Deep-Sea Mining Flashcards

This set covers key terminology from POSTnote 508 regarding deep-sea mining, including regulation, deposit types, geological features, and environmental considerations.

Deep sea

Areas of the ocean that are more than $500\,m$ deep.

International Seabed Authority (ISA)

A body established under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to regulate mineral exploration in international waters.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

Waters within $200\,nautical\,miles$ where signatory states have sovereign rights over resources of the sea.

’The Area’

In legislation, the mineral resources found beyond the EEZ or extended continental shelf, regulated by the ISA.

Seafloor Massive Sulphides (SMS)

Mineral deposits associated with hydrothermal vents containing many metals including copper, zinc, lead, gold, and silver.

Polymetallic Nodules

Deposits formed over millions of years (ranging from $1-12\,cm$ in length) scattered across the soft sediment surface of abyssal plains, primarily composed of manganese, nickel, and copper.

Cobalt-rich Crusts

Mineral deposits found on seamounts and rock surfaces, up to $26\,cm$ thick, mostly composed of iron and manganese but including cobalt, nickel, and REEs.

Rare Earth Elements (REEs)

A group of elements used in high-tech goods like mobile phones and low-carbon technologies like solar panels; China produces $91\%$ of the world’s supply.

Deep Sea Mining Act 2014

A UK Private Members’ Bill that updated the 1981 Act to bring UK law in line with UNCLOS, requiring contractors to obtain contracts from and be regulated by the ISA.

Hydrothermal Vents

Commonly known as ‘black (or white) smokers’, these are cracks in the sea floor where sea water is superheated up to $400^{\circ}C$ and enriched with minerals.

Abyssal Plains

Large, continuous areas of the seabed at depths of $4,000\,m$ to $6,500\,m$, accounting for more than $90\%$ of the deep-sea floor.

Seamounts

Underwater mountains, generally extinct volcanoes, with summit depths of between $100-4,000\,m$.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)

Vehicles used to survey the seabed prior to extraction.

Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)

Vehicles used for sampling deposits, the mining process itself, and monitoring operations.

Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ)

An area of $4.5\,million\,km^2$ in the North Pacific Ocean known for the greatest abundance of polymetallic nodules.

Sediment plumes

Suspended sediment formed by mining machines contacting the seabed or the return of mining waste, which can bury organisms or interfere with filter-feeding.

Tellurium

A mineral used in alloys, solar cells, and electronics, found in crusts in the PPCZ in amounts estimated to be nine times greater than the total land reserve base.

Solwara 1

A $0.112\,km^2$ area in the Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea, where Nautilus Minerals plans to begin mining SMS.

Auxiliary Cutter

A sea floor production tool designed to level the seabed and allow access for other mining tools.

Bulk Cutter

The primary sea floor production tool for cutting material and pumping it to a stockpile.

Precautionary Principle

The principle that in the absence of scientific consensus that an action is not harmful, the burden of proof falls on those proposing the action.

MIDAS project

An ongoing EU-funded and UK-led international research programme aimed at understanding the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining.