Seamount mineral deposits: A source of rare metals for high technology industries

Oceanography
By: , and 

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Abstract

The near exponential growth in Earth’s population and the global economy puts increasing constraints on our planet’s finite supply of natural metal resources, and, consequently, there is an increasing need for new sources to supply high-tech industries. To date, effectively all of our raw-metal resources are produced at land-based sites. Except for nearshore placer deposits, the marine environment has been largely excluded from metal mining due to technological difficulties, even though it covers more than 70% of the planet. The case can be made that deep-water seabed mining is inevitable in the future, owing to the critical and strategic metal needs for human society. In this paper, we evaluate the case that seamounts offer significant potential for mining.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Seamount mineral deposits: A source of rare metals for high technology industries
Series title Oceanography
DOI 10.5670/oceanog.2010.70
Volume 23
Issue 1
Year Published 2010
Language English
Publisher The Oceanography Society
Publisher location Rockville, MD
Contributing office(s) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Description 6 p.
First page 184
Last page 189
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