Geology, Exploration and Mining of Deep-Sea Mineral Resources
A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Deposits".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 5
Special Issue Editors
Interests: marine minerals; deep sea mineral deposits; geochemistry and mineralogy; methods of marine exploration; seafloor massive sulfides; evolution of hydrothermal systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: marine geochemistry; economic geology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: magnetic methods; geophysical surveys; seismic methods; mineral exploration; rock physics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Resources of cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper, gold, and several rare and rare earth elements in deep-sea minerals (DSM) are comparable to, and sometimes exceed, the resources of continental deposits. The metals in DSM are categorized as critical and strategic, ensuring the sustainable development particularly for high-tech industries of the global economy. Currently, exploration work is ongoing to assess the resources of three main types of deep-sea minerals—ferromanganese nodules, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, and polymetallic sulfides. The exploration methods include geophysical and geochemical ones and are still improving. The data obtained during exploration work are of great scientific importance, and the issues of DSM distribution and composition, as well as modeling of ore formation processes, remain the subject of many scientific projects. At present, exploration work on certain areas of the seabed is nearing completion. The need to move on to production is driving the development of deep-sea mining technologies.
The main goal of the Special Issue is to improve our understanding of ore-forming processes in the ocean as well as approaches for exploration and exploitation of DSM. This will provide a scientific and methodological basis for the future development of ocean mineral resources.
Prof. Dr. Georgy Cherkashov
Prof. Dr. Xiaoming Sun
Prof. Dr. Luigi Jovane
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- marine minerals
- exploration methods
- geological setting of DSM
- mineralogy, geochemistry and dating of deep-sea deposits
- ore forming models of DSM
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