limited to a water depth of 340 feet, exploratory drilling for oil is proceeding 

 at depths of 1,500 feet in the Santa Barbara Channel. The report of the 

 National Petroleum Council issued in March 1969, "Petroleum Resources 

 Under the Ocean Floor," stated that progress of the petroleum industry 

 offshore is limited primarily by economic attractiveness rather than by 

 technological capability, and predicted that complete systems for explora- 

 tion and production in water depths of 6,000 feet will be available within 

 the decade. 



Unlike oil and gas, marine nonfuel minerals have been relatively neglected 

 due largely to the absence of an economic incentive sufficient to stimulate 

 development of exploration and production capabilities. Worldwide, less 

 than $250 million in hard minerals were recovered from the oceans last 

 year in some 300 mining operations, all conducted close to shore (table 

 V-3). 



Table V-3 — Recent Marine Mining Activities 



Resource 



Activity ' 



Depth (feet) ^ Location 



Aragonite Dredging. . . 



Diamonds Dredging . . . 



Gold Exploration . 



Exploration. 

 Heavy metals Exploration. 



Exploration. 



Exploration . 



Iron Exploration. 



Iron sands Dredging . . . 



Exploration. 



Manganese nodules Exploration. 



Exploration. 

 Phosphate Exploration. 



Exploration 600-2400 



Exploration 



Exploration (in- 

 active) 



Exploration 



Phosphate sands Exploration 



Exploration 



Sand Dredging 



Shell sands Dredging 



Shells Dredging 



Sulfide muds Exploration 



Sulfur Mining (Frasch). 



Tin Exploration 



Dredging 



Exploration 



Dredging 



Exploration 



Exploration 



Titanium Exploration 



' Dredging operations generally include exploration activity. Does not include mines originating on land 

 and drilled out under the sea floor. 

 2 Less than is represented by — ; more than is represented by + ; approximately is represented by ±. 



Source: Department of the Interior. 



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