Technology developments in the exploration and evaluation of deep-sea mineral resources

Manganese nodules, Co-rich crusts, and Seafloor massive Sulfides (SMS) are commonly seen as possible future resources that could potentially add to the global raw materials supply. At present, a proper global assessment of these resources is not possible due to a severe lack of information regarding their size, global distribution, and composition. The sizes of the most prospective areas that need to be explored for a global resource assessment are vast. Future deep-sea minerals exploration has to provide higher-resolution data and at the same time needs to cover large areas of the seafloor in a fast and cost-efficient manner. While nodules and crusts are 2-dimensional occurrences and an assessment of their distribution at the seafloor itself seems sufficient, seafloor massive sulfides are 3-dimensional sites and a proper resource assessment will always require drilling. Here the development of methods to image the subseafloor and to recognize economically interesting sites prior to drilling is of importance.