505 
On the Soviet shelf, low grade manganese nodules have been 
discovered in the Baltic Sea, in the Gulf of Riga. In some areas 
of the shelf they are reported to exceed 3500 tons per square kilome- 
ter. 
The Soviets have expressed a strong interest in exploiting the deep 
seabed for manganese nodules, as cited above in justification for a 
coastal metallurgical complex in far eastern U.S.S.R. Although its 
onshore mineral resources are adequate, the Soviet Union is pressing 
its seabed search. In this regard, some observers have pointed out 
that the Soviets appear to value the mineral resources of the ocean 
floor beyond national jurisdiction far more in the long run than the 
“fickle good will of third world nations” which favor monopolistic 
development of seabed resources by an international organization.” 
One Soviet scientist was recently quoted as saying, ‘““The ocean floor 
has turned out to be an underwater Klondike, and it awaits a zealous 
master.”!? Some Western observers feel the Soviet Union is evidently 
prepared to gamble that it can develop the advanced technology for 
deep seabed mining and that, in time, it will cost less to mine minerals 
from the ocean floor than onshore ores.'* Furthermore, the Soviet 
Union may be less inclined to refrain from using its seabed mining 
technology, once developed, than the United States which out of 
deference to developing nations has generally discouraged any form 
of government support (other than verbal) for unilateral action by 
its mining interests, causing them to delay proceeding to commercial 
operation. Significantly, the Soviet Union will also have the naval 
might to deter any challengers to its deep seabed exploitation if the 
occasion should arise. 
RECOVERY OF MINERALS FROM SEAWATER 
The Soviet Union is developing its marine chemical industry with 
special emphasis being placed on reducing the West’s technological 
superiority in extracting bromine and magnesium from seawater. In 
the U.S.S.R. more than 70 percent of the requirements for bromine 
and more than 65 percent of the requirements for iodine are satisfied 
through domestic production from seawater. However, Soviet industry 
has mastered bromine extraction only in southern embayments such 
as the Sivash Sea (a shallow body of water located just east of the 
Crimea and west of the Sea of Azov), where there are 600 to 1000 
grams of bromine per cubic meter of water.'* Furthermore, according 
to a report in Voprosy Ekonomiki, ‘“‘we are confronted with the task 
of artifically increasing the bromine content per cubic meter of sea- 
water to 2,000 grams as a precondition for increasing the capacity 
of bromine plants and turning them into profitable enterprises.”® By 
comparison, until 1969 the United States extracted bromine from 
ordinary seawater containing only 65 grams of bromine per cubic 
meter of water. However, this was first concentrated by solar evapora- 
tion before processing. 
12 “Offshore.” Opposing an International Agency to Control Deep Ocean Resources Seems to In- 
dicate that Russia has Plans of its Own, October 1975, pp. 64-66. 
. teh p. 64. 
15 Mikhailov. op. cit., p. 105. 
16 Ibid. 
