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Deep sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the seabed of the deep sea. The main ores of commercial interest are polymetallic nodules , which are found at depths of 4–6 km (2.5–3.7 mi) primarily on the abyssal plain .
Model of seabed mining technology. Seabed mining, also known as Seafloor mining [1] is the recovery of minerals from the seabed by techniques of underwater mining. The concept includes mining at shallow depths on the continental shelf and deep-sea mining at greater depths associated with tectonic activity, hydrothermal vents and the abyssal plains.
Marine geological studies were of extreme importance in providing the critical evidence for sea floor spreading and plate tectonics in the years following World War II. The deep ocean floor is the last essentially unexplored frontier and detailed mapping in support of economic (petroleum and metal mining), natural disaster mitigation, and ...
Polymetallic nodules are found in both shallow (e.g. the Baltic Sea [7]) and deeper waters (e.g. the central Pacific), even in lakes, [8] and are thought to have been a feature of the seas and oceans at least since the deep oceans were oxygenated in the Ediacaran period over 540 million years ago.
The Earth's crust is one "reservoir" for measurements of abundance. A reservoir is any large body to be studied as unit, like the ocean, atmosphere, mantle or crust. Different reservoirs may have different relative amounts of each element due to different chemical or mechanical processes involved in the creation of the reservoir. [1]: 18
Cool ocean water is drawn into the hydrothermal zone and is heated by the volcanic rock and is then expelled into the ocean, the process enriching the hydrothermal fluid in sulfur and metal ions. The ore materials are trapped within a fumarole field or a black smoker field when they are expelled into the ocean, cool, and precipitate sulfide ...
The country exported $5.97 billion worth of copper in 2021, making it one of the leading copper exporters in the world. Moreover, the country has around 36 million tonnes of copper reserves.
This list of deepest mines includes operational and non-operational mines that are at least 2,212 m (7,257 ft), which is the depth of Veryovkina Cave, the deepest known natural cave in the world. The depth measurements in this list represent the difference in elevation from the entrance of the mine to the deepest excavated point.