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The folder includes a capabilities brochure and some biographical 
data on the members of our Deepsea Ventures technical team. 
Last January I had the opportunity to brief some of you on board 
our research vessel Prospector about the work that we had been do- 
ing under the auspices of the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry 
Dock Co. since 1962, and to give you a brief outline of our plans. 
When someone says that it takes a decade to accomplish a pro- 
gram such as ours, we agree as we have completed the 7th year 
of the program. The overall message I hope to bring to you is that in 
your deliberations of the Stratton committee’s fine report important 
consideration should be given to the fact that there is at least one 
U.S. company out working in the ocean, locating mine sites, testing 
mining dredging equipment, and operating refining processes by 
which the ores recovered can be economically processed to metal 
values for competition in the world metal markets. 
The most economically significant metals that we see coming from 
the deep ocean as a result of our program are nickel and copper. Both 
are in very short supply with increasing shortages forecast. 
The cobalt that will be recovered from the nodules should contribute 
to world economic progress on the basis of the many potential uses 
of this metal should its supply increase significantly. 
Economic manganese deposits do not exist in the United States 
but there are ample reserves of high quality in Africa, South America 
and Asia. Deepsea’s deep ocean mining program cannot be justified 
on any single metal constituent. All metal products will have to take 
their chances in the world market. 
I have with me a set of slides that describe this deep ocean mining 
technology program now in its eighth year. The slides indicate the 
following : i 
We are in the final stages of sorting out potential mine sites to 
determine the most economical location and deposit assay considering 
mining and processing technology. i 
Our final design, model testing, and land checkout of an operating 
ocean prototype equipment is on schedule and it will test our tech- 
nology on the Blake Plateau off the coast of Georgia and Florida 
next Summer. 
The hydrometallurgical processes needed to recover the metals from 
the nodules is progressing so well that we are moving our team from 
the Tenneco Laboratories in Piscataway, N.J., to our Gloucester, Va., 
headquarters for our miniplant and pilot plant testing starting this 
fall. 
The slides that follow should give you a picture of our progress. 
Could we please have the lights down ? 
[Slides were shown. | 
Mr. Furesr. This, gentlemen, is a deposit of surficial manganese 
nodules on the deep ocean floor. The manganese nodules are accre- 
tions, or gatherings, of metal oxides from the materials that are 
actually in solution in the water. 
They normally form about a nucleus such as a shark’s tooth, a grain 
of sand or some other enduring material. 
The nodules come together in onion-like layers and in this case you 
can see on the slide the white lines of calcium carbonate and silica. 
The constituents, normally, of a nodule such as this could be 
