VI. GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES 
Government involvement in deep ocean mining can be grouped into 
three major categories. The most common activities are: (1) direct 
sponsorship or funding of research and development; (2) direct ven- 
ture in mining or processing; and (3) indirect sponsorship through 
use of government facilities, taxation advantages, or university aid. 
Untirep STates 
Government activity in nodule research in the United States has 
been carried out by the Bureau of Mines, the U.S. Geological Survey, 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
the Naval Research Laboratory, and the National Science Foundation. 
Some of the research programs have been discussed previously. The 
research effort of the Bureau of Mines has involved recovery of metals 
from nodules. The interests of the U.S. Geological Survey in the deep 
seabed have been directed mainly toward assessing the mineral poten- 
tial of nodule deposits and determining their composition and origin. 
Recently, on February 25, 1975, the Department of Interior announced 
the formation of an Ocean Mining Administration to develop plans 
for licensing U.S. ocean mining companies. The research funded by 
NOAA primarily involves environmental concerns. The Naval Re- 
search Laboratory is developing underwater photographic techniques 
and improved camera technology to provide greater capabilities for 
future exploration. The National Science Foundation is sponsoring 
participation by the United States in the International Decade of 
Ocean Exploration (IDOE). The funding for the IDOE ferroman- 
ganese nodule program is mainly being distributed to universities and 
institutions for research in nodule formation and chemistry. 
ForrigN GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES 
Several countries are actively interested or engaged in ferroman- 
ganese nodule mining. The following is a brief summary of activities 
reported in recent years. 
AUSTRALIA 
Australia’s Bureau of Mineral Resources has been conducting re- 
search on manganese nodules. The naval vessel R/V Diamantina was 
used to dredge for nodules along a 200-mile stretch of the 39th parallel 
in June 1972.1 
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY 
_ The government of the Federal Republic of Germany supported a 
joint venture of Preussag and Metallgesellschaft in 1969 to study and 
1ECAFE, Report of the Committee for Co-ordination of Joint Prospecting for Mineral 
Resources in South Pacific Off-shore Areas. (CCOP/SOPAC), 1st session, November 1972 
(B/CN.11/1L.343), 1972, p. 34. 
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