Chapter V 



ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENT OF 

 MARINE MINERAL RESOURCES 



An adequate, dependable supply of minerals and energy at a cost consistent 

 with broader goals of economic growth, national security, and a healthy 

 environment is essential to industrialized nations in today's world. Indeed, 

 ascendancy to the ranks of "industrialized nations" is closely related to an 

 ability to apply innovative technology to provide sustained supplies of fossil 

 fuels and hard minerals. The United States presently consumes greater 

 quantities of fuels and metals than any other nation. 



Consumption of metals and energy is closely related to gross national 

 product as illustrated in figure V-1 which also projects a more than two- 

 fold increase in U.S. demand for these commodities by the end of the 

 century. Worldwide, the rapid growth of population and increased in- 

 dustrialization is intensifying competition for known mineral deposits and 

 stimulating efforts to find new sources. The search for conventional high 

 grade mineral deposits on land has thus been expanded to include an 

 economic means of utilizing previously bypassed lower grade ores ; develop- 

 ing new types of deposits, such as oil shale, tar sands, and taconite; and 

 exploiting the resource potential of the seas. 



The availability of sufficient resources within the oceans to meet the 

 world's requirements for minerals well into the next century is acknowledged. 

 The 330 million cubic miles of sea water have been described as the earth's 

 largest continuous ore body, containing about 50 quadrillion tons of dis- 

 solved solids including, for example, 10 billion tons of gold. Large areas 

 of the floors of the world's oceans are covered with nodules rich in man- 

 ganese, copper, cobalt, and nickel, with concentrations of as much as 

 31,000 tons of nodules per square mile in some areas of the Pacific. And, 

 recent estimates indicate that petroleum deposits under the sea floor may 

 equal or exceed those on land. 



However, statistics indicating the mineral content of the oceans often 

 are misleading. An economy is no respector of mineral sources, and actual 

 exploitation will continue to be dictated by economic considerations. At 

 present, the cost of developing oceanic sources for most minerals is pro- 

 hibitive in comparison to land deposits. Sea water is an extremely low- 

 grade source for most of the 60 naturally occurring elements found in it 

 and only magnesium, bromine, common salt and fresh water are commer- 

 cially exploited in significant amounts. The important industrial metals such 



63 



During 1969, the first underwater petroleum storage tank, almost 100 yards in 

 diameter, aj high as a 20-story building, and weighing 15,000 tons, was towed to its 

 working location and submerged in 158 feet of water in the Arabian Gulf. 



