Non-Living Resources 



Increased emphasis is being placed by Bureau of Mines on analyses 

 of the demand for and supply of individual minerals and the techno- 

 economics of production from different sources. The experience and judg- 

 ment of the petroleum and mining industries are being utilized through 

 consultations with policy and technical representatives. 



The discussion of non-living resources has concentrated almost exclusively 

 on their extraction from the Continental Shelf in relatively shallow water. 

 How about the deep sea? Any off-shore development, as an extension of 

 land-based activities, depends critically on relative costs. Marine sources 

 will be exploited when the costs are comparable to those on land. Thus, 

 the richness and distribution of the resources and the costs of technology 

 for their exploration and extraction will pace such development. Geological 

 information about the deep ocean seabed is relatively sparse and, in general, 

 the industrial cost for operations in deep water is high. It seems likely, 

 therefore, that the seaward extension of marine mineral development will 

 be a gradual movement from shallow coastal waters to deep waters. 

 Industry might be quickly attracted to the deep sea, however, if rich 

 deposits of a mineral in high demand such as nickel and copper are dis- 

 covered in the deep sea, or if there are technological breakthroughs. 



Coupled to the economic considerations is the importance of a legal 

 framework to encourage large capital investments for which returns may be 

 long deferred. The promise of return from the deep seabed will thus 

 depend significantly on identification and assessment of seabed resources, 

 ready availability of technology from all possible sources including the 

 military, and a stable international code of law. 



Many of these objectives can be achieved only by cooperative activities 

 with other nations, as discussed earlier. 



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