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1986 Acta Juridica 69 (1986)
Technical Economic and Institutional Constraints on the Production of Minerals from the Deep Seabed

handle is hein.journals/actj1986 and id is 81 raw text is: TECHNICAL, ECONOMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE PRODUCTION OF MINERALS FROM THE DEEP SEABED INTRODUCTION Marine minerals are frequently classified on the basis of deposit type. The type of deposit will depend, in turn, on the environmental factors contributing to the deposit genesis and its location within the marine environment. One can define three oceanic zones that have both geological and legal significance: 1) the nearshore zone corresponding to the 12 nautical mile territorial sea; 2) the continental shelf zone generally corresponding to the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone; and 3) the abyssal plain or deep seabed corresponding to an international area beyond the legal jurisdiction of individual nations. Most marine mineral deposits occur in nearshore environments within the economic jurisdiction of individual nations. Extensive phosphorite deposits occur off the east and west coasts of North America, off the west coasts of South America and Africa and on the Chatham Rise east of New Zealand. Some subseafloor lodes represent the seaward extension of land-based deposits. Underground coal mines extending off-shore from Nova Scotia, Canada and off Great Britain and Japan are examples of subseafloor lode deposits. Place deposits consist of weathered materials from upland contintental rocks transported to and deposited in shallow coastal waters. Gold, platinum group metals, titanium, chromium, tin, diamonds, rare earths and other heavy minerals occur as placer deposits and are found on the shelves of all major continents. Offshore oil and gas production occurs within the economic zones of many nations. Major recovery operations now exist in the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Industrial commodities such as sand- and gravel are recovered in nearshore environments using conventional dredging methods. Great Britain currently fulfils approximately 15 percent of her domestic demand for construction aggregate from marine deposits.' In addition to those mineral commodities recovered from the benthic environment of national economic zones, are several commodities produced directly from seawater. Magnesium compounds, magnesium metal, bromine and salt are produced in great quantity directly from seawater. Processing plants located at or near coastal regions have access to an unlimited supply of seawater from which these commodities are extracted. The deep seabed beyond the jurisdiction of individual nations has two major types of deposits with the potential to provide minerals: marine manganese deposits and polymetallic sulfides. Two types of marine manganese deposits have economic potential: manganese nodules which are enriched in nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese; and ferromanganese crusts which are enriched in cobalt and, possibly, platinum group metals. Polymetallic sulfides are enriched in certain transition metals, including zinc, copper, iron and lead and the precious metals, gold and silver. Many nations, including the United States, Japan, West Germany, France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and India, have invested heavily in evaluations of deepsea metal deposits. Despite these investments, the recovery of minerals from the deep seabed remains many years away. Pessimism among private industry representatives has replaced the optimism of the 1970s regarding the 69

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