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    Seminar

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    Stefan Stanković
    Deep sea mining extracts valuable metals from polymetallic nodules and hydrothermal vents located 1,400-3,700 meters below the ocean's surface. Remotely operated vehicles are used to collect samples and locate mining sites. There are two main extraction methods - a continuous-line bucket system operates like a conveyor belt while a hydraulic suction system uses pipes to transfer nodules. Environmental impacts are a concern as removing parts of the seafloor could disturb habitats and sediment plumes from mining tailings could spread over large areas, clogging filters and impacting food webs.

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    Seminar

    Uploaded by

    Stefan Stanković
    33 views1 page
    Deep sea mining extracts valuable metals from polymetallic nodules and hydrothermal vents located 1,400-3,700 meters below the ocean's surface. Remotely operated vehicles are used to collect samples and locate mining sites. There are two main extraction methods - a continuous-line bucket system operates like a conveyor belt while a hydraulic suction system uses pipes to transfer nodules. Environmental impacts are a concern as removing parts of the seafloor could disturb habitats and sediment plumes from mining tailings could spread over large areas, clogging filters and impacting food webs.

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    Deep sea mining extracts valuable metals from polymetallic nodules and hydrothermal vents located 1,400-3,700 meters below the ocean's surface. Remotely operated vehicles are used to collect samples and locate mining sites. There are two main extraction methods - a continuous-line bucket system operates like a conveyor belt while a hydraulic suction system uses pipes to transfer nodules. Environmental impacts are a concern as removing parts of the seafloor could disturb habitats and sediment plumes from mining tailings could spread over large areas, clogging filters and impacting food webs.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    33 views1 page

    Seminar

    Uploaded by

    Stefan Stanković
    Deep sea mining extracts valuable metals from polymetallic nodules and hydrothermal vents located 1,400-3,700 meters below the ocean's surface. Remotely operated vehicles are used to collect samples and locate mining sites. There are two main extraction methods - a continuous-line bucket system operates like a conveyor belt while a hydraulic suction system uses pipes to transfer nodules. Environmental impacts are a concern as removing parts of the seafloor could disturb habitats and sediment plumes from mining tailings could spread over large areas, clogging filters and impacting food webs.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 1

    DEEP SEA MINING

    Deep sea mining is a relatively new mineral retrieval process that 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 1,400 3,700 m below the oceans surface. The vents create sulfide deposits, which
    contain valuable metals such as silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt, and zinc. The deposits are mined
    using either hydraulic pumps or bucket systems that take ore to the surface to be processed. As with all
    mining operations, deep sea mining raises questions about potential environmental impact on surrounding
    areas.

    Extraction methods
    Recent technological advancements have given rise to the use remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to
    collect mineral samples from prospective mine sites. Using drills and other cutting tools, the ROVs obtain
    samples to be analyzed for precious materials. Once a site has been located, a mining ship or station is set
    up to mine the area.
    There are two predominant forms of mineral extraction being considered for full scale operations:
    continuous-line bucket system (CLB) and the hydraulic suction system. The CLB system is the preferred
    method of nodule collection. It operates much like a conveyor-belt, running from the sea floor to the
    surface of the ocean where a ship or mining platform extracts the desired minerals, and returns the tailings
    to the ocean. Hydraulic suction mining lowers a pipe to the seafloor which transfers nodules up to the
    mining ship. Another pipe from the ship to the seafloor returns the tailings to the area of the mining site.
    In recent years, the most promising mining areas have been the Central and Eastern Manus Basin around
    Papua New Guinea and the crater of Conical Seamount to the east. These locations have shown promising
    amounts of gold in the area's sulfide deposits (an average of 26 parts per million). The relatively shallow
    water depth of 1050 m, along with the close proximity of a gold processing plant makes for an excellent
    mining site.

    Environmental impacts
    Research shows that polymetallic nodule fields are hotspots of abundance and diversity for a highly
    vulnerable abyssal fauna. Because deep sea mining is a relatively new field, the complete consequences
    of full scale mining operations on this ecosystem are unknown. However, some researchers have said they
    believe that removal of parts of the sea floor will result in disturbances to the benthic layer, increased
    toxicity of the water column and sediment plumes from tailings. Removing parts of the sea floor could
    disturb the habitat of benthic organisms, with unknown long-term effects. Aside from the direct impact of
    mining the area, some researchers and environmental activists have raised concerns about leakage, spills
    and corrosion that could alter the mining areas chemical makeup.
    Among the impacts of deep sea mining, sediment plumes could have the greatest impact. Plumes are
    caused when the tailings from mining (usually fine particles) are dumped back into the ocean, creating a
    cloud of particles floating in the water. Two types of plumes occur: near bottom plumes and surface
    plumes. Near bottom plumes occur when the tailings are pumped back down to the mining site. The
    floating particles increase the turbidity, or cloudiness, of the water, clogging filter-feeding apparatuses
    used by benthic organisms. Surface plumes cause a more serious problem. Depending on the size of the
    particles and water currents the plumes could spread over vast areas. The plumes could impact
    zooplankton and light penetration, in turn affecting the food web of the area.

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