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By Daniel Brutto

Environmental considerations are a key driver within the marine mining consenting process across different national and international legislative regimes and are critical in shaping the global public perception of the industry. As a result, it is vital that mining companies seeking to operate within marine environments establish a robust understanding of the sensitivities of the seabed environments in which they are active, the impacts of their activities and the ability of the environment to recover from these impacts. The significant risks of failing to do so include an inability to either obtain or maintain operating permits. The risks can be mitigated by the common application of existing seabed biological expertise in baseline assessment and monitoring. The key ingredients of a fit-for-purpose, cost-effective seabed ecological assessment include early consideration of ecological issues within the project life-cycle through undertaking detailed desk-top studies as-wellas the multiple-use of data that have been acquired as a consequence of prospecting processes, with such data including remote acoustic data, seabed imagery and sediment samples. These data can be used to inform the design of robust benthic baseline surveys which provide adequate information on the ecological character of the environment in question and habitats and species of conservation importance - decreasing project risk and increasing the likelihood of securing consent.

Sep 14, 2011

By Steinar L. Ellefmo, Maxime Lesage

"There are many reasons invoked when discussing the relevance of deep-sea mining minerals. The shift towards more focus on renewable energy (“the green shift”) will not be possible without more materials coming from the mining industry. The increasing population, and thus increased number of consumers, will lead to an increase of the mineral demand. It has been established that recycling will not satisfy the need for more minerals by itself. Meanwhile, land mineral resources - such as copper – become every day more complex to extract. The question of the deep-sea minerals exploitation’s viability needs to be studied now. Within the framework of feasibility studies, various topics such as environment, technologies and operations management must be addressed. Recognising deep-sea mining as a hybrid activity - taking from the mining, maritime and the offshore oil and gas industries - it is deemed too complex for a global assessment. Each deep-sea mining environment is worth its separate study.Norway is recognised as a seafarer nation. Looking towards the sea and driven by the will to thrive on the Blue Economy, Norway decided to investigate the case for deep-sea minerals on its Extended Continental Shelf. The MarMine project is a materialisation of this endeavour. The Norwegian case will address its own particularities such as a respectable water depth, the arctic environment, the remoteness to shore support and an environmental aware population as well as subsequent policies."

Jan 1, 2017

By Nobuyuki Okamoto

The present three-year long phase of the SOPAC/Japan Deep Sea Co-operative Mineral Resources Programme [Programme], commenced in 2000. The Programme has been funded by the Government of Japan through the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) and the Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ), since 1985. Field survey activities and associated data analysis and interpretation, for the Programme, has largely been carried out by the Deep Ocean Resources Development Co., Ltd. (DORD). The Government of Japan has, since 1982, recognised DORD as one of its ? Pioneer Investigators? for manganese nodules in the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone . Although the objective of this paper is to present the results of the drilling cruise that was conducted from December 2001 to January 2002, within the North Fiji Basin, in Fiji?s EEZ, it will also seek to provide a broad overview of the results of the cruise conducted within the Cook Islands in May to June 2000, as well as present preliminary results of the cruise conducted in the Marshall Islands in June to July 2002.

Jan 1, 2002

By ?. V. Kabanov

n considered operation hydraulic and kinematic circuits of deep-water installation for sampling a ground from a sea-bottom are submitted. Control by setters is made remotely from a service station with the help of a system of telemechanics. Migration of apparatus along a bottom is ensured with the help of force of a response of a jet and Archimedean force. The mathematical exposition of the device composed and computer simulation is Design parameters are defined and static performances are obtained. Operation is in a stage of manufacture of working drawings. There are patents of Russia.

Jan 1, 2005

By J. Robert Woolsey

The Marine Minerals Technology Center (MMTC) was established by Congress in FY 1988 as part of the Mineral Institutes Program, administered by the U.S. Bureau of Mines under the auspices of the Department of the Interior. The primary objective of the MMTC is to encourage the development of selected mineral materials from U.S. seabeds by providing opportunities for appropriate engineering systems research, development, and technology transfer within academic, government, and industrial communities. The center will also provide the leadership and facilities required for the education and training of the nation's scientists and engineers in the field of ocean mineral development. Because of the broad spectrum of study encompassed by the field of ocean mining and mineral resources, the MMTC is organized to include separate divisions for nearshore and deep ocean research. The Continental Shelf Division is administered by The Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute (MMRI) of the School of Engineering at The university of Mississippi. Operational activities will be based at the John C. Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs,

Jan 1, 1988

By Andrew Bellamy

A thorough appreciation of the origin, formation, preservation and geometry of marine sand and gravel deposits is central in demonstrating that their extraction by dredging does not affect coastal processes or marine life. Geological evaluation underpins wave, tidal and sediment transport modeling and assists in predicting the nature and extent of seabed change during and after dredging. Marine sand and gravel deposits in the English Channel, southern North Sea and parts of the Irish Sea are of predominantly periglacial fluvial origin and record long histories of valley and floodplain cut and fill associated with Quaternary climatic and sea level oscillations. In the Bristol Channel, the influence of marine transgression and tidal dominance in sorting proglacial outwash deposits is evident in the distribution of sandbanks, scoured channels and gravel lags of this region. These deposits are relict and are unrelated to coastal sediment dynamics. Their extraction leaves seabed depressions which monitoring shows remain unfilled. The resultant offshore bathymetric changes and sediment removal in over 10 m water depth are not transmitted to the coastal zone as beach drawdown, wave height increases or sediment starvation. Applications for new aggregate dredging permissions in UK waters must be accompanied by an EIA and need to make a convincing case that the dredging will not affect rare or declining species and communities of marine life. Seabed recovery rates post dredging are now investigated and understood with reference to geological setting and the uniqueness of the sediment/biological character (biotope). Investigation of the continental shelf by the Industry and others reveals the large extent of gravel-dominated biotopes relative to commercially viable deposits.

Jan 1, 2004

By Roy Nilsen, Aravinda Perera

With the exponential growth of demand for minerals and need for diversification of supply channels, deep-sea mining is rapidly becoming inevitable. Productivity of underwater mining technology is salient to justify the deep-sea explorations. Methods for enhanced productivity of mobile mining equipment in a system level are investigated in this paper. Lessons learnt from the land-based mining has been the basis of this investigation. In general, mining productivity can be enhanced in two ways; firstly, by maximizing the amount of recovered material per unit time and secondly, by minimizing the cost of operation per unit material. Equipment that enable faster excavation, loading and transport in the seabed contributes significantly in increasing the amount of slurry per unit time. Improved mean time between failures (MTBF) of mining equipment will reduce the operational down time, thereby, contribute to maximize the amount of mined material per unit time. Several factors influence the operational cost minimization per ton of slurry. Higher efficient motor drive systems including the motor and PWM-fed inverter not only will save power but also will emit lesser heat thus the heat management can be less complex. This leads to more compact drive systems that allows higher power density, thus increased payload weight per empty vehicle weight. An energy storage method in the form of an utracapacitor in the electric drive system will also save the energy supply from the upstream.

Jan 1, 2018

By S. Rajendran

India?s interest in the resources of the deep seabed particularly the manganese nodules in the Indian Ocean can be traced back to the Indian Ocean Expedition of 1960 ? 65. The collection of Manganese Nodule samples from the Indian Ocean in January 1981 aroused considerable interest within the scientific community. Following several surveying expeditions, the Central Indian Ocean was identified as the most promising area for exploitation. India was accorded ?Pioneer Investor? status and further research and development programs were launched to establish the techno-economic viability of deep seabed mining. India has also shown considerable progress in the field of development and testing of methods for processing the nodules. The Department of Ocean Development manages the program.

Jan 1, 2003

By Andreas Kaede

INTRODUCTION Due both to the political history of UNCLOS and the sensitivity of the ocean floor and environment to man made impacts, both the Convention (including also the 1994 Amendment) and subsequent codification (such as the ISA draft code on Exploitation of Mineral Resources in the Area) put a focus on information about, and conveyance of, technology employed by interested deepsea mining companies, to inter alia the Authority and developing countries. In contrast, companies usually are (or by their nature should be) interested in safeguarding their technology and business secrets in order to secure unique selling propositions in a competitive environment. On the background of the meanwhile maturing regulatory régimes on deep sea mining, the presentation will look into some of the key regulatory provisions mirroring these apparently antagonistic interests, how the players involved could deal with them, and how they might in some cases be reconciled. Progress of Presentation The presentation will start by briefly examining some classical methods of protection of technology, such as patents, copyrights, and (not the least) secrecy. It will be found that some of the statutory means of protection due to their territorial character may face problems in being implemented in areas outside national jurisdiction, such as the Area, but that, thinking globally, they nevertheless retain much of their value for the purpose of protection. Depending on available presentation time, a model case may be used to illustrate the above – and also some of the following – findings.

Jan 1, 2018

By Hjalmar Thiel

Issues of deep-seabed mining are discussed since four decades and extensive efforts have been invested in oceanographic studies related to environmentally sound harvesting of polymetallic nodules. Because mining on the deep seafloor seems to range from large-scale, two-dimensional dredging or scooping up of the ore from the uppermost surface sediment layer to more localized drilling or deeper digging into a three-dimensional ore body, it appears to be justified to reconsider some concepts for environmental impact evaluation. Based on the experience gained during preceding years in environmental studies related to polymetallic nodule mining, some interrelated hypotheses and proposals will be presented. It is suggested that these proposals be considered in future plans for environmental impact evaluation and that observations on community re-establishment be conducted before massive sulphide mining or other ore extractions enter the commercial mining phase.

Aug 24, 2006

By Cheng Xiangzhou

The China's Pioneer area includes two parts. The topography in the western part is very different from that in the eastern one. The distribution of the manganese nodules in these two regions differs correspondingly China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA) will take appropriate measures so that the next development will be adapted to the features of its potential minable area.

Jan 1, 1996

By Robert Goodden

It is well known that diamonds are found in Kimberlite pipes within the earth’s crust and are also discovered where erosion has released them to be concentrated by rivers in trap sites within alluvial gravels. Few people are aware however, that diamonds are now being found in significant quantities at sea. And that the rugged marine environment has ensured that the quality of diamonds in the sea is predominantly gem quality. Shortly after intrusion of Kimberlites into the host rocks of the karoo in the Cretaceous period massive erosion occurred when torrential rivers carried diamonds from their Kimberlitic source rocks down the rivers and into the sea. In the sea they have been subject to a transporting and concentrating dynamic, which has deposited them in trap sites along the West Coast of Africa for hundreds of kilometers. In the last 60 million years the sea level along the West Coast has varied in steps from the current sea level to – 300m. With time at each beach level the sea has reconcentrated the diamonds previously carried down. These old beach levels exist at roughly 10 meter intervals. Each previous sea level now provides a target for marine miners. Marine diamond mining was started 46 years ago by the first pioneer, a Texan, Sammy Collins. Collins brought the potential of marine diamonds to the attention of major mining companies. With now outmoded technology Collins had days when he recovered pockets of high grade gems worth several million dollars; an excitement hard to equal in any walk of life. Amongst marine miners there is still a strong pioneering spirit but the industry has matured and now aims to consistently produce over two million carats of gems a year. The potential resource is huge stretching up to 30 kilometers offshore along the West Coast of Africa from South Africa to Angola.

Sep 24, 2006

By Fredrik Søreide

The Norwegian EEZ contains large areas of interest for SMS exploration along the Mid- Atlantic Ridge, from Jan Mayen to Svalbard. At the same time Norwegian companies engaged in oil and gas activities are in the forefront of subsea development. This makes Norway ideally positioned to take a leading role within marine minerals research and commercialization. In the recent minerals strategy from the Norwegian Government marine minerals was pointed out as one of the strategic areas for the future. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology has established a research program in cooperation with Norwegian industry partners to determine the commercial potential of marine minerals in Norwegian EEZ. This presentation will give an overview of the status of marine minerals research and potential in Norway.

Sep 14, 2011

By Natsumi Kamiya

The Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ) has started the project in the fiscal year of 1989 under the administration of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry '(MITI). The purpose of this study is to assess the impact on the ocean environment caused by manganese nodules mining. Summary of research and survey of MMAJ is as follows: 1. Evaluation of environment impact The aim of this study is to assess impact for ocean environment by manganese nodules mining. It is studied by using three-dimensional hydrodynamic prediction model and by carrying out cultural experiment of surface fauna with adding deepsea water and sediment. Development of hydrodynamic prediction model for discharged water at ocean surface has started in 1989. On board cultural experiment was carried out in the Japanese application area in the eastern Pacific in May 1991 and in May 1992.

Jan 1, 1993

By Karstein Vestgard

During the last few years autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology has evolved from concept demonstrators towards commercial products. The driving forces are the move for energy exploitation towards deeper waters, naval applications and the Internet driven need for more intercontinental underwater communication cables. Other applications emerging for the future will be within environmental research and monitoring and deepwater exploration. Deepwater developments beyond the continental shelf will require the same level of survey data quality and intervention access as established for shallow water. The potential for cost savings is two folds. Firstly, there is a reduction in the survey cost it self and secondly there is a considerable cost saving by avoiding over design of subsea installations due to lack of sufficient documentation of the field. In this scenario, there is an increasing understanding that underwater robotics and in particular AUVs will play an important role in future survey and subsea engineering work. The AUV as a free swimming underwater survey sensor carrier has several advantages compared to cable controlled ROV?s and deep towed systems: The paper prepared for the ?Underwater Mining Institute 2003? on Jeju Island, Korea will focus on the HUGIN AUV concept and field results to date.

Jan 1, 2003

By Chul H. Jo

The functions of miner mainly include the pick-up manganese nodules laying on the surface of the seafloor, the separation them from sediments, the crushing the nodules and the covey to the inlet of the flexible hose. The miner is connected with umbilical cable that can supply power, instrument signal, communication data, etc. The major concerns of the system is to monitor and control the launching and retrieval operation, the landing, maneuvering and track keeping, to monitor the pick-up operation and to monitor the hydraulic system. Also as per the seafloor profile the track and pick-up processes need to be controlled. The recent research and development of deep sea miner is mainly focused on the efficient performance and workability in deep water. To communicate and control the miner, navigation and positioning system have been applied. As the miner is being deployed or retrieved, it is very critical to avoid any damage to the device that would be caused by the dynamic behavior of surface vessel or the minor itself with wave and current motion. The fast deployment and retrieve should be considered very important to minimize the possible damage. The paper introduces the various type of deployment devices and recommend the possible system to the miner developed by KRISO.

Jan 1, 2003

By Huaiyang Zhou

It has been long known that manganese nodules occur more or less in some part of marginal seas in West Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, it is difficult to understand their distribution and the genesis as those nodule samples were collected mostly by dredge from the deep basins generally has much higher sedimentation rate than the open ocean. For example, the sedimentation rate in the South China Sea is about three orders of magnitudes than that in region of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone. In June of 2013, a small seamount (named as Jiaolong Seamount), consisting of southern part and northern part with a distance of about 3 km each other, was visited by DSV Jiaolong/RV XiangYangHong 9. It is discovered that abundant manganese nodules exist only on the surface sediment in the southern part with a water depth of about 3800 m to 3300m, on the platforms nearby an obvious crater where volcanic rocks exposed on the wall. There are no any nodules be observed on the sediment in the northern part of the seamount (about 100 m deeper than the southern part) and surrounding deep basin (approximately 4000 m in water depth). It is speculated that a source of core for manganese nodule and a dynamic sedimentation environment, are two major governors for the growth and distribution of manganese nodule in the marginal seas.

Sep 14, 2011

By Ning Yang, Yuxiang Chen, Ming Chen

An ultraviolet laser Raman spectrometer was developed to detect and analyze material components of seawater, seafloor sediment and rock at a depth of 7000m maximally. Wave length of the excitation resource of the spectrometer is set to 355nm, which can enhance eigen scattered intensity and detecting sensitivity, and avoid fluorescence interference. Miniaturization design was adopted for deep-sea application. Design of the optical system and pressure cartridge, material selection and seal design of the observation window, and design of the Lithium batteries are the key technologies in the procedure of research and development. The spectrometer was carried by a Lander sank to sea bottom of the Pacific's Mariana Trench for verification. During the sea trials, data acquisition for Raman spectra was conducted for analyzing seawater in the detection area, and the spectrometer was verified synthetically. According to the data, the spectrometer is stable and practicable with high resolution and precision, and it is appropriate to detect and analyze composition of substance under the tremendous ocean.

Jan 1, 2017

By Yoshitaka Hosoi

The survey of the cobalt-rich crust of the Republic of the Marshall Islands was carried out in 1996 and 1998, as the cooperative study project between Japan and SOPAC member countries, and at the thirteen seamounts, seafloor topographic maps and acoustic reflection intensity distribution images by MBES were obtained, and the collection of samples by dredging was conducted. On the basis of the previous results, three seamounts, MS01, MS11 and MS12 were selected for the 2002 year survey, and drilling by BMS (deep sea boring system) was conducted there, to understand the occurrence of cobalt-rich crust. At the same time, environmental survey was carried out to make clear the environmental characteristics of the area. The summary of the survey will be reported.

Jan 1, 2003

By S. Rajendran

Much advance has been made in offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation in India. But the same amount of success could not be achieved in the case of other offshore minerals which are amenable for mining. However, employing present technology, there should not be any difficulty in successful exploitation with minimum environmental hazards. A demonstration is provided by considering the conditions prevailing in the Kerala offshore (southwest coast of India) scenario of monazite, ilmenite, phosphatic mud and calcareous deposits. Mud banks are unique phenomenon of the Kerala coast during monsoon season. Acting as barriers to waves, mud banks protect portions of the beaches from being eroded and trap sediments from either side facilitating growth of adjacent beach. The easy minable possibilities of the phosphatic mud during non-monsoon season with less pollution hazards and dumping back the waste material after processing for phosphate at the breaker zones to reduce the erosional effects on the coast make the exploitation economic and ecofriendly unlike the benefication of the lowgrade phosphate ores on land on a comparatively larger area and subsequent crushing, transport and resulting pollution.

Jan 1, 1993