Polymetallic nodule resources of the Indian Ocean
Abstract
The seabed resources are large and varied and considerable knowledge and technological development are required to exploit them economically. Beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the deposits which are of utmost interest are the polymetallic nodules. These contain, beside iron and manganese, copper, nickle and cobalt in economically feasible quantities. India has already got a mine site registered in the Central Indian Ocean Basin. As the land resources of strategic metals are declining rapidly because of our ever increasing demand, we will have to go in for the deep sea minerals in the future. For this, the nodules appear to be most promising. Although they vary in their metal contents from place to place, the consistent occurence of copper, nickel and cobalt in economic quantities in them makes their exploitation attractive. However, what is lacking at present is a technology package to make the proposal economically viable and environmentally sound
Collections
- Scholarly literature [9074]