c. Potential Shortage of Metals It is to the 
Nation’s interest to promote and encourage ocean 
exploitation not only to support population in- 
creases but to supplement dwindling land re- 
sources. It has been predicted that total demand 
for metals between 1965 and the year 2000 will 
amount to more than the total metals consumed 
by all nations cumulatively until the present time. 
Therefore, technology will have to be developed to 
obtain minerals from such new locations as the 
ocean. Thus, companies mining sulfur and tin 
already are forced to look more to the sea. 
d. Dependence on Foreign Sources It is advisable 
for the United States to have alternate sources of 
supply so that in an emergency it will not be 
overly dependent on foreign sources for critical 
metals. 
e. Industry Growth Mining companies are inter- 
ested in the sea for various reasons. They must 
keep abreast of the technology of offshore extrac- 
tion if for no other reason than to have a good 
working knowledge of the competitive position of 
those marine minerals that eventually might en- 
hance or jeopardize their business. In addition, 
they must be able to make rational decisions in 
choosing between ocean and land resources for 
investment in new production facilities. 
2. Present Activity 
Not counting coal and iron presently mined 
from on-shore openings, about $200 million of 
mineral products is mined world-wide directly 
from the ocean floor annually. This includes sand, 
gravel, oyster shell, sulfur, and tin and iron ores 
but does not include minerals extracted from the 
water column. If one excludes sand, gravel, oyster 
shells, and sulfur, the remaining ocean mining is 
only about $50 million per year for tin and iron 
sands, heavy minerals, and diamonds.!* 
For the most part, the present market repre- 
sents unique local deposits that serve local mar- 
kets. The notable exceptions are tin and sulfur. It 
is believed that once a substantially rich deposit is 
found, technology to exploit it will be readily 
1S Bares, S., “Mining Marine Minerals,’ Machine De- 
sign, April 25, 1968, p. 26. 
VI-180 
developed—at least for the continental shelves. 
However, unless a deposit large and rich enough to 
offset the higher cost of underwater operations is 
found, ocean mining development will continue to 
move rather slowly. 
The mining industry on the U.S. Continental 
Shelf consists of little more than dredging non- 
metallic deposits and sulfur extraction. The latter 
is mined through a drill hole and is related to 
petroleum in its exploration and recovery tech- 
niques and problems. There are, however, success- 
ful ocean mining operations in other parts of the 
world where the legal and economic climate is 
more favorable and where the existence of sizable 
deposits has been established. 
There is or has been exploration for gold off 
Alaska (depth of 200 feet), phosphorite off North 
Carolina and California (to 600 feet), and manga- 
nese and phosporite nodules and crusts on the 
Blake Plateau (depth of 2,400 to 3,600 feet) and 
at even greater depths, especially in the Pacific. 
3. Types of Mineral Deposits 
Ocean minerals can be divided broadly into two 
categories encompassing those minerals found on 
the bottom and those that might be found in the 
sub-bottom (within bedrock), as shown in Figure 
45. Within one or the other category is a diversi- 
fied group of minerals such as copper, iron, gold, 
manganese nodules, oyster shells, etc. 
Each involves variations in the exploration and 
recovery types of equipment required. Hence, the 
industry’s needs will be of a heterogeneous nature. 
Sea water column mining is discussed in Subsec- 
tion V, “Chemical Extraction’”’. 
The principal operations involved in ocean 
mineral exploitation follow: (1) exploration and 
evaluation, (2) recovery, and (3) transportation 
and processing. These will be discussed below. 
However, prior to this a brief description is given 
of some of the basic technological differences 
between hard mineral mining and the recovery of 
oil and gas. 
B. Hard Minerals vs. Oil and Gas 
The geology controlling the occurrence of oil 
and gas commonly extends predictably offshore, 
and the technology and techniques used to find 
and recover oil offshore have, for the most part, 
been very similar to those on land. Exploration 
