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Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

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SUMMARY OF THE PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSIONS ON A COMPARISON<br />

OF POSSIBLE ECONOMIC RETURNS FROM MINING DEEP SEABED<br />

POLYMETALLIC NODULES, SEAFLOOR MASSIVE SULPHIDES AND COBALT-<br />

RICH CRUSTS<br />

Presentation<br />

Mr. Jean-Pierre Lenoble, Chairman of the <strong>Authority</strong>’s Legal and<br />

Technical Commission started his presentation by observing that it is to be<br />

expected that mining polymetallic nodules, polymetallic massive sulphides or<br />

ferromanganese cobalt-rich crusts will yield economic returns. He said that<br />

his presentation would be based on current knowledge and information on<br />

these deposits and he would use this information for the purposes of<br />

determining the possible returns from mining each of them. Mr. Lenoble<br />

noted that the economics of mineral deposits depend on feasibility studies for<br />

which there are a number of requirements. The first requirement according to<br />

Mr. Lenoble is the characteristic of the mineral deposit. The second and the<br />

third requirements he also said are technologies for mining and processing<br />

the ore. He said that the returns, depend on commodity price, and last but<br />

not least, the cost of requirements to protect the environment.<br />

With regard to the economic status of the three kinds of deep-sea<br />

mineral deposits, Mr. Lenoble referred to a paper that was delivered at the<br />

<strong>Authority</strong>’s workshop in 1999 by Dr Robert Garnett, President of Valrik<br />

Enterprises inc. based in Ontario, Canada, on the” Estimation of Marine<br />

Mineral Reserves” in which a classification of mineral resources was<br />

presented. Mr. Lenoble said that this classification system is based on a<br />

demonstration of a deposit’s mine ability. If a deposit’s mine ability is<br />

demonstrated and it can yield returns that exceed investors’ minimum<br />

requirements, reserves of the mineral resource are established. When returns<br />

are marginal, the deposit is a provable reserve or an indicated reserve. The<br />

second category is when mine ability has not yet been established. In that<br />

circumstance, the deposit is described as an inferred resource. Based on this<br />

INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 457

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