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Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

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tens of meters into the seafloor with more than 50 per cent core recovery. For<br />

mining massive sulphides at and just below the seafloor, continuous<br />

operating devices with large-scale cutter heads in combination with airlift or<br />

hydraulic pumps need to be developed (Table 6). Exploration tools for cobaltbearing<br />

ferromanganese crusts such as deep-towed cameras, side-scan sonar,<br />

and TV-guided grabs are available. The problem of the efficient separation of<br />

the crusts from the substrate rock by suitable mining tools (hydro jet, rollers)<br />

has not been resolved and needs further consideration.<br />

Table 6: Continuous Mining of Seafloor Massive Sulphides Deposits<br />

- Rotating cutter heads (7-10 m diameter)<br />

- Airlift or hydraulic pumping of ore slurry to mining vessel<br />

- Transfer of ore from mining vessel to cargo freighter<br />

REFERENCES<br />

1. J. Francheteau, H.D. Needham, P. Choukroune, T. Juteau, M. Seguret,<br />

R.D. Ballard, P.J. Fox, W. Normark, A. Carranza, D. Cordoba, J. Guerrero,<br />

C. Rangin, H. Bougault, P. Cambon, and R. Hekinian (1979), Massive<br />

deep-sea sulphide ore deposits discovered on the East Pacific Rise.<br />

Nature, 277, 523-528.<br />

2. J.R. Hein, A. Koschinsky, M. Bau, F.T. Manheim, J. -K. Kang, and L.<br />

Roberts (2000) Cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts in the Pacific. In:<br />

Handbook of Marine Mineral Deposits, D.S. Cronan (ed): 239-279.<br />

3. S. Sarata and K. Matsumoto (1999), Deep-sea core boring BMS in<br />

Northern Mariana Area. Proceedings of the 3 rd ISOPE, Goa, India: 49-54.<br />

4. P.M. Herzig, S.E. Humphris, D.J. Miller, and R.A. Zierenberg, R.A. (eds.)<br />

(1998), Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, Volume<br />

158: Collage Station, TX.<br />

INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 315

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