seabed mining way of the future

Seabed mining way of the future

Wednesday, 26/03/2008

Australia's miners are charting new territory as they increasingly look to the sea floor for new mineral opportunities.

Local companies are dredging off the coasts of Papua New Guinea, Africa and Tonga for diamonds and phosphate, and there's ongoing research into subsea mining off Australia.

West Australian marine miner Bonaparte Diamonds is one of the new breed of water explorers.

Chief executive Mike Woodbourne says with mineral deposits running low on land, the ocean floor is the obvious next place to look.

"One could say we probably know more about the moon than the ocean floor, and as we can see our impact on land has been quite substantial," he says.

"We've got 80 per cent of the earth's surface covered by sea.

"That doesn't mean we should go in and damage that area but it certainly is an indication to us that the hydrosphere is the new frontier."

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/wa/content/2006/s2198853.htm