V. MINING INTERESTS AND ECONOMICS 
Although many companies individually began exploration and 
development of mining systems for deep seabed ferromanganese 
nodules, the recent trend has been to band together into national or 
international consortia. The major mining interests and consortia 
currently involved in nodule recovery are summarized in the following 
categories: (1) U.S. interests, (2) international consortia, and (3) 
foreign interests. 
U.S. Mrnine Interests 
One of the early entries into deep ocean mining was Deepsea Ven- 
tures, Inc., a subsidiary of Tenneco Inc. Deepsea Ventures was orga- 
nized in 1968 by Tenneco to further an ocean mining project which 
had been previously under development for six years by another 
Tenneco subsidiary, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Com- 
pany. Deepsea Ventures has operated two mining research vessels, the 
150-foot R/V Prospector and the 320-foot R/V Deepsea Miner. Their 
mining technique and ore processing involve an air-lift recovery sys- 
tem and hydrometallurgical extraction of manganese in addition to 
copper, cobalt, and nickel. In May 1974, Tenneco formed a consortium 
of Deepsea Ventures with three Japanese firms. In November 1974, 
the consortium was joined by United States Steel Corp. and Union 
Miniere of Belgium.’ This development will be discussed in the next 
section under consortia. On November 14, 1974 Deepsea Ventures be- 
came the first company to file a claim for mining rights on the deep 
sealed. This claim is not officially recognised by the U.S. Department 
of State. 
Another early entry into the field of seabed mining was Kennecott 
Copper Corp. This firm began research into nodule deposits, mining, 
and processing in 1964. It has developed nodule recovery techniques 
based on hydraulic methods and carried out research on hydrometal- 
lurgical processes of metal extraction, some involving liquid ion ex- 
change. In 1973 Kennecott operate a pilot plant in Lexington, Massa- 
chusetts, which processed half a ton of ore per day. This process did 
not recover manganese or trace metals. On January 29, 1974, Kenne- 
cott announced the formation of an international consortium with firms 
from Japan, Great Britain, and Canada. 
Among the other U.S. companies to have developed an interest in 
deep ocean mining are Union Carbide Exploration Corp. However, 
Union Carbide is reported to have dropped its nodule mining pro- 
gram.” Founded in 1965, Ocean Resources Inc. has worked with Jap- 
anese, Kuropean, and Canadian firms to develop a CLB mining sys- 
tem. In 1968 and 1970 Ocean Resources conducted cruises for explora- 
tion of nodule deposits and development of a CLB system with the 
Japan Ocean Resources Association. In 1972 Ocean Resources orga- 
1 Ocean Science News. Nov. 15, 1974, p. 4. 
2 Mineral Resources of the Deep Seabed, Part 2, op. cit., p. 1081. 
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