Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

All the above-mentioned minerals occur at the surface of the sea
bottom. Among sub-surface mineral resources, one may state that evaporite,
sulphur, and coal are the main ones.
The Brazilian marginal evaporite basin, which consists of deposits of
anhydrite, gypsite, and sodium, potassium, and magnesium salts, extends
from São Paulo, in the southeast, to the Alagoas Basin, in the northeast. Its
largest extension is at the southern end, opposite Santos, in São Paulo State,
where it is 650 km wide. These deposits however are relatively small and are
not considered large enough to be exploited economically.
Sulphur has been produced as a by-product of natural gas, of
petroleum refining, of pyrite processing and metal smelting. Brazil does not
produce primary sulphur. The country imports approximately 80 % of its
consumption. Thus, for trade balance and balance of payments, sulphur is an
important issue. Under such conditions, considering the Brazilian dependence
on imported sulphur and favourable geologic reality, this is a key mineral for
offshore exploration. On the other hand, there is a world tendency to decrease
the production of mined sulphur, and to increase the production of sulphur as
a by-product. Furthermore, due to the globalisation of the economy, the trend
is to drive imported sulphur more competitive than national primary
production. So, offshore sulphur exploration has not properly been evaluated.
In some countries, such as England and Canada, there is coal mining from
offshore resources. In Brazil, coal is found in the Rio Bonito formation, in the
Paraná basin. Nevertheless, due to the amount of land-based coal reserves
(more than 20 billion tons) and to the difficult circumstances of the national
coal industry that arises through competition from high-quality, relativelycheap
imported coal, sub-sea coal resources it is not foreseen good
perspectives for the economic utilisation of possible sub-sea coal reservoirs.
2. Petroleum and Natural Gas
Undoubtedly, petroleum and natural gas are the most significant
minerals that are obtained from the offshore in Brazil. The country is widely
known as the number one offshore petroleum and natural gas producer in the
world. The technology used for exploration and production is state-of-the-art.
INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 820