A concept for seabed rare earth mining in the eastern South Pacific

Abstract

This report presents a concept for mining of rare earth elements from seabed sediment in a promising area of the eastern South Pacific. The document begins with an introduction to the seabed, its regulation and resources. The rare earth elements and their uses, production
and trade are then considered – although demand for rare earths is forecast to grow, price forecasts are very difficult.

The available data on rare earth elements in seabed sediment is analysed, and a promising region selected for investigation; acoustic and geophysical/geochemical methods to explore and gather new data using underwater vehicles are discussed.

The environmental, legal and social context of the chosen mining site is considered and the impacts of mining on the environment analysed; suspended sediment and tailings release are identified as major issues. It is clear that much is still not understood about the potential environmental effects of deep sea mining.

A system for mining seabed mud rich in rare earth elements is then proposed – the method involves processing on the seafloor to minimise the volume that must be lifted to the surface and eliminate the uneconomic riser system. Aspects of this seabed processing apparatus are considered in some detail, though many problems remain unresolved.

Finally, some financial and risk analyses of the project are completed, making an assumption that successful exploration has taken place

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Identifiers

ORCID for P.A. Wilson: orcid.org/0000-0002-6939-682X

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