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Technical Requirements for the Exploration and
mining of Seafloor Massive Sulphide Deposits and
Cobalt-rich Ferromanganese Crusts
During the past decade, marine mineral exploration programs have
been significantly enhanced through the development and availability of stateof-the-art
exploration tools and equipment. Today, multi-purpose research
vessels with swath mapping capabilities, deep-towed camera and video systems,
TV-guided grab samplers, as well as deep-diving submersibles and remotely
operated vehicles (ROVs) are almost routinely used. A first order technical
requirement for a new era of scientific research and resource assessment of
polymetallic massive sulphide deposits is the availability of portable seafloor
drilling and coring devices which can be deployed from a research vessel rather
than a specifically designed drill ship. So far, most research results and resource
assessments are based on surface samples only and thus are not sufficiently
reliable. The development of mining systems for massive sulphide and precious
metal deposits needs to focus on continuous recovery through rotating cutter
heads and airlift of an ore slurry to the mining vessel. Recovery technologies for
cobalt-rich ferromanganese including hydrojet and heavy-duty rollers need to be
tested in order to demonstrate that the crusts can be efficiently separated from
the substrate rock.
1. INTRODUCTION
Since the first discovery of black smokers, massive sulphides and vent biota in
1979 1, exploration of seafloor massive sulphide deposits at oceanic spreading centres is
carried out by numerous academic and government institutions worldwide. Leading
countries in this field are the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom,
Japan, Canada, Russia, and Australia (cf., Table 1). In some countries, such as Portugal
and Italy, marine exploration programs for massive sulphides have newly been
developed over the past few years. Cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts in the Pacific
Ocean have been the focus of exploration and evaluation in the mid 1980s led by the
United States, Germany, and Japan 2. Technical developments of marine research and
exploration equipment that paralleled geological research programs were critical factors
in advancing scientific and resource-oriented studies of hydrothermal systems and cobalt
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