INVESTIGATION OF FERROMANGANESE CRUST DEPOSITS

SEAFLOOR DEPOSITS OF COBALT-RICH FERROMANGANESE CRUST WITHIN THE U.S. EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFFER A POTENTIAL NEW MINERAL RESOURCE FOR STRATEGIC METALS. EVALUATION OF THESE DEPOSITS IS A PRIME OBJECTIVE OF CURRENT AND PLANNED DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR RESEARCH EFFORTS. PRESENT CRUST SAMPLING DEVICES ARE INADEQUATE FOR EFFICIENT RESOURCE ASSESSMENT. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TETHERED, MULTI-SAMPLE CORING DEVICE FOR FERROMANGANES CRUSTS IS PROPOSED. THIS SAMPLER WILL RECOVER UP TO THIRTY PRECISELY LOCATED, FULL-SECTION CRUST SAMPLES ON A SINGLE LOWERING, ALLOWING EFFICIENT, CLOSE-GRID SAMPLING OF DEPOSITS FOR ECONOMIC EVALUATION. THE SYSTEM WILL BE OPERABLE IN RUGGED, STEEP SLOPE ENVIRONMENTS, TO DEPTHS OF 5,000 METERS, AND BE DEPLOYABLE FROM CONVENTIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC VESSELS USING A STANDARD MECHANICAL DEEP SEA WIRE. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROJECT CONSISTS OF DEVELOPMENT AND ON-SHORE TESTING OF THE SAMPLER DESIGN CONCEPT, FABRICATION OF A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM AND SHALLOW WATER TESTING.