Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

One of the primary applications of the geological model is to aid in
the process to cost-effectively produce estimates of the spatial variability
of diamond grade at an appropriate level of confidence to both secure
funding for projects and manage the technical risk associated with meeting
future production demand. The following statement by King (1982)
containing great vision, “ If one could achieve a complete three
dimensional interpretation of the internal features of an ore deposit, ore
reserve estimation in situ would be a straightforward calculation”
prompted DBM to investigate the possibility of utilising manned
submersibles for direct seafloor observation. This dream became a reality
during 1996, when De Beers Marine formed an alliance with Professor
Hans Fricke and the team responsible for the operation of the Jago
submersible. Subsequently, Jago has been operated extensively from
Zealous. With some 163 dives to date, this makes the southern continental
shelf of Namibia one of the most intensively studied submersible dive sites
in the world. The highly accurate underwater positioning systems aboard
Zealous permit dives to be pre-planned in considerable detail (Figure 8) to
optimise time utilisation. It also allows Karen Hissmann to note when
geologists become so engrossed in their studies that time “stands still”
together with the Jago – a frequent situation given the fascinating nature
of the work.
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Figure 8. Jago flight plan showing the waypoints plus the actual dive track. The picture
shows quartzite cobble gravel that forms part of an ore body associated with the early
Pleistocene palaeo-Orange River fan delta.
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