Section 2 Mineral Resources' 



FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 



Currently available data indicate that with a 

 few exceptions such as gold, silver, and uranium 

 the worldwide physical supply of land-based hard 

 mineral resources is sufficient to meet projected 

 demands at least to the year 2000. 



This judgment, however, is based on the as- 

 sumptions that sporadic new land-discoveries will 

 be made at a normal rate and that a constantly 

 improving technology will permit the extraction of 

 lower grade resources. It is also assumed that 

 international political conditions will remain rela- 

 tively stable and that the United States will be able 

 to continue to import the fairly extensive group of 

 mineral commodities that are not available from 

 domestic sources, including off-shore sources. 



If these assumptions are accepted it appears 

 that there will be no pressing necessity to turn to 

 marine sources for hard minerals during the next 

 two or three decades. Of course some companies, 

 with particular needs for certain types of mineral 

 reserves, may have an incentive to pioneer the 

 development of some marine resources sooner 

 than might otherwise be expected. 



Although a crash program to find and develop 

 marine mineral resources is not deemed necessary, 

 a substantial and continuing National effort should 

 be initiated to pave the way for a broadening of 

 the resource base for the next generation to 

 obviate a future crash program and to enhance the 

 opportunities for exploiting minerals from marine 

 sources over the near term. 



There are now opportunities to obtain certain 

 mineral commodities from the marine environ- 

 ment more cheaply than from land-based sources. 

 Sand, gravel, and calcium carbonate raw material, 

 in short supply in some urban areas, are being 

 dredged from the continental shelves, often with 

 multiple benefit effects. Elemental sulphur is being 

 obtained by the efficient Frasch process from 

 offshore sources in the Gulf of Mexico. Salt, 

 magnesium, and bromine are extracted in sub- 

 stantial quantities from sea water; tin, iron ore. 



Because of their special nature, oil and gas are treated 

 in a separate section. 



coal, and other mineral commodities are mined 

 successfully from the seabed in other parts of the 

 world. Additional opportunities for economic ex- 

 ploitation of minerals from marine sources will 

 inevitably appear. Gold and other heavy minerals 

 offer immediate potential; among the more distant 

 possibilities are phosphorite nodules, manganese 

 nodules, and other minerals. 



In order to improve these opportunities and to 

 help broaden the Nation's overall mineral resource 

 base a National program involving mapping and 

 charting, scientific and technologic research, and 

 review and revision of some of the existing laws 

 and regulations should be initiated as soon as 

 possible because the lead time for achieving some 

 of the program objectives is fairly long. 



The following specific findings and recom- 

 mendations should be considered in the overall 

 context of enhancing and expanding economic 

 opportunity at a deliberate pace rather than in the 

 context of an urgent or immediate necessity. Some 

 of the findings are similar to those in the Presi- 

 dent's Science Advisory Committee report of 

 1966, although rather different approaches have 

 been followed in arriving at them. 



A. Mapping and Geologic Research 



Bathymetric charts showing the contour of the 

 sea floor are, like topographic maps on land, the 

 base on which many other types of information 

 are plotted. It is essential that good bathymetric 

 charts be available if other information, such as 

 distribution of geologic formations and structures 

 and delineation of mineral deposits are to be 

 analysed and interpreted in a meaningful way. 



Recommendation : 



Bathymetric charts at 1:250,000 scale should be 

 completed for the entire U.S. continental shelves 

 and slopes within 15 to 20 years by a Government 

 agency. Reconnaissance gravity and magnetic sur- 

 veys, and continuous seismic profiling surveys can 

 be run concurrently with the bathymetric and 

 routine oceanographic surveys. Gravity, magnetic, 

 and seismic maps of the shelves and slopes at 

 1:250,000 scale should be completed in about 15 



VlI-89 



