Deep Ocean Floor Nodule Mining – First Generation Techniques Are Here

Manganese nodules are essentially a surficial resource-there are four times as many nodules on the surface of the deep ocean floor as in the next 3 ft of underlying sediment. Target mine sites in the North Pacific occur in water 12,000 to 18,000 ft deep. The mining technique is comprised of four major factors: the mining device, lifting method, surface vessel, and ore transport. Certain deep-ocean mining proposals are revolutionary in character. Current research has tended to construct simple but flexible devices to work at the great depths and corrosive environments of the deep-ocean floor