standardization of environmental data and information - International ...

Need for a large-scale experiment
A participant said that a large-scale experiment such as that
suggested by Schriever would not be likely until future miners started work
to prove the feasibility of their systems. However, at that point they would
invest a lot of money that they would have to recover fast; they could not
wait 12 years before they were authorized to start. It would therefore be
difficult to decide far enough in advance how to deal with the problem of
environmental protection. Yet, by the time mining technology was defined it
would be too late for a representative experiment. While time was still
available, an attempt should be made to get a better understanding of the
ecosystem in order to make predictions. Even if the predictions were
wrong, they would be useful in trying to find ways of reducing the
environmental impact of the various systems.
Agreeing, Schriever said that was why his group, ever since 1992,
had suggested that a large-scale experiment, well in advance of a pilotmining
operation or a mining test, should be carried out through
international cooperation. This idea had been discussed two years ago at
the Sanya Workshop. It could not be achieved by one country on its own, in
view of the human resources, ship time and equipment required. A new
experiment should be evaluated and designed by a committee of people or
organizations.
Another participant expressed the view that people would know at
least 10 or 12 years in advance when mining would take place. There was
no mining system readily available that could start up even on a pilot scale;
at least 10 years would be needed to put up such a plant. Thus, the leadtime
should be available for what Schriever had suggested.
Supporting the kind of time frame Schriever had suggested, he said
the Indian group, one of the last to do an impact experiment, had followed a
similar schedule. It had helped in deciding the location of the test and
reference sites, because 1.5 years of current-meter data had indicated
which direction the plume might move and good information was available
on the topography.
Another participant said it would be difficult to conduct good mining,
imaging and impact studies without knowledge of the natural events in an
environment. If mining would not occur for another 10-20 years or more,
there was time for good scientific studies on temporal changes in natural
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