Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

alloys or even manganese ore in the making of high-grade steel. The French
project was considering the production of this kind of alloy.
Other outbursts of metal prices are linked to increase of industrial
activity in the industrialized countries as in 1974 after the first oil crisis, or in
1989 after the opening of Eastern European countries to market economy.
Since 1980 the prices of lead, zinc, copper, manganese, nickel and even
gold show a generally decreasing trend. Silver prices have stayed relatively
constant, while cobalt prices are improving with successive upswings. During
the last four years, the decline was general, but at the beginning of 2000, the
prices started to consolidate.
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1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
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1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Figure 2: Evolution of the metal prices from 1960 to 1999 as a percentage of their average value.
3.4. Evolution of the value of a tonne of ore
Figure 3 displays the evolution of the value of a tonne of "in-situ" ore
for each of the four selected deep-sea mineral deposits. Obviously, the
INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 444
Ag
Au
Co
Zn
Pb
Mn
Cu
Ni