Deepsea mining

Deepsea mining is the process relating to the retrieval of resources from the ocean floor.

Sources

There exist many different sources of mineral wealth on the ocean floor however two main ones are black smokers and nodules.

In either case the recovered resource can contain up to 50 percent zinc, 23 percent copper and in some cases up to 1200g/Mt of silver.

Recovery Methods

There are numerous recovery methods relating to deep sea mining that over the last decade have become extremely feasible with the rising metal prices. Two main forms are:

* The use of remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs)
* Dredging, such as that used currently to clear shipping lanes and remove soil from lake bottoms

From http://en.wikipedia.org/