radiolarian and diatoms. The chemical nature of marine sediments is controlled by the contribution of particulate matter derived from various sources with varying compositions for the fixing of elements during deposition and the compositional changes carried out within the sediments during diagenesis. In the last decade there have been several studies on the mineralogical composition of seabed sediments, suspended particulate materials and cores, together with paleontological and geochemical data are used for paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions, analyze changes in sea level, stratigraphic correlations and identify past and present sources of sediment and terrigenous input pathways and to describe the current ocean mass (Martins et al., 2001, Oliveira et al., 1998). There is also a scientific and economic interest in the authigenic fraction of pelagic sediments formed from other materials for polymetallic nodules. The study of sediments associated with polymetallic nodules helps to know the genesis, evolution and occurrence of these deposits (De Koven et al., 2003, Dubinin et al., 2008).

Jan 1, 2011

By A. A. Schipaanboord, S. J. Dasselaar

"With the growing global demand for strategic metals, commodity prices are rising and the scarcity of some metals is increasing. Europe’s technology sector is also affected by this growing shortage of metals. Securing the supply of critical metals is now a major element in Europe’s economic strategy. The Blue Mining and Blue Nodules projects have been initiated to principally advance deep sea mining technology beyond current TRL-levels.These critical metals are found inside so-called “polymetallic nodules”, lying on the seafloor in deep-sea environment. These nodules have a typical abundance of 10-25 kg/m2 and a size range of 10-125 mm.Harvesting the polymetallic nodules is challenging. Two main methods of harvesting or collector equipment are distinguished: hydraulic and mechanical. Over the last year, Royal IHC has designed, build and tested a full-scale hydraulic collector. Meanwhile, a mechanical collector is being developed.First, a scaled version of the hydraulic collector was developed and tested in order to have a proof of principle. The development as well as optimization were aided by multiphase CFD simulations."

Jan 1, 2017

By Paul Kennedy, Daniel R. McConnell, Ruth Price

"The underwater search for the passenger aircraft MH 370 produced rare high resolution datasets of the ocean floor of extraordinary size and detail. The survey design and operations were for sole purpose of finding the aircraft debris field. The aircraft was not found in the detailed search area and the survey was suspended. As planned, the data are now being made available to scientists and researchers. The large survey area includes geologic settings that might be prospective for seafloor minerals. A review of the data can provide insights to seafloor mineral prospectivity in the Southern Indian Ocean and is a large dataset that can be used to calibrate object detection for the design of dedicated mineral exploration surveys.Economic minerals in the Southern Indian OceanOceanographic research and scientific drilling cruises have assembled geologic and geophysical data points in the Southern Indian Ocean. These, together with satellite derived bathymetry and gravimetric data, earthquake mapping, and mapping of magnetic anomalies have, even if they lack detail, produced a general understanding of the main tectonic features and plate movements in the Southern Indian Ocean as well as contributed some marine mineral data.The Southeast Indian Ocean Manganese Pavement, a large manganese nodule field south of Diamantina Fracture Zone was discovered in 1970. Dredging and photographic data from the discovery cruise determined that dense nodule accumulations cover 900,000 sq. km."

Jan 1, 2017

By J. M. (Mac) Beggs

With New Zealand?s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1996, the government of the day increased work on developing an oceans strategy to help create a governance framework for the country?s extensive existing and potential maritime territories. This project took a new direction in 2001 with the establishment of an ad hoc committee of 6 Ministers, and their appointment of a Ministerial Advisory Committee (on which the senior author served) to consult with the public, identify widely held values and inform the development of a Vision for subsequent policy development. The current second stage of the policy development process involves a working group of officials from the relevant agencies completing a stock-take of existing laws and regulations to identify overlaps and gaps that should be addressed in the third and final stage. The public consultation process revealed, as might be expected, a wide range of perspectives but a solid consensus in favour of a coherent, and balanced, framework to enable the realization of economic benefits of ocean development so long as appropriate environmental standards (broadly expressed in terms of sustainability) are not compromised.

Jan 1, 2002

By Mikhail D. Ageev

The paper concerns with some questions of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) control system design, which allows a motion at rough undersea terrain. The AUV advantages reveal itself completely during exploration of such objects as seamounts and reefs area. These objects are characterized by steep slopes (30 degrees and above) and chaotic situated obstacles (rock debris, pinnacles, escarpments). Uses of other technical facilities for operating in such formations are difficult, dangerous or impossible. These regions take an interest due to the presence of iron-manganese crusts. Modern AUV can estimate density of mineral by means of still camera or video recorder. For this reason the vehicle has to move with the distance of 3-5 meters from seabed. Under such conditions micro- and mesorelief presents a considerable danger for AUV. The AUV can bypass underwater obstacles in the various ways. However, in any case AUV motion will be characterized by intensive maneuvering on various speeds (from 0 up to 1.5 m/s), circular change of tractive force vector and, hence, a circular flow about the hull. So, AUV is equipped with the propulsion system, which provides free modes of motion.

Jan 1, 2003

By Alexander Malahoff

An international research team working through the Hawai?i Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) undertook a bold challenge to explore the chemistry, geology, mineral formation and superheated hydrothermal vents of the Kermadec Island Arc. With the mothership, R/V Ka?imikai-o-Kanaloa, scientists from six research institutions explored the active submarine volcanoes stretching over a line of volcanoes 1,000 miles long between Samoa and New Zealand. The expedition left Hawaii on the 18th of March 2005 and returned on the 5th of August having covered a distance of 10,000 miles between Hawaii and New Zealand. Scientists from the USA, New Zealand and Germany used the HURL submersibles, Pisces IV and Pisces V, as well as the remotely-operated vehicle RCV-150, aboard the R/V Ka?imikai-o-Kanaloa to dive into active volcanoes to water depths of 2,000 meters. Scientists from New Zealand, the USA and Germany conducted 41 dives on the previously unexplored (from manned submersibles) submarine volcanoes. Ten active volcanoes were explored during this time. Hundreds of specimens of new and unusual marine life, water chemistry, extremophile microorganisms, mineral formations and volcanic rocks were collected during this expedition with the two submersibles and the ROV. Bizarre natural events, such as the oozing of hot liquid sulfur from the ocean floor onto the skids of the submersible were observed. Carbon dioxide gas was observed profusely streaming into the seawater from the volcanoes, making these one of the greatest contributions to hot house gasses entering the atmosphere.

Jan 1, 2005

By Cornel E. J. de Ronde

Volcanic arcs, including both island arc and intra-oceanic arc systems, combined extend for ~22,000 km around the Earth, with the majority (~20,000 km) occurring in the Pacific basin. These arcs are host to over 700 volcanoes of which ~200 are submarine and as such represent great potential for hosting massive sulfide deposits formed at seafloor hydrothermal vent sites. The Kermadec arc extends for ~1,200 km northeastwards from the North Island of New Zealand and forms the southern part of the ~2,500-km-long Tonga-Kermadec intra-oceanic arc system. At least 94 volcanoes are known to exist along this system with 74, or about 80%, being submarine. At least 33 volcanoes occur along the Kermadec part of the arc with all but one (Raoul Island) being submarine. The first sulphides recovered from the entire Tonga-Kermadec arc were in 1996 from the Brothers and Rumble II West volcanoes of the southern Kermadec arc. The 1998 R/V Sonne research cruise recovered a more comprehensive suite of mineralised samples from Brothers, and also found evidence for hydrothermal venting at Monowai, Vulkanolog, Rumble III and Clark volcanoes. The March 1999 NZAPLUME cruise systematically surveyed 260 km of the southern Kermadec arc and found that 7 of 13 volcanoes were hydrothermally active, with the vent fields either located within calderas (e.g., Brothers, Healy, Rumble II West) or atop volcanic cones (e.g., Clark, Tangaroa, Rumble V, Rumble III). The May 2002 NZAPLUME II cruise surveyed a further ~580 km of the mid-segment of the Kermadec arc, from Brothers to volcano 'L', a submarine volcanic edifice 35 km NW of Macauley Island. This cruise surveyed 13 major volcanoes and 8 smaller volcanic edifices and confirmed hydrothermal venting at the Vulkanolog site, and discovered new vent fields atop a volcanic cone within Macauley caldera, immediately offshore Macauley Island, and another at the summit of volcano 'L'. A further new site was found atop a volcanic knoll immediately S of Healy caldera during time-series sampling of the vent sites found during the 1999 cruise. All the vent sites discovered along the Kermadec arc occur in water depths between 1650 and 150 m.

Jan 1, 2002

By W. D. Siapno

Marine mineral resources have been reviewed in great detail on numerous occasions over the past few years. A summary of these efforts would indicate there is little new on the horizon as far as economic programs are concerned. Deep ocean minerals, though not forgotten, hold little promise for development in the immediate future, i. e., manganese nodules, cobalt crusts, polymetallic sulfides, etc. Nearer to shore, within the EEZ, and particularly within waters under state control greater industrial interest is expressed. Interest in sand and gravel not only persists but is growing, dependent largely upon the construction industry. Precious metals demonstrate the greatest growth potential.

Jan 1, 1988

By Cameron Rees

The University of New South Wales Mining Research Centre (UMRC) has a longstanding research reputation in mining research, with particular expertise in mining systems, mining geomechanics and excavation engineering. The UMRC is now focusing this expertise on the potential of mining Seafloor Massive Sulphides (SMS). The UMRC has initiated a three-year research project that will identify and examine the requirements to effectively and efficiently mine SMS deposits. The major aims of this project are: ? To develop an understanding of the geomechanical characteristics and local physical environmental conditions associated with a ?typical? SMS deposit. ? To develop and evaluate a range of both conventional and innovative excavation processes for mining SMS deposits, and define the engineering parameters required for each extraction option, and ? To identify the materials handling and lifting requirements of the ?mined? SMS material, and the possible integration of the lifting system with the excavation processes considered.

Jan 1, 2002

By J. R. Hein

East Diamante is a submarine volcano in the southern Mariana arc that is a complex caldera about 10 km x 5 km (elongated ENE-WSW), and breached on its northern and southwestern sectors. A large field of barite-sulfide mounds was discovered in June 2009 and revisited in July 2010 aboard the R.V. Natsushima using the Hyper-dolphin ROV. The mound field occurs on the NE flank of a cluster of resurgent domes inside the caldera. The mound field extends for more than 100 m long and is about 30 m wide, and is aligned along a NE-SW rift valley. A sample of dacite yielded a 40Ar/39Ar age of 20,000±400 years. Individual mounds are typically 1-3 m tall and 0.5-2 m wide, with lengths from about 3 to more than 5 m. The mounds are composed of barite-dominant layers interbedded with Zn-sulfide-rich barite layers. Rare inactive spires and chimneys cap some mounds. Fe and Mn oxides are currently forming small (<1 m diameter, ~0.5 m tall) subsidiary mounds on the top of some of the sulfate/sulfide mounds and drape the flanks of others. Both diffuse- and focused-flow fluids emanate from the subsidiary oxide mounds. Ages of the basal sulfate/sulfide mounds cluster around 4,000 years old based on 226Ba/Ba, whereas the oxides are less than 5 years old based on 228Th/228Ra. Most mound and chimney samples are dominated by barite and amorphous silica; sulfides occur in variable amounts that in decreasing order of abundance include sphalerite, galena, pyrite, and chalcopyrite. Anglesite, cerrusite, and a Pb phosphate occur as late-stage interstitial phases. Some mound samples have fragmental textures; layered clasts composed of chalcopyrite and pyrite may have been derived from collapsed chimneys. Despite the abundance of barite, samples contain high concentrations of Zn (to 23 Wt.%), Pb (to 13 wt.%), Ag (to 500 ppm), and Au (to 15 ppm). Copper is enriched in a few mounds samples, up to 3 wt.%, but is typically <1 wt.%. Other significant metal enrichments include Sb (to 1320 ppm), Cd (to 1180 ppm), and Hg (to 55 ppm).

Jan 1, 2011

By Yoshio Masuda

Cobalt-rich crust in rich Co, Ni, Mm and Pt will be a potential resources for island country such as Republic. Marshall Islands. This study was conducted for Marshall Islands by the President Kabua?s request. It covers crust resources, CLB mining, processing, and economic estimation, and study concluded feasible veiw.

Jan 1, 1991

By Pierre-Yves Morvan

One of the numerous challenge for underwater mining is the positioning. This paper describes an architecture for the integration of an Ultra Short BaseLine (USBL), an Acoustic Synthetic BaseLine (ASBL) operating in Sparse Array mode and a Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) closely coupled with an Inertial Navigation System (INS) for precise subsea positioning in severe environments. By using such architectures, the INS can help to reduce the noise on the measurements coming from acoustic sensors. Another advantage is the capability to reduce the number of required transponders on the seabed, and as a consequence, reduce the time for the deployment and calibration of each transponder. The paper further describes sea-trials performed to assess the ability of a complete positioning system to provide decimetric positioning precision even with a single beacon deployed in the navigation area.

Jan 1, 2017

By Alan Foley

The Portable Remote Operated Drill was developed in Sydney, Australia in the 1990’s. The device is a platform for many in-situ seabed sampling and coring tasks. The range of tools developed for use in PROD’s magazine now includes gas detectors, vane testers, penetrometers and corers. This paper presents aspects of the soils testing undertaken in deepwater since 2005, focusing on testing of methane hydrates and reefal accumulations. The varied selection of tools carried in PROD’s magazines allow the unit to perform several functions from the seafloor in one deployment.

Sep 24, 2006

By J. R. Woolsey

The cost of an offshore exploration project is mainly dependent on the size of the vessel engaged for the work and increases dramatically with increasing size. Of the various factors influencing vessel size, the type and size of the sampling equipment is typically the principal consideration. This scenario is particularly true of shallow sampling programs employing a vibracore system. The problem develops when certain bottom materials such as densely packed fine sand require sampling. This type of material being one of the most difficult for the standard vibracore systems, with integral core liner, to penetrate to a reasonable depth of some five to seven meters. The problem is mainly related to the excessive cross sectional area of the cutting bit required to accommodate the core liner. The typical solution has been to apply more power to the vibracore drive head which results in a considerable scale-up for the entire system with attendant increase in vessel size. In order to reduce operating cost, M.M.R.I. has developed several systems for deployment from vessels in the 20 meter range. Two systems are modifications to the basic vibracore and a third is a vibralift system. Basically, one of the vibracore units is employed where core liners are required, utilizing a special jet bit designed to reduce the cutting pressure on the bit while not affecting the integrity of the core. The other designed for core extrusion on

Jan 1, 1986