Metal mining
MiningManganese Nodules fromdeep OceanInmid-seventies,$70-million international joint venture succeededcollecting multi-ton quantitiesmanganese nodules fromabyssal plains (18,000+ depth)ofeastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. Significant quantitiesNickel (the primary target) as well as CopperCobalt were subsequently extracted from this "ore" using both pyrohydro methods. Incoursethis 8-year project,numberancillary developments evolved, includingusenear-bottom towed side-scan sonar arrayassaynodule population density onabyssal silt whilst simultaneously performingsub-bottom profile withderived, vertically-oriented, low-frequency acoustic beam.
The technologyart developed duringcoursethis project were never commercialized becauselast two decades of20th century sawglutNickel production. The estimated $3.5-billion (1978 US dollars) investmentimplement comercialization was an additional factor. Sumitomo Metal Mining continuesmaintainsmall (place-keeping) organizationthis field.
