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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 International Seabed Authority 91
crusts. Today, a large number of different tools and systems are available for the efficient search and evaluation of marine mineral deposits as a whole. State-of-the-art equipment includes modern multi-purpose research vessels with multibeam swath mapping systems and DGPS-navigation, side-scan sonar devices, deep-towed camera and video systems with on-line capability, TV-guided grabs for controlled large-scale geological sampling, shallow and deep-diving research submersibles, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). In the future, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) will become available on a routine basis. Recently, a first generation of portable drilling and coring devices for shallow drilling at the seafloor has been developed but needs significant improvement with respect to drilling depth and core recovery in order to reveal reliable information on the third dimension of polymetallic massive sulphide deposits. Mining tools for massive sulphides so far have not been specifically designed but may be adopted from the offshore diamond mining industry. For cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, two different mining systems (hydrojet and roller) have been designed but not yet fully tested. Table 1. Selected Research Programs for Seafloor Massive Sulphide Deposits 1980- 2000 Program Countries Ocean Area FAMOUS France/USA Mid-Atlantic Ridge TAG USA/France Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 26°N FARA France/USA Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Azores DIVA France/USA Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Azores BRIDGE United Kingdom Mid-Atlantic Ridge CYAMEX France/USA East Pacific Rise, 21°N GEOMETEP Germany East Pacific Rise, South GARIMAS Germany Galapagos Rift, 86°W HYDROTRACE Germany/Canada Juan de Fuca Ridge, Axial Seamount VENTS USA/Canada Juan de Fuca Ridge GEMINO Germany Central Indian Ridge HIFIFLUX Germany Southwest Pacific, North Fiji Basin STARMER France/Japan Southwest Pacific, North Fiji Basin PACMANUS Australia/Canada Southwest Pacific, Manus Basin PACLARK Australia/Canada Southwest Pacific, Woodlark Basin NAUTILAU France/Germany Southwest Pacific, Lau Basin EDISON Germany/Canada Southwest Pacific, Tabar-Feni Arc 92 International Seabed Authority
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Polymetallic Massive Sulphides and
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The designations employed and the p
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Polymetallic Massive Sulphide Depos
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Figure 1. Location of hydrothermal
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The first sulphide deposits reporte
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SEAWATER MASSIVE BLACK SMOKERS MAGM
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sulphide mounds commonly consist of
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asaltic crust at greenschist facies
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50 tonnes of Au. A pilot mining tes
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samples represent the first known e
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Under those circumstances, massive
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3°S New Hanover EL 1205 2557 sq km
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9. PERSPECTIVE If further explorati
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15. W.L. Plüger, P.M. Herzig, K.-P
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40. J.C. Alt (1995), Sub-seafloor p
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65. H.E. Mustafa, Z. Nawab, R. Horn
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Cobalt-Rich Ferromanganese Crusts:
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over other metals because they are
Page 38 and 39: Table 1 Contents of manganese, iron
Page 40 and 41: Table 2 Classification of marine fe
Page 42 and 43: the instability and mass wasting of
Page 44 and 45: ecovered from seamounts. Fe-Mn crus
Page 46 and 47: The first systematic investigation
Page 48 and 49: 50 International Seabed Authority
Page 50 and 51: - 1.04-2.17 - 1.44-2.92 - 0.78-2.74
Page 52 and 53: the crust surface. Growth rates wer
Page 54 and 55: Hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts generally
Page 56 and 57: 58 International Seabed Authority
Page 58 and 59: Sn 5 10 -- 12 -- -- -- 12 3 5 6 --
Page 60 and 61: Figure 7. Shale (PAAS, Post-Archean
Page 62 and 63: Phosphatisation of the older Fe-Mn
Page 64 and 65: proximity to continental margins an
Page 66 and 67: ates. Elements that form carbonate
Page 68 and 69: 5. RESOURCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOM
Page 70 and 71: The Japan Resource Association 130
Page 72 and 73: Table 8. Value of metals in one met
Page 74 and 75: co-authors of that paper for their
Page 76 and 77: 20. N.S. Skornyakova (1960), Mangan
Page 78 and 79: 41. A.I. Svininnikov (1994), Physic
Page 80 and 81: Pacific, Marine Mining, 8, 245-266.
Page 82 and 83: M.S. Schulz and L.M. Gein (67); E.H
Page 84 and 85: geochemistry and paleoceanographic
Page 86 and 87: Appendix 1.: Key to symbols in Tabl
Page 90 and 91: 2. EXPLORATION TOOLS AND SYSTEMS Ma
Page 92 and 93: ROPOS (ROV) CSSF Canada 6,000 m JAS
Page 94 and 95: 6. PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES The phys
Page 96 and 97: ferromanganese crust mining is curr
Page 98 and 99: Impact of the Development of Polyme
Page 100 and 101: nature of the vent organisms, most
Page 102 and 103: 3.1 EPR Vent Ecosystems A schematic
Page 104 and 105: Different shrimp species occupy dif
Page 106 and 107: 5. RESPONSE TO PERTURBATIONS Recent
Page 108 and 109: sites, where much of the ore body l
Page 110 and 111: distribution will require more care
Page 112 and 113: 8. B. J. Burd and R.E. Thomson (199
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