Workshop on the Establishment of a Geological Model of ...

two blocks for which data had been provided by the same contractor, noting that the nickel content of the
two blocks was quite different from the other three blocks. He said that, as part of the Authority’s resource
assessment of the CCZ, an effort had been made to determine why the two blocks were significantly different
from the others, and whether the significant difference was as a result of problems with data analysis, or
whether the blocks were located in geological environments that differed from the other three blocks. Mr.
de Souza indicated that similar problems could be found in the datasets for abundance throughout the 23
blocks. He suggested that additional data and information, such as seafloor photographs and more precise
oceanic data, would enhance the results of resource assessment.
With regard to the Authority’s resource assessment work, Mr. de Souza said that the discrepancies
that had been found in the datasets for different blocks of the reserved areas suggested that parameters,
such as abundance and metal content in different blocks of the reserved areas, might require adjustment.
Before merging the data and information for the purposes of resource assessment, Mr. de Souza said the
Authority convened a meeting with representatives of contractors. The purpose of the meeting was to
inform them of these concerns, determine whether these differences were indeed discrepancies, and to
agree on methodologies for making the necessary adjustments before merging the data. Proposals made by
the Secretariat to the representatives of contractors included utilizing the method adopted by
IFREMER/AFERNOD, Yuzhmorgeologiya and DORD in the preparatory work they provided on four blocks in
the reserved areas, and for contractors to provide the Authority with additional data because most of them
had prospected much larger areas than their application areas.
During the meeting, some of the representatives of the contractors suggested that the future work of
the work of the Authority on resource assessments of the reserved areas would be enhanced through the
development of a geological model of the CCZ.
As a result of the meeting, IFREMER/AFERNOD provided the Authority with a considerable amount of
additional data and information from other sampling stations in the CCZ. The additional data and information
were introduced into the 23 blocks of the reserved areas and consequently used to augment the confidence
factor of the resource evaluation in this area. IFREMER/AFERNOD indicated that the abundance values
contained in its original application had been adjusted. The datasets provided to the Authority by
IFREMER/AFERNOD included the adjusted sampling data from block 5. COMRA also provided data and
information in its possession from the part of its application designated as a reserved area that had not been
submitted as part of its application.
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