SUT-US Deep sea minerals: critical minerals for electrification, renewables, and other green technologies. Resource base, exploration and production methods, and measuring environmental impact

Starts: Thu, Oct 17, 2024 9:00 AM CST
Ends: Thu, Oct 17, 2024 11:30 AM CST
Become a Member Now

Deep sea minerals: critical minerals for electrification, renewables, and other green technologies. Resource base, exploration and production methods, and measuring environmental impact

The Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics (OSIG) Committee of the Society for Underwater Technology in the US (SUT-US) is pleased to invite you to an online workshop titled "Deep sea minerals: critical minerals for electrification, renewables, and other green technologies. Resource base, exploration and production methods, and measuring environmental impact". The webinar session, comprising six presentations delivered by industry leaders and academic experts, provides a great opportunity for the audience to interact and learn. Registrants will have access to the video recording. SUT will offer Certificates for Professional Development Hours (PDH) for registrants upon request.

Deep sea mining for critical minerals is about to begin. Rich deposits of copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese, zinc, and rare earth elements are found on the seafloor and in deeper stockworks in the deep ocean. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) was established in 1994 and empowered to regulate deep sea mining activities on the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction. Currently the ISA is closing in on completing the mining code which would sanction and regulate deep sea mineral development. In parallel, national jurisdictions, such as the Cook Islands and Norway, have advanced their regulatory regimes for deep sea mineral development. In 2022, a pilot mining test of polymetallic nodules was performed by The Metals Company and their partner Allseas that included extensive environmental measurements and monitoring.

This webinar features leading experts who are involved in deep sea mineral development.
What you will learn:

• What are the economic deep sea marine minerals? How do they compare with traditional deposits on land?

• Why are we on the cusp of deepwater marine mineral development now?

• What are the exploration methods?

• What are the production methods?

• What is the measured environmental impact of polymetallic nodule production and what still needs to be learned?

The landmark NORI D polymetallic nodule production test and environmental monitoring methods and results will be discussed.

Presenters

	Dr. Zack Westgate Zack is an Associate Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a registered professional civil engineer with 18 years of experience consulting in the offshore energy sector, currently as a Principal Engineer with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute. He has published on topics relating to site characterization, soil mechanics, offshore foundation engineering, pipeline/riser geotechnics, and most recently on the geotechnical behavior of glauconite sands. He is currently Chair of the SUT-US Offshore Site Investigations and Geotechnics committee, and serves on other industry committees focused on offshore energy.
	Dan McConnell Dan is the Principal at Geomarine Resources PLLC and has over twenty-five years of experience in marine geology and geophysics for industry and scientific applications including site characterization, geochemical exploration, gas hydrate identification and drilling, and marine mineral resource surveys. He is a licensed Professional Geologist, and a Qualified Person for deep-marine polymetallic nodule deposits. Dan was the lead geologist on the successful 2018 NORI D Campaign 3 AUV and resource survey for polymetallic nodules in the Eastern Pacific and has worked as lead geologist in support of other polymetallic nodule contract areas. He has held senior management positions at Fugro and AOA Geophysics. He holds two patents related to gas hydrate identification. Dan has participated in 12 marine geophysical, sampling, drilling, or crewed submersible cruises as client representative, lead geologist, or scientist.
	Dr. Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera Dr. Schwarz-Schampera is the Program Management Officer for Mining Geology at the International Seabed Authority in Kingston, Jamaica. He received his PhD on trace metal association in volcanic hosted massive sulfide deposits and hydrothermal vent fields in the South Pacific. At the Ore Deposit Research Unit in Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Dr. Schwarz-Schampera investigated both terrestrial ore deposits of strategic metals and minerals as well as managing marine exploration and research for polymetallic sulfide deposits in the Indian Ocean. He has logged 27 marine mineral research cruises, 12 of those as Chief Scientist.
	Peter Kowalczyk, P.Geo. Peter is an exploration geophysicist and a founding partner in Ocean Floor Geophysics, an internationally recognized geophysical survey and sensor company. Peter was chief geophysicist for Placer Dome Inc., one of the world’s largest gold mining companies. In 2005 and 2006, Peter managed Placer Dome's exploration geophysics program for sea floor massive sulfides. When Placer stopped its activity in seafloor mineral exploration, Peter started Ocean Floor Geophysics Inc (OFG). Peter has expertise in the processing and interpretation of magnetic and electrical data. At OFG, he has participated in numerous seafloor exploration cruises looking for gas hydrates and submarine massive sulfides using remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles (ROVs and AUVs) for both commercial and government clients. Peter was one of the principal people involved in developing OFG’s patented self-compensated magnetometer technology as well as OFG’s three component underwater electric field measurement system, which are integral components of OFG’s integrated cathodic protection inspection system.
	Jon Machin Jon has 30 years of experience in deep water and oilfield engineering. He co-founded UTEC Geomarine, a deep water geotechnical engineering company. Prior to that, Jon held senior management positions at Fugro, Technip, and Schlumberger. Jon has been involved in the design and build of numerous Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and ‘extreme’ machines engaging the seafloor. Jon has over 20 peer reviewed papers, holds at least 6 patents, and lectures on deep water engineering.
	Tom Foster He is DHI Group Regional Director for the Americas and has been a pioneer in the development and execution of deep sea mining projects for DHI, particularly focusing on modelling plume dynamics and fates. He has worked on multiple projects in the CCZ. Mr. Foster has held prominent roles in the development of DHI Singapore into the flagship DHI Asia regional headquarters that specializes in environmental assessment, monitoring and management of large marine infrastructure projects. Major projects under his direction include the joint ITLOS study carried out for the Malaysian and Singapore governments on impacts arising from the Pulau Tekong and Tuas View land reclamation, one of the most comprehensive marine impact assessments on reclamation works ever carried out. The environmental monitoring and management of the Bali Turtle Island reclamation project in 1997 under his direction is still widely viewed as setting the standard for environmental management of reclamation works in SE Asia.