any such function being carried by the parent 

 industry associations most closely connected with 

 each operation. Lack of a mutually beneficial 

 organization creates some problems in the flow of 

 proprietary information. 



B. Financing 



Present financing for offshore operations is carried 

 out on an individual company or private con- 

 sortium basis. 



C. Technology 



Production of hard minerals from marine 

 sources will be either governed or strongly affected 

 by the following factors: 



—Size and shape of deposit 



—Physical character of deposit— whether uncon- 

 solidated placer, nodule, hard rock lode, or dis- 

 solved in sea water 



—Depth of water covering the deposit 



-Topography of seafloor (if deposit is on seafloor) 



—Depth of overburden or barren rock covering 

 deposit 



-Distance from shore 



—Ocean currents 



-Sea state 



—Presence of ice over deposit in Arctic waters. 



Commercial extraction of unconsolidated ma- 

 terials is limited at present to nearshore deposits in 

 calm water. Generally speaking, offshore dredging 

 costs are about double the costs of dredging on 

 land. Depth capabilities are limited to 1 50 feet for 

 bucket dredge, 300 feet for the less efficient 

 hydraulic dredge and about 350 feet for grab 

 dredges.^' It is now possible to extend the 

 capability of each dredging method about another 



50 feet; the ultimate limits for the hydraulic and 

 grab dredges may be very much beyond that. No 

 equipment exists to exploit the phosphorite or 

 manganese nodules in deeper waters. One of the 

 major problems encountered in nearshore placer 

 dredging is the effect of weather and seas. This was 

 exemplified by the operations of Marine Diamond 

 Corporation off South West Africa where extreme 

 sea conditions contributed largely to the curtail- 

 ment of operations and re-assessment of the 

 situation. 



Deposits in the substrate of the continental 

 shelves are possibly exploitable by lock tube in 

 water depths as great as 300 feet, but significant 

 resources may be present in shelf and slope rocks 

 weO beyond this depth. 



The present programs of mining corporations 

 generally are limited to conceptual designs and 

 small-scale engineering work pending future tech- 

 nological breakthroughs in ocean engineering. 



Recommendation : ^° 



Development of the basic technology which must 

 precede the development of operational mining 

 equipment should be a function of Government in 

 cooperation with industry. 



Government and industry should work in close 

 cooperation to develop marine sampling systems 

 and improved delineation techniques and equip- 

 ment, but the actual delineation of mineral de- 

 posits should be carried out by private industry. 



A Government agency should have the function 

 of testing the tools and equipment developed 

 mainly by private industry, developing measure- 

 ment instrumentation used in mining research and 

 development, and setting standards for the mining 

 industry. 



This agency should be the source of informa- 

 tion on the results of experience of industry and 

 other Government agencies with underwater 

 equipment and materials. It should serve as a 

 medium for evaluating classified marine data and it 

 should determine with the Department of Defense 



O. G. Herrman, "Schwimmende Greiferbaggeranlage 

 Einschliesslich Aufbereitung an Bord mit Verladung des 

 Materials in Schiffe," Aufbereilungs-Technik, 1968, n. 2. 



Estimated costs covered by this recommendation for 

 a 10-year effort are $130 million. 



VII- 109 



