Deep-Ocean Mineral Deposits: Metal Resources and Windows into Earth Processes

Lusty, Paul; Murton, Bramley J.

doi:10.2138/gselements.14.5.301

Cited by 91 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The presence of high contents of low crystalline and intergrown minerals like vernadite (up to 90%) and goethite group minerals (unstable ferrihydrite, goethite and feroxyhyte) is consistent with the optical studies in which their small crystal size due to the particulate precipitation made it impossible to differentiate them. In addition, the predominant columnar to dense parallel structure in all samples reveals a slow growth consistent with the predominance of this hydrogenetic origin for all studied crusts and with the results obtained by other authors [1,15,18,20,23,75,76]. In some samples, it is possible to distinguish areas with more dendritic to mottled structure bound to high detrital input and in some crusts the presence in bulk XRD of~10 Å reflection that usually indicates diagenetic Mn-oxides as todorokite, buserite or asbolane ( Figure 4A,B) [22,30,47].…”

Section: Bulk Analysis Vs High-resolution Analysissupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Fe-Mn polymetallic nodules occur in the abyssal plains of all the oceans; their growth is due to a concentric accretion of Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides around a nucleus from pore water and from the seawater [6]. Several authors performed mineralogical and geochemical studies in order to comprehend the different formation processes of polymetallic nodules and Fe-Mn crusts [1,4,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydrogenetic, Diagenetic and Hydrothermal Processes Forming Ferromanganese Crusts in the Canary Island Seamounts and Their Influence in the Metal Recovery Rate with Hydrometallurgical Methods

et al. 2019

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Four pure hydrogenetic, mixed hydrogenetic-diagenetic and hydrogenetic-hydrothermal Fe-Mn Crusts from the Canary Islands Seamount Province have been studied by Micro X-Ray Diffraction, Raman and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy together with high resolution Electron Probe Micro Analyzer and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry in order to find the correlation of mineralogy and geochemistry with the three genetic processes and their influence in the metal recovery rate using an hydrometallurgical method. The main mineralogy and geochemistry affect the contents of the different critical metals, diagenetic influenced crusts show high Ni and Cu (up to 6 and 2 wt. %, respectively) (and less Co and REY) enriched in very bright laminae. Hydrogenetic crusts on the contrary show High Co and REY (up to 1 and 0.5 wt. %) with also high contents of Ni, Mo and V (average 2500, 600 and 1300 μg/g). Finally, the hydrothermal microlayers from crust 107-11H show their enrichment in Fe (up to 50 wt. %) and depletion in almost all the critical elements. One hydrometallurgical method has been used in Canary Islands Seamount Province crusts in order to quantify the recovery rate of valuable elements in all the studied crusts except the 107-11H, whose hydrothermal critical metals’ poor lamina were too thin to separate from the whole crust. Digestion treatment with hydrochloric acid and ethanol show a high recovery rate for Mn (between 75% and 81%) with respect to Fe (49% to 58%). The total recovery rate on valuable elements (Co, Ni, Cu, V, Mo and rare earth elements plus yttrium (REY)) for the studied crusts range between 67 and 92% with the best results for Co, Ni and V (up to 80%). The genetic process and the associated mineralogy seem to influence the recovery rate. Mixed diagenetic/hydrogenetic crust show the lower recovery rate for Mn (75%) and Ni (52.5%) both enriched in diagenetic minerals (respectively up to 40 wt. % and up to 6 wt. %). On the other hand, the presence of high contents of undigested Fe minerals (i.e., Mn-feroxyhyte) in hydrogenetic crusts give back low recovery rate for Co (63%) and Mo (42%). Finally, REY as by-product elements, are enriched in the hydrometallurgical solution with a recovery rate of 70–90% for all the studied crusts.

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Section: Bulk Analysis Vs High-resolution Analysissupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogenetic, Diagenetic and Hydrothermal Processes Forming Ferromanganese Crusts in the Canary Island Seamounts and Their Influence in the Metal Recovery Rate with Hydrometallurgical Methods

et al. 2019

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“…The hydrogenetic mechanism of formation of crusts and macro-oncoids means that they also sequester large quantities of metals from ambient deep waters. In modern ferromanganese nodules and ferromanganese crusts, the physicochemical properties of the Fe-Mn colloids under oxic conditions make them excellent at scavenging dissolved metals from deep seawater, such as Ni, Cu, Co, and REE [30]. In this sense, the Ce enrichment resulting in a positive anomaly might be adequately explained by oxidative scavenging of Ce 4+ from normal seawater by Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides formed by BMC [11].…”

Section: Iron Crusts and Macro-oncoids On Hardgroundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence suggests that BMC are involved in the precipitation of specific metals, such as Fe and Mn, and clayey materials in microbial mats [29][30][31][32]. A relevant mechanism in the microbe-mineral interactions is the biomineralization, i.e., microbially-mediated synthesis of minerals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Jurassic Non-Carbonate Microbialites from the Betic-Rifian Cordillera (Tethys Western End): Textures, Mineralogy, and Environmental Reconstruction

Reolid

Abad

2019

Minerals

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The term microbialite is commonly applied for describing carbonate organo-sedimentary deposits that have accreted as a result of the activity of benthic microbial communities (BMC). However, non-carbonate microbialites are progressively well-known and show a great diversity of organisms, processes, and mineralogical compositions. This article reviews three types of Jurassic microbialites from four different environmental contexts from the Betic-Rifian Cordillera (South Spain and North Morocco): marine hardgrounds, submarine caves, hydrothermal vents, and submarine volcanic deposits. The Middle-Late Jurassic transition in the External Subbetic (Betic Cordillera) and the Jbel Moussa Group (Rifian Calcareous Chain) was characterized by the fragmentation of the carbonate epicontinental platforms that favored these different settings: (A) Many stratigraphic breaks are recorded as hardgrounds with surficial hydrogenetic Fe crusts and macro-oncoids related to chemo-organotrophic behavior of BMC that served as a specific trap for Fe and Mn enrichment; (B) Cryptic hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts (or endostromatolites) grew in the walls of submarine cavities and fractures mainly constituted by Frutexites (chemosynthetic and cryptobiontic microorganism) locally associated to serpulids; (C) Hydrothermal Mn crusts are mainly constituted by different types of filaments and bacillus-shaped bacteria, whose mineralogy and geochemistry point to a submarine hydrothermal origin; (D) Finally, glauconite laminated crusts, constituted by branched cylindrical filaments, have grown in cryptic spaces among the pillow-lava bodies, probably related to the metabolism of chemo-organotrophic microbes under oxic conditions at temperatures between 30 and 90 °C. In most of the cases described in this work, microbial organisms forming microbialites were extremophiles.

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“…Polymetallic nodules (PN), iron-manganese crusts (Fe-MnC) and seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) deposits, due to their high content of various economically important metals (i.e., Cu, Ag, Zn, Mn, REE, etc. ), have been identified as important marine mineral resources for the future [1,2]. Each type of deposit presents individual challenges at every stage of exploration, exploitation, and metal extraction cycle [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous Leaching of Seafloor Massive Sulfides and Polymetallic Nodules

et al. 2019

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Simultaneous leaching of seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) from Loki's Castle on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (AMOR) and polymetallic nodules (PN) from Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Central Pacific Ocean was studied. Leaching tests were conducted using sulfuric acid and sodium chloride, at a temperature of 80 • C for 48 h under reflux. The effect of PN-to-SMS ratio was examined. It was shown that simultaneous leaching of two different types of marine resources was possible resulting in high dissolution rates of metals. The proposed process has many advantages as it does not require pyrometallurgical pretreatment, and yields solid products (i.e., silica, barite, elemental sulfur, albite, microcline, muscovite), which might be utilized for various industrial applications.Minerals 2019, 9, 482 2 of 12 of eliminating gas emission, production of potentially recoverable solid residues and generation of acid, which could be recycled to the head of the process. The new approach holds promise for efficient processing of marine mineral resources. Materials and Methods MaterialsThis study utilizes an SMS sample collected from the Loki's Castle active hydrothermal vent field at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (AMOR), which occurs on the Mohn's Ridge at a depth of approximately 2400 m [16]. The SMS samples were collected as a part of the MarMine cruise [17]. More than 200 kg of loose boulders from the mound flanks were collected via grab sampling. The location and areas of operation are described elsewhere [7,17,18]. In order to prevent oxidation of sulfides, the collected rock samples were bagged, flushed with nitrogen, vacuum sealed, and stored at −21 • C.The polymetallic deep-sea nodules (PN) studied in this research were collected in the license area of Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR) from Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Central Pacific Ocean. The samples were stored in plastic bags.Mili-Q water ® and analytically grade H 2 SO 4 and NaCl were used in the experiments. Methods

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Deep-Ocean Mineral Deposits: Metal Resources and Windows into Earth Processes

Cited by 91 publications

References 22 publications

Hydrogenetic, Diagenetic and Hydrothermal Processes Forming Ferromanganese Crusts in the Canary Island Seamounts and Their Influence in the Metal Recovery Rate with Hydrometallurgical Methods

Hydrogenetic, Diagenetic and Hydrothermal Processes Forming Ferromanganese Crusts in the Canary Island Seamounts and Their Influence in the Metal Recovery Rate with Hydrometallurgical Methods

Jurassic Non-Carbonate Microbialites from the Betic-Rifian Cordillera (Tethys Western End): Textures, Mineralogy, and Environmental Reconstruction

Simultaneous Leaching of Seafloor Massive Sulfides and Polymetallic Nodules

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