Deep Sea Mining: Information, Benefits and Impacts
Ocean minerals are becoming increasingly valuable in the current market: with commodity prices soaring, utilisation of mineral resources such as cobalt, copper or zinc will go marine to contribute to a more sustainable production of our future resources - for the benefit of mankind.
Before any exploitation may take place, fundamental state-of-the-art and custom-built equipment remains to be developed and tested, thus improving our understanding of the environmental impact of harvesting limited areas of the various abyssal zones.
Bringing together the clear business opportunities, the challenging technology issues, and the running operational experiences on “mining” natural sand or gravel resources with the available dredging equipment expertise has attracted the interest of the dredging industry. To maximally facilitate further development (as the technology risk and environmental uncertainty may prove to be the most significant challenges towards the development of marine mineral resources) and explicitly underline the need for a clear long term vision for a sustainable future for deep sea marine mining activities, CEDA is pleased to share this state of the art document on deep sea “dredging” expertise. In addition, CEDA is willing to provide expertise and facilitate networking between organisations and companies with further questions with regards to DSM.
The informational portal is divided into a number of sections, as detailed below.
Introduction:
Overview to the project and a brief background to deep sea mining
CEDA involvement:
The involvement that CEDA has with the deep sea mining industry and its links through the sector.
DSM legal framework:
Summary of the key regulatory instruments and legal frameworks that deep sea mining operators are required to follow.
DSM operations:
Overview of typical equipment used in DSM operations
DSM operational impacts infographic:
Interactive graphic providing information on potential environmental impacts associated with DSM. An interactive version of the graphic is available to download.
Current research and future innovations:
Brief summary of the ongoing and available research programmes, industry bodies and research organisations investigating DSM possibilities.