BGRPMN12015 BIODIVERSITY

Sampling data captured in Oceanic Exploration Research Based mainly on nodule abundances in 221 box core samples and the hydro-acoustic data obtained during seven cruises to the German license area, resource modelling using artificial neural network statistics was carried out for the entire license area of 75,000 km2 size, and in particular for four prospective potential mining areas in the eastern license area with a total size of 1038 km2. According to these assessments, the entire license area contains 620 million metric tonnes of nodules (dry weight) with 195 million t of Mn, 8.7 million t of Ni, 7.3 million t of Cu, 1.6 million t of Ti, and 1.1 million t of Co. Results
of geostatistical analyses show that the mean nodule abundance in the four prospective areas in the eastern license area (“sub-clusters”) varies between 17.7 and 23.1 kg/m2 and the resources here amount to 14 million metric tonnes of nodules in total (dry weight), containing 4.4 million t of Mn, 198,000 t of Ni, 165,000 t of Cu, 36,000 t of Ti, and 24,000 t of Co.