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Provide accurate and authoritative information on Subsea Minerals and Deep Sea MiningRecent Articles
Current Activity
There are plans to study, measure, and harvest seabed minerals in various locations around the globe.
Types of Seabed Deposits
3 broad categories of seabed deposits are currently being explored or collected:Polymetallic Nodules
Polymetallic Nodules form on the vast, sediment-covered, abyssal plains of the global ocean at depths of around 6000m.
They primarily consist of metals such as nickel, cobalt, copper, titanium, and rare earth elements.
Nodules are typically densely packed across vast areas of the ocean floor, presenting a huge tonnage of potential minerals.
Seafloor Sulphides
Seafloor Massive Sulphides are accumulated "heaps" of minerals comprising sulphides and various metals.
Deposits are typically caused by magmatic activity creating geothermal vents, and they are typically found at depths below 800m.
Cobalt-Rich Crusts
Cobalt-rich Crusts are typically found at depths between 800 and 2,500m on the sides of underwater mountain ranges and seamounts.
Crusts are formed by minerals precipitating out of seawater to form a layer, or crust, on rocky surfaces.
They usually contain manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, platinum, and rare earth elements.
Harvesting Methods
Various harvesting methods are being developed. These use different collection methods, and have different advantages and disadvantages.
Hydraulic Collector
Seabed collector hydraulically gathers nodules and returns them to surface via a riser.Hydraulic Collectors travel along the seabed using hydraulic methods to gather nodules that lie in their path. Nodules are separated from any sediment that is also collected, and these nodules are transferred to a gathering plant for lift to surface.
The Production Support Vessel uses a Riser Artifical Lift System (RALS) to lift the collected nodules to the surface, where they are separated from the seawater using mechanical or centrifugal methods.
Nodules are typically stored in the bulk ore holds of the Production Support Vessel, before being offloaded to a Bulk Carrier for shipment to a processing / refining facility.
This method of collection typically requires larger equipment and more capital-intensive operations, but can rapidly process vast areas of minerals at modest cost.
You can read more about how subsea mining and collectors work.
Collector Swarm
A swarm of small robot collectors use picker arms to collect nodules, then surface autonomously.Collector Swarms consist of various smaller, AI-driven vehicles that autonomously descend to the seabed, select and pick nodules using image recognition and grabber arms, and then return to the surface.
This method of collection is primarily pioneered by Impossible Metals, and has not yet see large-scale deployment and production.
Collector Swarms potentially reduce the amount of impact to the seabed, as they can be programmed to selectively avoid flora and fauna. However, they require multiple simultaneously operating autonomous vehicles, causing disturbance across all depths of the ocean due to frequent ascent and descent.
Subsea Data
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Technical Articles
Andrew Lipman is the Director of Subsea Mining for the American Bureau of Shipping. He talks about DSM activity in China, STARS, and the need for a regulatory body.
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Based upon publicly available exploration plans, we estimated when polymetallic nodule mine sites are likely to start production, and consequently estimated likely metal production
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One critical factor in deep-sea mining is the transportation of nodules from the mine-site to onshore refineries. We discuss STARS vessels, and how this new class of bulk carrier is needed for successful operations.
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The Cook Islands has tremendous resources of polymetallic nodules and fascinating bathymetry. This 3D model shows the Cook Islands, bathymetry data, and the license areas.
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In an exclusive interview, Ayn Rand talks to Hank Gruberson about his exploits in deep sea mining
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Keith has over 50 years of experience in subsea operations, including time spent designing, manufacturing and testing subsea mining systems for mining Seabed Massive Sulphides at Solwara-1 in Papua New Guinea. Keith talks about his experiences and learnings for the Norwegian sector.
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Mine site valuation depends upon various geological and operational factors, and it fundamentally determines the value of a deep sea mining company. We explain how to evaluate a mine site via an interactive calculator
Read MoreDiscussion
A range of arguments have been put forward supporting, opposing, and calling for more scientific research into Deep Sea Mining.Advocates
Advocates of Deep Sea Mining point to the need to decarbonise transportation by moving to battery-powered electric cars, trucks and buses. Copper, Nickel and other metals for battery production are in short supply, and growing demand outstrips supply. Deep Sea Mining offers a low-impact means to supply these metals, which does not require the removal of vast amount of top soil and habitat.
Read MoreScientists
Scientists point to the need to clearly understand the impact of Deep Sea Mining operations on the deep sea ecosystem, and to make decisions based upon rigorous scientific investigation, analyis and discourse. The nature of the deep sea means that scientific research is often incredibly expensive and slow, which further complicates decision-making.
Read MoreCritics
Critics of deep sea mining point to the scale of the impact of Deep Sea Mining and our lack of understanding of this diverse ecosystem. Deep Sea Mining operations will cover vast areas of ocean seabed, with potentially huge impact. This is further complicated by our relative lack of understanding of the deep sea, and difficulties in intervening.
Read MoreIndustry Bodies
The deep sea mining industry is represented by a number of active bodies, authorities and conferences:
Industry Participants
Many companies are active in subsea and deep sea mining, and you can find out more information here
Supporting the Industry
We provide services to the Deep Sea Mining industry:Consulting
Short and long-term consulting engagements with operators and investors
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Technical consulting for business development, JVs, partnerships and contractor management
Financing
We have deep connections with investors in the minerals and mining industries
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