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By Andrew G. Hudson

The long-term economics of each of the four principal metals in marine manganese nodules (copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese) was evaluated to determine the anticipated viability of a nodule mining venture based on existing studies of the potential profitability of a nodule project. This included assessments of the lifetimes of land-based reserves, and examination and econometric modelling of the economic variables thought to affect nodule metal prices and demand. These analyses demonstrated that a) land-based reserves of the nodule metals were likely to last well into the future (100 400 years); b) average nodule metal paces were likely to stay a low levels for the foreseeable future; and c) the expected revenue stream from a twenty- ear nodule mining venture was substantially (42%) below that required to attract the necessary investment capital for such a high risk venture.

Jan 1, 1996

By Anthony T. Jones

Deep seabed mining requires technology to collect materials and transport them to the surface. An international patent search was conducted to define the state of the art in seabed mining technology. Over 350 patents were identified from 12 patent systems. The majority was from the United States, Japan, and the former USSR. Patent activity in this field peaked in 1983 when 34 patents were issued. Since 1984, on average 6 patents have been issued annually. The technology represents ten major classifications. With the exception of Deepsea Ventures, Kawasaki and International Nickel, it appears that much of the technology developed and tested in the 1970s by consortia active in seabed mining was never patented. Over the past two decades, identifiable trends in marine technology could influence seabed mining application such as more sophisticated communication systems, advances in hydraulic manipulators, improved computational technology in navigation, modeling of vessel ? ocean interactions, and improved materials. The most significant recent activity has been in European applications, which disclose remotely controlled subsea vehicles for mining diamonds.

Jan 1, 2001

By Peter B. Hale

Canada has a long history of marine-related industry and onshore mining. Even so, commercial interest in marine mining, excluding seawater mineral extraction and offshore extensions of hardrock deposits such as iron and coal, has been sporadic; despite the fact that shelf mineral deposits supply a significant proportion of the national market requirements for many countries. Several factors have accounted for this including: a relative abundance of onland mineral desposits; the fact that onland deposits can be mined using conventional technology; and, a general lack of knowledge and public awareness as to Canadian offshore non-fuel mineral resource potential. In the mid-1970s the Department of Energy, Mines & Resources formed the Departmental Coordinating Committee on Ocean Mining. The Committee addressed the question of shelf non-fuel mineral resource potential and concluded that, while several reports had raised the possibilty of this alternative source, there had not been a systematic evaluation of the resource base. This led to the formation of a Shelf Working Group, whose task it was to outline and implement a departmental program to advance our knowledge of shelf resource potential. A methodology was devised that utilized existing geoscientific and hydrographic

Jan 1, 1985

By Cheong-Kee Park

Paleomagnetic properties of sediment cores were examined to reconstruct paleodepositional conditions in the Korea Deep Ocean Study (KODOS) manganese nodule area, located in the northeastern equatorial Pacific. The KODOS sediments studied have a stable remanent magnetization with both normal and reversed polarities, which are well correlated with the geomagnetic polarity timescale for the late Pliocene and Pleistocene. Average sedimentation rates were 1.56 and 0.88 mm/kiloyear for the Pleistocene and late Pliocene, respectively. Clay mineralogy and scanning electron microscope analyses of the sediments indicate that terrestrial material was transported to the deep-sea floor during these times. The variations of sedimentation rates with age may be explained by the onset of the northern hemisphere glaciation and subsequent climatic deterioration during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. For the Pleistocene, an increasing sedimentation rate implies that input of terrestrial materials was high, and also a high input of biogenic materials was detected as a result of increased primary production in the surface water. The down-core variations in paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic properties of the KODOS sediments were affected by dissolution processes in an oxic depositional regime. As shown by magnetic intensity and hysteresis parameters, the high natural remanent magnetization (NRM) stability in the upper, yellowish brown layers indicates that the magnetic carrier was in pseudo-single domain states. In the lower, dark brown sediments, only coarse magnetic grains survived dissolution and the NRM was carried by more abundant, multi-domain grains of low magnetic stability. The down-core variation of magnetic properties suggests that the KODOS sediments were subjected to dissolution processes resulting in a loss of the more stable components of the magnetic fraction with increasing core depth.

Jan 1, 2004