Rare Metals and Rare-Earth Elements inDeep-Ocean Mineral Deposits
James R. HeinU.S. Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
SPC/SOPAC-ISA International Workshop on Environmental Needs for Deep Seabed Minerals
Nadi, Fiji, 29 November-2 December 2011
WOW, this month we reached 7,000,000,000
People!
2.5 billion live in countries with boomingeconomies and a rapidly growing
middle class
Where will the resources come from to sustain that growth, and to support green and emerging technologies?
Science v. 327 March 26, 2010
Physics Today May, 2010 David Kramer
Road Bump? President Obama’s efforts to promote electric-car production may be stymied by getting access to rare-earth elements
Science v. 329 July 23, 2010
From EE Times: Rare earth supply chain: Industry’s common cause by Colin Johnson
Variety of REEs in hybrid cars
Two ton Nd-Fe-B magnets include 255 - 320 kg of
neodymium
Dysprosium, Praseodymium, &Samarium
also contain significant cobalt and rhenium
Wind Turbines
Other rare-earth elements include:
~1.5 Billion Cell Phones sold in 2010
60 kg Tantalum510 kg Platinum
22.5 tons Palladium51.0 tons Gold525 tons Silver24,000 tons Copper
Plus many others e.g.REEs
25% of a Cell Phone is Metal
There will be only 20 years supply of tantalum if the global per capita use rises to 50% of the current U.S. per capita use; 40 years for copper
The U.S. imports >90% of 26 strategic and critical metals
China is the leading producer of 28 metals essential for high-tech and green-tech applications
The Earth’s surface is 71% water covered
• Dry land 29%• Ocean 71%
Pacific Ocean area is greater than the entire Earth’s land area
Potential Deep-Ocean Metal Resources
Emerging & Next Generation Technologies
Tellurium Photovoltaic solar cells; computer chips; thermal cooling devices
Cobalt Hybrid & electric car batteries, storage of solar energy, magnetic recording media, high-T super-alloys, supermagnets, cell phones
Bismuth Liquid Pb-Bi coolant for nuclear reactors; Bi-metal polymer bullets, high-T superconduct, computer chips
Tungsten Negative thermal expansion devices, high-T superalloys, X-ray photo imaging
Niobium High-T superalloys, next generation capacitors, superconducting resonators
Platinum Hydrogen fuel cells, chemical sensors, cancer drugs, flat-panel displays, electronics
64,000 km of spreading centers & intercontinental rifts25,000 km of volcanic arcs & back-arc-basin spreading centers
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Cu Zn
wei
ght %
Solwara 1
Sediment-hosted
VMS
Olympic dam
Porphyry copper
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Au Ag
ppm
Mean composition of NautilusSolwara 1 marine mine compared to all major types of land-based copper deposits
Zn = 23%Pb = 10%Ba= 10%Fe = 7%Sb = 1320Cd = 1120 ppmHg = 55 ppmAg = 358 ppmAu = 19 ppm
SphaleriteGalenaBariteChalcopyriteAnglesite
Global distribution of manganese nodules
Global Nodules
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
Mn Fe
Clarion Clipperton Zone
Peru Basin
Indian Ocean
Cook Islands
0
5000
10000
15000
Ni Cu
Wt %
Wt %
Global Nodules Continued pp
m
Crusts in the Global OceanCrusts in the Global Ocean
0
5
10
15
20
25
Mn Fe
Pacific Prime
S. Pacific
Indian
Atlantic
0
0.5
1
P
Wt %
Wt %
Crusts in the Global Ocean Continued
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
Co Ni Pb Ce Cu Zr Zn Mo
Pacific Prime
S. Pacific
Indian
Atlanticppm
Global Trace Metal Maxima
Mean Co = 0.67%Mean Ce = 0.13%
Means are forCentral Pacific Prime Crust Zone
The largest impediment to exploration for Fe-Mn crusts is the real-time measurement of crust thicknesses with adeep-towed instrument
The largest physical impediment to ore recovery isseparation of Fe-Mn crusts from substrate rock that occurs on an uneven and rough seabed
Challenges to Fe-Mn Crust Mining
Ferromanganese crusts provide the richest source of tellurium (Te) known (Hein et al., 2003)
“Finding enough Te for CdTe is the largest barrier to the multi-terawatt use of CdTefor solar-cell electricity. It is widely regarded as the lowest cost photovoltaic technology with the greatest potential. This is important to the US and the world” (Ken Zweibel, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS; 1982)to adequately represent the interests of developing nations in portioning out mining rights (Common Heritage of Mankind)
Areas beyond national jurisdictions (ISA)
EEZ (200 nauticalmiles)
U.S. EEZ
Compact of FreelyAssociated Nations with U.S.
Who Owns Deep-Ocean Mineral Deposits?
ISA Headquarters, Kingston Jamaica
161 Member States Plus the EU
Licenses for Marine Minerals Exploration Total 1,450,000 km2
Yellow shows the location of the only mining license
Total lease area equivalent to 3.4 Californias
Pacific Prime Crust Zone
Clarion-Clipperton Zone Nodules
California Margin Crusts
Peru Basin Nodules
Central Indian Basin Nodules
South Pacific Crusts
Indian Crusts
Atlantic Crusts
Terrestrial Mine
Comparisons of CCZ and PCZ with global land-based reserves & REE deposits
PCZ
From Hein and Koschinsky, 2012
In place metal tonnages (x 106 metric tons)
aUSGS 2010 reserve base & 2011 reserves (reserve base includes those resources that arecurrently economic (reserves), marginally economic, and subeconomic
Nodule tonnage used is 21,100 million dry tons and crust tonnage used is 7,533 milliondry tons (from Hein and Koschinsky, 2012)
10 Year Gold & Silver 19 Year Platinum Price Graphs (kitco.com)
From USGS REE fact sheet
Global Production of REEs
Mine Site is 18 km long and 2-3 km wide; note waste-rock dumps
Comparison of land-based carbonatite ores and marine ferromanganese deposits
PCZ: Pacific Crust ZoneCCZ: Clarion-Clipperton nodule zone
0.1
1
10
100
1000
0.1 1 10
Grade (Wt % TREO)
Mountain Pass,CaBayan Obo,ChinaPCZ, Fe-Mn
CCZ, Nodules
Tonn
age
X10
8To
nnag
e X
108
0.00.51.01.52.02.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
MoutnainPass, CA
BayanObo,China
PCZ,Crusts
CCZ,Nodules
0.45
4.8
2.3 2.1Tons
TR
EO
X10
7To
ns T
RE
OX
107
MountainPass
MountainPass
Bayan Obo,China
Bayan Obo,China
PCZ,CrustsPCZ,
CrustsCCZ,
NodulesCCZ,
Nodules
3.5
Light versus Heavy REEBayan Obo & Mountain Pass average <1% HREE
PCZ averages 6.3% HREECCZ averages 10% HREE
From C. Hocquard, 2010
In US$/kgIn US$/kg
Price for 10 Rare Earth Elements As of May 7, 2010
Europium
Terbium
Dysprosium
Neodymium
Praseodymium
Yttrium
Samarium
Gadolinium
Lanthanum
Cerium
Land-based: REE predominantly primary ore
PCZ: Byproduct of Co and Ni mining
CCZ: Byproduct of Ni and Cu mining
Primary Ore Versus Byproduct Production
Thorium ConcentrationsBayan Obo and Mountain Pass contain 100s ppm Th
PCZ averages 11 ppm Th
CCZ averages 14 ppm Th
Extractive Metallurgy
Land-based ores require extensive processing, e.g., 1000 steps to isolate ytterbium metal
Marine FeO(OH) and MnO2 can be dissolved with simple HCl leachputting all sorbed REEs into solution
July 9, 2011
July 3, 2011
Is there a resource Potential?
Highly unlikely!
Social and environmental advantages for recovery of deep-ocean minerals
Land-based mines leave a substantial footprint,impacted waterways, carbon emissions from heavy machinery, and millions to tons of waste rock
Marine-based mine sites have no roads, surface ore-transport systems, buildings, or other infrastructure
Social and environmental advantages for recovery of deep-ocean minerals
No overburden to remove, which on land can be 75% of material moved
Less ore needed to provide the same amount of metal
Three or more metals can be obtained at one site
No indigenous or native populations to disrupt
Ecosystems with generally low population densities and low diversity
Economic advantages to companies
Lower capital start-up costs
Moveable mining platform
Smaller deposits can be mined
High metal grades
ObrigadoThank You