sulfide

Leaching of Metals and Metalloids from Hydrothermal Ore Particulates and Their Effects on Marine Phytoplankton

5 July, 2017

Source: ACS Publications
Authors: Shigeshi Fuchida, Akiko Yokoyama, Rina Fukuchi, Jun-ichiro Ishibashi, Shinsuke Kawagucci, Masanobu Kawachi, and Hiroshi Koshikawa

Abstract: Seafloor massive sulfide deposits have attracted much interest as mineral resources. Therefore, the potential environmental impacts of full-scale mining should be considered. In this study, we focused on metal and metalloid contamination that could be triggered by accidental leakage and dispersion of hydrothermal ore particulates from mining vessels into surface seawater.

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Deep Sea Mining PNG’s Sensitive Marine Ecosystems

6 March, 2016

Source: Papua New Guinea Mining Watch

Author: Simon Judd – Mineral Policy Institute

The integrity of marine ecosystems all over the world is threatened by human activities such as dumping of rubbish, disposal of chemical and radioactive waste, extraction of oil and gas, and fishing. Mining for sand and minerals in shallow waters has been conducted for decades, but the latest threat to ocean ecosystems comes from mining of the ocean seabed, otherwise known as deep sea mining (DSM) or seabed mining (SBM).

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Compromising the Ecology of the Deep

24 September, 2015

Source: Huffington Post

Author: Dr Lisa Levin

Many of us know that most of planet Earth is covered with ocean — about 70 percent. We probably should have been named planet Ocean. But how many know that most of our planet is covered with deep ocean? That ocean waters deeper than 200 meters (656 feet) cover about two-thirds of the surface of the planet and more than 95 percent of the habitable volume? Most of this vast area is unexplored. We know less about the bottom of the ocean than we do about the surface of the moon, and as a result, most of the biological species in the ocean remain undiscovered.

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Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone: The New Mineral Rush

20 December, 2013

Source: Huff Post Green

Author: Sophie Cocke

HONOLULU — Last summer, a team of Japanese scientists boarded the University of Hawaii’s Kaimikai O Kanaloa, a 223-foot, high-tech research ship docked in Honolulu Harbor, and headed out to sea. Their mission was to explore whether they will be able to tap into billions of dollars worth of coveted minerals that are believed to sit 5,000 meters beneath the sea in an area that runs from about 500 miles southeast of Hawaii toward Mexico.  Japan is one of more than a dozen countries angling to profit off the vast mineral deposits that span 6 million square kilometers — an area the size of the United States — in what’s known as the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone.

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