Figure V-l — U.S. Annual Requirements for Natural Resources, 1950-2000 



GNP X 10^ I1954S) 



METALS CONSUMPTION x lo' (1964S) 



FISHERY PRODUCTS X 10^ (1964SI 



TOTAL DISPOSABLE PERSONAL INCOME x 10^ (1964S) 

 ENERGY DEMAND (BTU lo'^l 

 WATER X 10^ GALS/DAY 

 POPULATION X 10^ 



XSA" 



PROJECTION 



o•^^l. 



^ov^"^^ 



as aluminum, tin, copper, zinc, silver, iron, nickel, and manganese are valued 

 at less than $1.05 per 1,000,000 gallons of seawater, and it has been esti- 

 mated that the $20,000 worth of gold in a cubic mile of the ocean would cost 

 more than $50,000 to extract. Deposits of manganese nodules, which were 

 first discovered in 1875 during the epic voyage of the H.M.S. Challenger, 

 remain noncompetitive with conventional ores due to the heavy investment 

 required to mine the nodules from water depths of 12,000 to 20,000 feet 

 and then to separate the extremely complex and unique mixture of metals. 

 Oil and gas production, which constitutes over 90 percent by value of 

 minerals extracted from the marine environment, has been limited to water 

 depths of 340 feet and 70 miles from shore due to the rapidly mounting costs 

 of moving into deeper waters. 



Status of Marine Mining 



Offshore mining is still in its infancy, but a pattern of increasing profit- 

 ability and technological capability is emerging. 



Ten years ago there were only three or four nations and about five com- 

 panies with major offshore petroleum interests. Today, hundreds of com- 

 panies are involved in subsea oil and gas exploration and development around 

 the world. Production is underway or about to start off the coasts of 28 coun- 

 tries, and exploratory surveys are being carried out on the continental 

 shelves of another 50. Offshore deposits are responsible for 16 percent of the 

 oil and 6 percent of the natural gas produced by the free world. Projections 

 indicate that by 1980 a third of the oil production — four times the present 



64 



