Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

technological step, Dr. Corbett suggested that the shift from 200 metres to
2,000 metres of water, a big jump for a production unit, would similarly be
a significant technological step.
In relation to the initial stages of exploration, Dr. Corbett said that
it was based on surveying and coring in order to find out what the shelf
looked like, pointing out that there was very little geological knowledge
available at this stage. Dr. Corbett said that De Beers then started a very
comprehensive programme of sonar and seismic surveying together with
a very comprehensive coring programme. He said that this work was
initially to water depths of 70-90 metres, and that samples were taken to
try to determine whether they contained diamonds. Based on the
knowledge acquired, Dr. Corbett said that it was deemed that whatever
was there was going to be too small to support the capital-intensive
requirements for mining system development. Upon the discovery that
there were indeed diamonds in those deposits, Dr. Corbett reported that
exploration started to move further offshore going out to about 180 metres
water depth, from the late 1970s through the early 1980s. He said that at
that time, things started to look interesting in terms of the developing the
mineral resource and further vessels were then brought in so that the rate
of resource generation could be increased. Dr. Corbett said that by 1982 it
was quite clear that there was indeed an exploitable diamond resource
that had been defined and delineated in sufficient detail to give the
organization the confidence to actually form De Beers Marine. He also
said that at that point, a critical decision was made by the consultants of
the group where they said, “Enough is enough, and we now make the
transition”. Dr. Corbett pointed out that while it is easy to carry on
exploration, at a point there is a need to decide that “This is it, we are
going to make it now, and this is when we make that move.” He noted
that for some of the contractors for deep seabed polymetallic nodules
exploration and for Mr Malnic, this is the point where their deepwater
operations are now poised.
Having completed his overview of the steps leading to the
formation of De Beers Marine, Dr. Corbett’s presentation focused on
resource development, in particular mineral resource management. Dr.
Corbett described mineral resource management as managing the
technical and financial risks that organizations are exposed to in opening
up a new mining operation. He stated that without the right information,
errors happen, accidents occur and the desired results are not attained. He
said that with the right information these kinds of problems could be
INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 604