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state some of the pertinent implications of our long-range operations. Our pro- 
gram started in 1962 and we agree with many who say it takes about a decade 
to accomplish a program such as our deep ocean mining effort. We have com- 
pleted the seventh year of that program. 
Summary 
The overall message I hope to bring to you is that, in your deliberations con- 
cerning the deep ocean portions of Dr. Stratton’s and his Committee’s fine re- 
port, important consideration should be given to the fact that there is at least 
one U.S. company out there: Locating mine sites; testing mining and dredging 
equipment; and operating refining processes by which the ores recovered ean 
be economically processed to metal values for competition in the world metal 
markets. 
The most economically significant metals we see coming from the deep ocean 
as a result of Deepsea’s mining program are those scarce on world-wide basis 
such as nickel and copper. Both are in very short supply with increasing short- 
ages forecasted. The cobalt recovered from the nodules will also contribute to 
the world economic progress, and therefore Deepsea’s, on the basis of the many 
potential uses for this mineral should its supply increase significantly. Heonomic 
manganese deposits do not exist on the U.S. continent, but there are ample re- 
Serves 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 compete in the world market ! 
Mr. Chairman, I have with me a set of slides and a technical paper with 
illustrations that describe this deep ocean mining technology program now in its 
eighth year. These materials indicate the following : 
We are in the final stages of sorting-out potential mine sites to deter- 
mine the most economical location and deposit assay, considering the mining 
and processing technology. 
Following up on our patented system, our final design, model testing, and 
land checkout of the ocean prototype is going according to schedule and 
it will test our technology on the Blake Plateau next summer. 
The hydrometallurgical processes needed to recover the metals from these 
deep ocean ores are progressing so well that we are moving our team down 
from the Tenneco Laboratories at Piscataway, New Jersey, to our Gloucester, 
Virginia, headquarters for mini-plant and pilot plant testing to start this 
fall. 
International and national actions taken now, relative to deep ocean 
activities, will affect a U.S. company attempting to develop the ocean’s 
resources. 
The background of the deep ocean program 
Since the Challenger expeditions of the 1870’s, man has known of the exten- 
sive deposits of minerals on the floors of the deep ocean. In the last several 
decades, the oceanographic community has explored these deposits and developed 
fragmentary information on the quantity and quality of many of the minerals, 
with considerable emphasis placed on manganese nodule deposits. Figure A* 
is a photograph we have taken of some managanese nodules, most of which lie 
on the surface of the deep ocean bottom, generally in waters in excess of several 
thousand feet. The most valuable of these deposits are known to lie in the 
deepest waters. 
As support information, Mr. Chairman, may I point out that manganese 
nodules are an accretion of varying percentages of manganese, iron, nickel, 
cobalt, copper, carbonates, and silicates, and other materials. The nodules gen- 
erally appear as shown in Figure B* which is a photo of a medium sized nodule. 
As you can see, they are generally potato-shaped lumps, black in color. On the 
right hand side of the illustration is a sectioned piece of nodule. Here, growth 
rings can be seen as the constituents come together in the deep ocean. The 
rings indicate period of growth based on conditions in the location where the 
nodule was formed. The core of the nodule is a hard long-lived ocean floor item 
such as a shark’s tooth, whale’s earbone, grain of sand, or small lump of fossil 
matter. Data and information concerning manganese accretions in nodule and 
in slab form has been collected by various groups, in a variety of ways, through- 
out the world for almost a century. 
In 1962, the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company started ex- 
ploration, research, and development in the areas of sampling, recovery, transfer, 
*NoTe.—The photographs referred to were placed in the files of the 
subcommittee. 
