Mineral Resources Of The Ocean presented at the national workshop on ODINAFRICA

Abstract

The seabed hosts a lot of mineral resources, sand and gravel, phosphorite, sulphur, coal oil and gas manganese nodules and sulphide nodules which had been exploited for a long time. However, much more had been known in the last twenty years when a reasonable but still incomplete inventory of these minerals and materials were made. These deep sea with vast potential resources are however in competition with the onshore supply. The future development of these minerals depends largely on international markets, need for strategic materials and cost of production compared to onshore deposits. This brief presentation is a summary of these resources and their current status. It must however be emphasized that with improved technology and the concern for the depletion of onshore resources, interest in seabed minerals and mining will be greatly enhanced.