Manganese nodules contain valuable metals.

Treasures from the deep sea

When the first manganese nodules were recovered from the seabed in 1875, no one could imagine their future significance as a source of valuable raw materials. These nondescript black chunks resembling potato tubers had not yet revealed their inner secrets. Manganese nodules – as seen in the OZEANEUM’s Exploration and Exploitation of the Seas exhibit – have layer after layer of not only manganese, but other valuable metals such as copper, nickel and cobalt, formed over millions of years. Today we know that huge segments of the deep sea are covered with these nodules. With massively rising commodity prices, the mining of these nodules is becoming increasingly interesting from an economic perspective.

But it’s not as easy as simply collecting these raw materials from the sea floor. Located a few thousand meters below the sea, highly specialized technology is required. While we already have this technology, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the irreversible environmental damage mining could wreak upon the deep sea. Since the ecosystems there are still largely unexplored, the consequences arising from mining are still difficult to assess. That is why we are trying to develop largely environmentally friendly mining methods.

The manganese resources held in the depths of the ocean are estimated at one trillion metric tons – multiple times more than the deposits available on land. Many countries have long since secured mining rights to the open sea. Even Germany has acquired licenses to mine manganese nodules in a manganese deposit in the Pacific. At 150,000 square kilometers, the claim is twice the size of the German state of Bavaria. Although large-scale mining of deep-sea resources has yet to take place, all the major industrialized nations are poised at the starting blocks.