Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

mankind. He suggested that this reasoning by itself made the study of this
environment and these organisms worthwhile.
Modalities for the conduct of a pilot mining operation
With regard to the proposed pilot mining site, questions were raised in
relation to its probable actors and risk management.
Professor Herzig pointed to the need for industry support in the pilot
mining site. He further pointed out that as scientists, his group and other
scientists could undertake the required environmental monitoring but that
industry support was required to construct the mining system. Another
participant pointed out the advantages of using publicly raised financing to
undertake the project as compared to the consortium approach.
Finally, questions were raised as to the scale of operation envisioned in
the pilot mining site trial. It was agreed that this would be at about one tenth
the scale of a commercial enterprise.
Possible recovery of associated thermal energy.
One participant wanted to know whether Professor Herzig’s group
had thought of attacking the hydrothermal system directly and recovering the
thermal energy of the site as a by product of mining. Another participant
pointed out that a similar operation was taking lace in the Sultan Sea, where
an active geothermal plant had been established with minerals around the
deposit being recovered as minor by-products.
Professor Herzig, while pointing out that the Conical Seamount
deposit was at an inactive hydrothermal vent site remarked that one of the
difficulties with the proposal were that the hydrothermal fluids would boil
within the pipes and destroy them. He again reiterated that his objective is to
determine the feasibility of mining the Conical Seamount deposit as a gold
deposit.
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