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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

In the western Woodlark Basin, propagation of seafloor spreading is occurring directly into the continental crust of Papua new Guinea. The spreading is not strictly in a back-arc tectonic setting, rather it appears associated with microplate rotations related to the complex convergence of the Indo-Australian and Pacific plates in the southeastern Pacific region. Volcanic rocks along the western Woodlark spreading axis range from normal mid- ocean ridge basalts to basaltic andesites with back-arc geochemical affinities. Rare peralkaline rhyolites also occur. Hydrothermal deposits occur at a basaltic andesite volcano located on the neovolcanic zone near its westernmost propagating tip. Franklin Seamount is a 250m-high cone constructed largely of pillow lavas and talus which sits astride a 450m-high ridge of similar lavas oriented subnormal to the spreading direction. At its crest, 2150m below sea level, there is a 100m-deep caldera.

Jan 1, 1993

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 John C. Wiltshire

Hawai'i is surrounded by a series of potentially valuable marine mineral deposits. These include manganese nodules between Hawai'i and Mexico, cobalt-rich manganese crusts and phosphorites in the Exclusive Economic Zone around the Hawaiian Island Archipelago, Johnston Island and the neigh- boring island states and sand and gravel deposits off the main Hawaiian Islands largely in State waters. Hawai'i has an economy that is very narrowly based on the tourist industry. In an effort to avoid the difficulties coming from such a vulnerable economy, significant efforts have been made toward economic diversification. The State has set up a range of programs looking to find new industries. New ocean industries figure prominently among these efforts as Hawai'i is surrounded by ocean. Naturally, among new ocean industries the potential for new marine mineral industries is significant given that Honolulu is the only full service port in the Central Pacific and Hawai'i is in the middle of the mineral belt. The port of Honolulu is now being actively used by mineral exploration vessels of several countries and with the current number of ship visits varying from 10-15 per year, this puts several million dollars a year into the State economy. It helps to fulfill the State's goal of dynamic growth in the ocean sector of the economy. Nonetheless, a major marine minerals industry, particularly one which would involve processing of minerals in Hawai'i, is controversial in a State whose main source of revenue is tourist expenditures based on the image of a pristine environment. In addition to the perceived threat to the hotel and fishing industry, is the whole highly emotional debate concerning preservation and development. To complicate the issue further, the major interest in developing a marine minerals is currently largely from Korea and China rather than from domestic U.S. industry. On the other side of the debate is the fact that the State's economy is hampered by many low paying jobs and a lack of technical jobs. This is further exacerbated by the fact that lower paying jobs are held disproportionately by people of Hawaiian and Pacific Island ancestry. Naturally, this leads over time to a certain amount of resentment. The higher paying technical lobs associated with a minerals processing industry could help to alleviate this problem.

Jan 1, 1996

By Wilhelm Schwarz

Manganese nodules lay in vast areas of the deep sea floor. Ideal harvesting conditions for a manganese nodule field are dense nodule abundances of nodules between 20 and 60 mm diameter and a metal content as high as possible. With regard to the development of collector technology, the properties of the deep sea soil, in which the nodules are embedded and to which the nodules stick, are of major interest. The forces for loosening the nodules have to be provided by the collector. For this purpose water jets and/or mechanical devices can be employed. For the choice of the best collecting procedure, various criteria, such as collecting rate, energy consumption and the environmental impact on the eco system of the deep sea floor, have to be considered and weighted as to their importance. Nowadays, the concept of a mining system with a flexible transport hose and a self propelled collecting machine is increasingly accepted among the expert community. With regard to the trafficability of the deep sea soil with a self propelled mining machine, the mechanic properties of the soil and the morphology of the deep sea floor are of special importance. The manganese nodule fields, which are interesting with regard to their recoverability, are mostly in the areas of tectonic fracture zones, at which the morphology of the sea floor is formed by vulcanic activities. In these areas, deep sea mountains, pits and other obstacles exist that have to be driven around if not trafficable.

Jan 1, 2003

By C. W. Devey, K. S. Lackschewitz

The mineralogy and geochemistry of hydrothermally altered wall rocks from different modern basaltic- and felsic-hosted hydrothermal fields at seafloor spreading centers and convergent margins have been studied to determine the characteristics of different types of alteration and to calculate the magnitudes of elemental exchanges between seawater and wall rock.

Aug 24, 2006

By Simon McDonald

The Neptune Group was established in 1999 to apply for exploration permits within New Zealand’s 200nm EEZ. These applications were to investigate and commercialise hydrothermal Seafloor Massive Sulphide (SMS) deposits identified by international researchers and to locate others. SMS are volcanically related seafloor accumulations of copper, lead and zinc with high levels of gold and silver. Neptune has three granted exploration licenses within the New Zealand EEZ and has application in other jurisdictions. Neptune undertook the world’s first commercial drilling exploration work of SMS in December of 2005.

Aug 24, 2006

By Hunsoo Choi, Sang-Mo Koh

Manganese nodule, the aggregate of fine grained manganese oxide minerals, is very brittle and fragile. In exploitation of manganese nodule, manganese nodules are easily broken into small pieces or powder during collecting and lifting from the sea floor. The broken manganese nodule under few millimeters and bottom sediment pumped up with manganese nodule affect to the lifting process. In this study, we tried to understand the physical properties of the powdered manganese nodule and bottom sediment, and to know the effect which may be rised to the actual mining of manganese nodules.

By Sally Philpot, Siân E. Boyd, Hubert L. Rees, Emma Bee, Carla Houghton, Ceri James, Silvana N. R. Birchenough, S. Limpenny David, A. Coggan1 Roger, Koen Vanstaen

Every year approximately 22 million tonnes of marine sand and gravel are dredged form British waters. The eastern English Channel (EEC) contains substantial reserves, a proportion of which have been identified by the aggregates industry for potential future exploitation. The main aim of this study is to produce broadscale marine habitat maps of the EEC area. The UK aggregates industry has formed a consortium of representatives (the eastern English Channel Association), and have sponsored an initial baseline survey and follow-up sampling programmes as part of a Regional Environmental Assessment (REA) covering a patchwork of aggregate prospecting areas. To complement this effort, a large-scale geophysical survey was conducted in 2005 to place the REA in a wider spatial context and, thereby, to help assess the environmental significance of any future impacts arising from commercial aggregate extraction over the broader region of the EEC.

Sep 24, 2006

By Jan Stenlokk

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, which is the Government agency for the management of offshore geo-resources including seabed minerals, is about to finish this year’s marine data acquisition cruise in the Norwegian Sea. We would very much like to present the preliminary results of that cruise, including the discovery of a new black smoker and surrounding sulphide deposits.

Jan 1, 2018

By Colin Devey

As marine research scientists we especially appreciate the uniqueness and complexity of the deep-sea hydrothermal vent fauna and environments, and are particularly interested in preserving vents for their scientific, aesthetic, ecological, and potential economic values. In fact, because of the specialized nature of the equipment required to work at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, such as occupied and unoccupied research submersibles, scientists are the primary group of people who have the opportunity to visit these extraordinary environments. The potential for significant impact of scientific activities on a single vent site or a population of vent animals pales in comparison to the potential for disturbance by volcanic/tectonic events or industrial mining/harvesting activities. Nonetheless, we recognize that some scientific activities could adversely affect individual sites or impact communities more than is necessary, if research activities are not carefully planned and executed. In addition, because only a limited number of sites are currently known and scientists from a wide variety of disciplines frequently work at single locations, we recognize the potential for use conflicts among scientists, at sites where scientific activity is intense.

Aug 24, 2006

By Alexander Malahoff

With its new continental shelf beyond the exclusive economic zone, New Zealand is a country with just 4% of its territory above water. The other 96% is submerged. New Zealand's marine territory covers an area about three-quarters the size of Australia. This territory includes large portions of the Gondwana continent from which NZ separated more than 80 million years ago. This underwater land mass extends from the shores of New Zealand to a water depth of more than 5,000 m, is largely unexplored and is almost certainly the site of many large, untapped oil, gas and mineral deposits. Underwater oil and gas drilling is now a universal activity. Underwater mining is in its infancy and will become a major activity in the future, contributing greatly to the New Zealand economy. New hydrocarbon deposits will undoubtedly be discovered under the ocean floor in regions such as the Great South Basin located off Canterbury and Otago. Mineral deposits are also undoubtedly located within the oceanic crust of this underwater NZ continent. These are as yet unknown and unexplored. The oceanic crust north of the North Island is currently being extended through the subduction of the Pacific plate into the Tonga Kermadec trench and through the growth of a line of submarine volcanoes extending north to Tonga. Active submarine volcanism has led to the growth of ocean floor mineral deposits consisting of polymetallic sulphides with iron, copper, zinc and lesser gold, silver and other metals.

Jan 1, 2011

By Justin C. I. Baulch, Robina Sharpe, Steven J. Downey, John P. Feenan, Kate M. Perrin

Since becoming a public company in October 2005, Neptune Minerals has continued to advance its primary aims. Major achievements in the last year have been: • Successful completion of two simultaneous New Zealand exploration programs, Kermadec 2007 (K-07) and Colville-Monowai 2007 (CM-07); • New discovery of an inactive SMS field on the Rumble II West seamount; • Focused exploration license applications over quality areas of known SMS mineralization in arc and back-arc settings in Japan, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI), Palau, and Italy; • Granting of licenses covering some 200,326 km2 of arc and back-arc within the EEZ of PNG and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM); • Targeting of an additional mineralization style with extensive applications in PNG covering Conical Seamount-style Au-rich epithermal mineralization; • Welcoming Newmont Mining, one of the World’s largest mining companies, as a major shareholder; • Commissioning a scoping study to investigate options for mining and processing of SMS; Marine Minerals of the Pacific: Science, Economics and the Environment UMI2007 · The University of Tokyo, Japan Baulch 2 37th Underwater Mining Institute · 15-20 October 2007 • Invitation to contribute to, and participate in, the Meteor M73/2 Tyrrhenian Sea research program. The Company has granted exploration licenses covering 263,000 km2 in New Zealand, FSM and PNG, and a further 362,000 km2 under application in Japan, PNG, Vanuatu, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and Italy.

By Kokichi Iizasa

Kuroko-type deposits exist in Japanese EEZ. Some of them are present in the Izu-Ogasawara oceanic island arc south of Tokyo. Major two Kuroko-type deposits occur in the area. One is the Sunrise hydrothermal field occurring on the caldera floor of Myojin knoll, which is likely to be the developed stage in sulfide mineralization. Another is present in the crater of Suiyo seamount that is the early stage of sulfide mineralization. The two deposits are here presented on the growth history based on samples recovered by Benthic Multicoring System (BMS).

Jan 1, 2002

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 Benjamin W. Haynes

The Federal government has a lengthy history in supporting and conducting research in the ocean mining and minerals field. The Federal effort has been and is currently focused primarily in four agencies: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the Department of Commerce, and the Geological Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Mines (BuMines), and more recently the Minerals Management Service (MMS) within the Department of the Interior. While NOAA and the USGS have played dominant roles in mapping and geologic studies, and the MMS has recently provided funding for several task force studies within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) , the Bureau of Mines has conducted research in mining technology, minerals processing, resource definition, and economic evaluation of minerals from the seabed for over 20 years. These studies have yielded considerable minerals information regarding manganese nodules and crusts, placers, mineral sands, phosphorites, and sulfides. This paper reviews the past achievements in ocean mining and minerals programs starting in the late 1960's, describes current research and information efforts, and presents an outlook for Bureau of Mines research and information gathering efforts. Specific topics

Jan 1, 1989

By John W. Padan

What is known about manganese nodules and their potential commercial recovery is outlined in terms of economics, legal rights, environmental impacts, and mineral genesis. As a result of 20 years of accomplishments it is clear that nodules comprise a real resource, and that they can be collected in water depths up to 5000 m, for brief periods, and raised to a surface vessel at rates of production appropriate for scale model systems. Based upon information in the public domain at present there is more confidence in the nature and magnitude of the resource than in the ability to recover nodules commercially. A review of the literature suggests that the metallurgical processing of manganese nodules is technically feasible and that the associated costs are well predictable. What is less clear is the market outlook for the products. All "overlapping claim" conflicts have been resolved. Therefore, parties with a historic interest in nodule mining appear now to have the right to mine in the future, assuming they properly complete whatever exploration license obligations they may have.

Jan 1, 1989

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 Wenbin Ma, Cees van Rhee, Dingena Schott

Since the concept of deep sea mining (DSM) was proposed by J. L. Mero with his book, The Mineral Resources of the Sea, in the 1960s, many research and significant developments have been implemented. However, its commercial mining process still has not yet commenced. One of the most important issues is that a sustainable DSM transport plan is difficult to determine, taking into consideration the DSM technological, economic, and environmental aspects simultaneously. The objective of this paper is to propose a method to determine the sustainable DSM transport plan utilizing a fuzzy analytic network process method, which is a typical multi-criteria decision making method (MCDM). The DSM transport plans evaluating major criteria consist of technological, economic, environmental, and social aspects with both qualitative and quantitative attributes. Different major criteria include several sub-criteria, respectively:  Technological aspect: energy consumption, proven technology, technology reliability, production rate, technology availability;  Economic aspect: gross income, capital cost, operation and maintenance cost, investment recovery period;  Environmental aspect: species disturbance variance, severity of ill effect, turbidity of ocean water, total organic carbon content, sedimentation thickness;  Social aspect: social acceptability, policy support; The weights for all evaluating criteria and sub-criteria are determined through a questionnaire survey interviewing experts at different research fields. All the transport plan candidates are ranked based on a comprehensive index. The conducted research in this paper is meaningful to promote the DSM commercialization process.

Jan 1, 2018