r 16
T716 Last Resource
minerals in the nodules Could be made available at three—quarters—
:"Ÿ°'Ï
or, in some cases, less than half—the cost of more conventional
supplies. In fact there would be an embarrassing surplus of some
minerals. For example, satisfying the demand of American industry
for nickel would result in the production of three times the man—
_
ganese and ve times the Zirconium used in the country.
,
.‘
So far, companies scraping a living from the sea oor have
restricted themselves to the more accessible deposits found
continental shelf ; most manganese nodules raised from the ocean
oor arrive at the surface in the oceanographers’ grabs and dredges.
In one case phos‘phorite nodules were sucCes‘sfully collected from
conceSsions off the coast of California until other less Welcome types
of deposits were discovered: the area had been used as a range by
'
the US. Navy and live shells came up in the dredges. Very
deposits of phosphorite exist beyond the continental shelf which,
according to john Mero, should give an annual return on invest—
ment of around 40 per cent after paying all taxes!
…
Among the traditionally‘glam0rouâ’ minerals found in the shallow
waters of the continental shelves are—tin, gold and diamonds. Tin is
dredged up o" Thailand and
and the trail
for gold is leading to areas off—shore
it:—is the diamond
,
mining operations oû” south—west
so far attracted
the greatest
Optimism. 'Të rstpr0specting for the
marine gemè began in the early
and the initial nds were
"
.
promising that by 1964 ”the, MarineDiam01‘1dC0rporation, which
had secured
estimated the potential
at 13 million carats of
well Over ,Çzoo millioSÏ And
this estimate did not
poss1ble dep05its
mile limit of the suff Z‘One
Ï
subsequent operations îhaveenotfîsälwaysbeenassuccessful asantrcr—
pated and the corporation
far from ounshmgthreeyeam
‘
when de Beer's, the S Outh African diamond companywhrch already
'
had an interest in the venturé,
diamoñd operation has picked upï considerably andbecomeprot—
ablè=@nceagain…
.
‘
_
ii);
.
the ïsea oOi‘ài‘èfarmore
dîa19nds‘ or g"‘çld‘g‘f Theÿ are more commonly
sh0ps—sandgravel
-‘
the
Kingdom, foi
companies
T716 Last Resource
minerals in the nodules Could be made available at three—quarters—
:"Ÿ°'Ï
or, in some cases, less than half—the cost of more conventional
supplies. In fact there would be an embarrassing surplus of some
minerals. For example, satisfying the demand of American industry
for nickel would result in the production of three times the man—
_
ganese and ve times the Zirconium used in the country.
,
.‘
So far, companies scraping a living from the sea oor have
restricted themselves to the more accessible deposits found
continental shelf ; most manganese nodules raised from the ocean
oor arrive at the surface in the oceanographers’ grabs and dredges.
In one case phos‘phorite nodules were sucCes‘sfully collected from
conceSsions off the coast of California until other less Welcome types
of deposits were discovered: the area had been used as a range by
'
the US. Navy and live shells came up in the dredges. Very
deposits of phosphorite exist beyond the continental shelf which,
according to john Mero, should give an annual return on invest—
ment of around 40 per cent after paying all taxes!
…
Among the traditionally‘glam0rouâ’ minerals found in the shallow
waters of the continental shelves are—tin, gold and diamonds. Tin is
dredged up o" Thailand and
and the trail
for gold is leading to areas off—shore
it:—is the diamond
,
mining operations oû” south—west
so far attracted
the greatest
Optimism. 'Të rstpr0specting for the
marine gemè began in the early
and the initial nds were
"
.
promising that by 1964 ”the, MarineDiam01‘1dC0rporation, which
had secured
estimated the potential
at 13 million carats of
well Over ,Çzoo millioSÏ And
this estimate did not
poss1ble dep05its
mile limit of the suff Z‘One
Ï
subsequent operations îhaveenotfîsälwaysbeenassuccessful asantrcr—
pated and the corporation
far from ounshmgthreeyeam
‘
when de Beer's, the S Outh African diamond companywhrch already
'
had an interest in the venturé,
diamoñd operation has picked upï considerably andbecomeprot—
ablè=@nceagain…
.
‘
_
ii);
.
the ïsea oOi‘ài‘èfarmore
dîa19nds‘ or g"‘çld‘g‘f Theÿ are more commonly
sh0ps—sandgravel
-‘
the
Kingdom, foi
companies