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Conceptual 3D Modeling and Direct Block Scheduling of a Massive Seafloor Sulfide Occurrence

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Perspectives on Deep-Sea Mining

Abstract

The transition toward more environmentally friendly energy production and e-mobility will increase the global demand for metals and minerals. The ocean floor might contribute to meet this demand. This would require that the mineral resources are managed well, from both governmental and industry perspectives. Strategic mine planning is an integrated part of such a management process and is here developed for deep-sea mining based on state-of-the-art methodologies developed for onshore mining. Focus is on seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) deposits known to contain anomalous amounts of, for example, copper, zinc, gold, and silver. It is known that the deposits can form cone-shaped ore geometries. This calls for a mining method inspired from onshore open pit mining. Conceptual 3D geometric and qualimetric models of the Loki’s Castle occurrence along the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge are developed. Based on these models and the characteristics of a preferred mining system, a 3D economic block model is developed. This model is used in direct block scheduling with varying sets of assumptions to develop the ultimate pit and schedules for a potential extraction.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Mining width corresponds to the minimum mining width that effectively can be mined given the preferred mining equipment. For the deep-sea mining case, this would be defined by the dimensions of the seafloor production tool (the SPT).

  2. 2.

    Large assumption; although textural information from the TAG deposit is favorable and good processing performance is obtained on Solwara 1 samples, overall processing performance is uncertain.

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Acknowledgments

Although only one author is listed, many researchers and co-workers have contributed with bits and pieces. I would therefore like to acknowledge Maxime Lesage for proofreading and for valuable discussions on the mining system and its characteristics, Kurt Aasly, Rolf Arne Kleiv, and Przemyslaw B. Kowalczuk for valuable discussions on mineralogical and textural characteristics and its link to processing performance and technologies, and Hakan Basarir for valuable contributions on overall slope stability. Last, but not at least, I would like to acknowledge Sebastian Volkmann and Micah Nehring for proofreading and discussions on various aspects of this contribution.

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  1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Steinar L. Ellefmo

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Correspondence to Steinar L. Ellefmo .

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  1. Former Chief Scientist and Consultant, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, India

    Rahul Sharma

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Ellefmo, S.L. (2022). Conceptual 3D Modeling and Direct Block Scheduling of a Massive Seafloor Sulfide Occurrence. In: Sharma, R. (eds) Perspectives on Deep-Sea Mining. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87982-2_16

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