Production key figures for planning the mining of manganese nodules

Abstract

Under the impression of decreasing ore grades and increasing production costs in conventional mining, seafloor minerals came into focus. Having gained a basic understanding of geological settings, there is still a lack of tools to assess and plan future mining projects in the deep-sea. This paper contributes to a mining concept which is inspired by the high-tech farming industry: strip mining. Potential mining fields are identified using image filters in conjunction with hydroacoustic backscatter data and slope angles and are portioned into long, narrow strips. In the framework of the EU-funded Blue Mining project, these methods were applied to a part of the eastern German exploration area, located in the manganese nodule belt of the Clarion Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean. Both, the mapping technique and the mining concept presented in this paper can be used in early-stage feasibility studies to derive estimates on production key figures for seafloor manganese nodule mining.

A comprehensive approach for a techno-economic assessment of nodule mining in the deep sea

“…Although proposals for the identification of the mineable area have been made (Volkmann and Lehnen 2017;UNOET 1979), a standardized reporting code for declaring SMnN reserves does not yet exist. Recent studies consider grade, nodule abundance, and hydro-acoustic backscatter data in conjunction with slope angles to tag prospective SMnN fields (Volkmann and Lehnen 2017;Knobloch et al 2017;Mucha and Wasilewska-Blaszczyk 2013).…”

“…The "mineable area" is the basis for other activities related to SMP, e.g., the identification of mine sites, mining fields, and routes (Volkmann and Lehnen 2017). In general, mining the seafloor area must be legally permitted and technically and economically feasible.…”

“…Geological and technical aspects have been covered in an earlier publication with focus on the determination of production key figures (Volkmann and Lehnen 2017). Financial key figures were investigated by the Blue Mining project, but have only been partly published to date (Volkmann and Osterholt 2017).…”

“…Seafloor manganese nodules (SMnN) may be one target of deep-sea mining (DSM) beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (Petersen et al 2016;Hein and Koschinsky 2014;Mero 1962). Covering vast abyssal plains, high-tech harvesters are envisaged to collect these potato-sized rock concretions in water depths between 4000 and 6500 m (Volkmann and Lehnen 2017). SMnN primarily contain manganese, but are also rich in nickel, cobalt, copper, and other metals, which make them economically interesting (Hein et al 2013).…”

“…Spatial planning tools are used today in land-based mining (Preuße et al 2016), for marine spatial planning purposes (Stelzenmüller et al 2013) and in many other areas to plan human activities. Despite intensive research efforts since the 1970s, approaches to assess the techno-economic requirements and implications of SMnN mining are still lacking (Volkmann and Lehnen 2017;Sharma 2017;Abramowski 2016). In this light, a spatial planning tool and a method to valuate SMnN deposits is presented here and exemplified for a part of the eastern German license area, which is located in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ), Pacific Ocean.…”