What is the process of deep-sea mining?
Deep-sea mining is the process of retrieving mineral deposits from the deep sea – the area of the ocean below 200 m. The scraping of the sea floor and pollution from mining processes can wipe out entire species – many yet to be discovered.
What is the first step for deep-sea mining?
The first step towards making deep sea mining into a feasible option would be to ensure the protection of “sensitive ecosystems and minimize the potential environmental impact of this industry” (Terradaily). These environmental costs come primarily from the intrusive nature of mining.
What are the methods used in sea bed mining?
Techniques for mining minerals in the marine environment may involve seafloor suction dredging, seafloor slurry pipes, use of tracked vessels on the seafloor and seafloor cutting/fragmentation. Following extraction and processing, tailings (unwanted material) are deposited back onto the seafloor.
Is deep-sea mining possible?
There is a real possibility that deep-sea mining will soon be permitted, with exploratory contracts already having been issued over 1.3 million square kilometers of the high seas (areas of the ocean outside national jurisdiction) by the International Seabed Authority. The total area affected would be far larger.
Where does deep sea mining occur?
Deep sea mining is a relatively new mineral retrieval process undergoing research which takes place on the ocean floor. Ocean mining sites are usually around large areas of polymetallic nodules or active and extinct hydrothermal vents at about 3,000 – 6,500 meters below the ocean’s surface.
Where is deep sea mining most common?
Japan was the first country to successfully mine its seabed, tapping into a deposit of mineral resources 1,600 meters on its continental shelf off the coast of Okinawa in 2017. Other areas of current most likely occur off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
What material will be mined in the CCZ?
The CCZ stretches over 4.5 million square kilometers of the Northern Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico. Scattered across the abyssal plain are trillions of polymetallic nodules, potato-sized rocklike deposits containing minerals such as magnesium, nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt, and others.
How mining methods are done in underground?
It involves drilling a section of ore at the very bottom of the deposit and then blasting to make the roof collapse. Gravity then takes over, as the ore above the blast site fractures and collapses in succession as support is withdrawn. The collapsed ore is hauled out the mine for processing [source: Great Mining].
Where is deep sea mining happening?
The largest deposits of Polymetallic Nodules occur in the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii in an area called the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone. The Cook Islands contains the world’s fourth largest Polymetallic Nodule deposit in an area called the South Penrhyn basin close to the Manihiki Plateau.
What is CCZ area?
The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) spans 4.5 million square kilometers (1.7 million square miles) between Hawaii and Mexico, an abyssal plain as wide as the continental United States and punctuated by seamounts. Lying atop the muddy bottom or embedded just beneath it are trillions of potato-size polymetallic nodules.
Can you mine in international waters?
Today, many of the largest mineral corporations in the world have launched underwater mining programs. But the biggest prize for mining companies will be access to international waters, which cover more than half of the global seafloor and contain more valuable minerals than all the continents combined.