78 • Marine Minerals: Exploring Our New Ocean Frontier 





Photo credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 



Manganese nodules on the seafloor. Ferromanganese 

 nodules have been studied extensively as a potential 

 source of copper, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. 

 Prototype mining systems have successfully recovered 

 several tons of nodules from sites such as this, but full- 

 scale mining systems have not been built and tested. 

 Current market conditions do not encourage 

 further commercial development. 



