Chemicals & Minerals from Sea

                   

• The sea offers a variety of minerals, many of which are considered to be alternative sources of metals.
• Minerals occur on the seabed in two forms: 1)Polymetallic nodules which are small balls of iron, manganese and Sea bed massive sulphides lie at extinct hydrothermal vents and contain copper, gold, zinc and other metals. They are extracted using remotely operated vehicles to scrap the deposits from the seabed and pump them to a barge.
• Deep sea minerals rich in Copper, Cobalt, Nickel, Manganese, Zinc, Lead, Barium, Silver and Gold.
• A major technological challenge to mining minerals from such depths.
• Concept of recovering minerals from seawater has been obtained as a way of counteracting the gradual depletion of conventional mineral ores.