Prospects for metals and materials from deep sea ores

Abstract

With the long-term availability of the immense mineral resources represented by sea-bed nodules, the present deep crisis in the ferrous and non-ferrous metals industry offers a unique opportunity to critically review the resource-dispersive, speculative development system of the industrialized world, and establish a rational metals and materials policy.

The polymetallic character of ocean nodules, which in the not-far-distant future could become a major source of metals to the entire world, appears to suggest the opportunity of turning from traditional carbothermic reduction of (monometallic) oxide ores to less energy consuming, more 'chemical' metallurgies, capable of extracting all the metal content from complex ores.

In this viewpoint, the potential of carbochlorination for the processing treatment of nodules is assessed and some of the possible effects of ocean-ores exploitation on a new materials policy are considered.