Exploitation, Transportation and Processing 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: closed (14 October 2022) | Viewed by 7389

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
2. State Key Laboratory of Exploitation and Utilization of Deep Sea Mineral Resources, Changsha 410012, China
Interests: exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources; technology and equipment for deep-sea mining; techno-economic analysis on deep-sea mining; the regulations on exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources

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Guest Editor
Department of Economic Geology & Geochemistry, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, A. Ilisia, 15784 Athens, Greece
Interests: economic geology; exploration and evaluation of marine mineral resources

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Guest Editor
1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
2. State Key Laboratory of Exploitation and Utilization of Deep Sea Mineral Resources, Changsha 410012, China
Interests: excavation technology of seafloor massive sulphides; collecting technology of manganese nodules; lift technology of deep-sea minerals
1. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
2. State Key Laboratory of Exploitation and Utilization of Deep Sea Mineral Resources , Changsha 410012, China
Interests: lifting technology for deep-sea mineral resources; underwater vehicles; digital twin technology for deep-sea mining

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Guest Editor
School of Mechatronics Engineering and Automation, Foshan University, Foshan 528000, China
Interests: lifting technology of deep-sea minerals; development of deep-sea lifting pump; multiphase flow; exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Deep-sea minerals are major resources that will ensure sustainable industrial development in the future; their exploitation has been one of the most active research areas in natural mineral systems, mineral resources, mining, and mineral processing. The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide a platform for introducing and discussing the most recent development in the exploitation, transportation, and processing of deep-sea mineral resources, as well as the environmental impact and economic analysis of deep-sea mining. The papers published in this journal are open access, which will accelerate the spread of novel ideas among researchers in this community. High-quality papers on both novel methods and practical applications are welcomed. In order to provide a comprehensive insight into the development of this research area, this Special Issue is open to both review and original research papers. Topics for this Special Issue can include, but are not limited to:

  • The application and development of the deep-sea mining system;
  • Excavating and collecting technology for deep-sea minerals;
  • Lifting technology for vertically transporting minerals from the sea floor to the surface;
  • Surface transport technology for deep-sea minerals;
  • Ship-borne dewater system for deep-sea mining;
  • Deep-sea mining operation support system;
  • Environmental impacts of deep-sea mining;
  • Economic and technical considerations for the exploration and exploitation of deep-sea minerals;
  • Metallurgical processing of deep-sea minerals;
  • Sustainable processing of deep-sea minerals.

Prof. Dr. Shaojun Liu
Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Papavasileiou
Prof. Dr. Yan Li
Dr. Qiong Hu
Dr. Yajuan Kang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • deep-sea mining
  • deep-sea minerals
  • polymetallic nodules
  • polymetallic sulphides
  • cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts
  • excavation
  • collecting ores
  • ore lifting
  • environmental impacts
  • economic considerations
  • metallurgical processing
  • sustainable processing.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 71447 KiB  
Article
Design and Application of a Deep-Sea Engineering Geology In Situ Test System
by Kaiming Zhong, Ming Chen, Chao Xie, Jinrong Zheng, Wei Chen, Wen Ou and Chunliang Yu
Minerals 2023, 13(2), 184; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13020184 - 27 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1661
Abstract
Seabed soil layer composed of soft sediments, which has a high water content, low bulk density and low shear strength, has great influence on deep-sea engineering devices. Therefore, accurate measurement of the mechanical properties of seabed sediments is a prerequisite for the construction [...] Read more.
Seabed soil layer composed of soft sediments, which has a high water content, low bulk density and low shear strength, has great influence on deep-sea engineering devices. Therefore, accurate measurement of the mechanical properties of seabed sediments is a prerequisite for the construction and safe operation of deep-sea projects. In this study, a deep-sea engineering geology in situ test system was developed to measure cone resistance, sleeve friction, pore pressure and shear resistance in seafloor sediments. The system was tested on land, and the feasibility of the system was verified. We conducted sea trials in the South China Sea and acquired datasets from five stations. The data were analyzed using the Eslami–Fellenius soil classification map, and the soil classification of the site was obtained. The obtained values of cone resistance, sleeve friction, pore pressure and shear resistance can provide mechanical data support for deep-sea engineering in this area. Full article
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26 pages, 9502 KiB  
Article
A Study on the Performance Modeling Method for a Deep-Sea Cobalt-Rich Crust Mining Vehicle
by Chao Xie, Ming Chen, Lan Wang, Casey Agee, Shaoming Yao, Jinrong Zheng, Jun Liu, Jiahua Xie, Wen Ou, Jianyu Xiao, Wei Chen and Liquan Wang
Minerals 2022, 12(12), 1521; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12121521 - 28 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1798
Abstract
To mine the cobalt-rich crust deposits at the substrate of the slope of the seamount, the mining vehicle needs to walk on the slope and strip the cobalt-rich crust from the substrate. To achieve safety and control, the vehicle needs to stably walk [...] Read more.
To mine the cobalt-rich crust deposits at the substrate of the slope of the seamount, the mining vehicle needs to walk on the slope and strip the cobalt-rich crust from the substrate. To achieve safety and control, the vehicle needs to stably walk on the slope. In this paper, we propose a modeling method for mining vehicle performance based on slope stability and antislip and antiskid conditions. The specific energy of three types of mining vehicles is compared based on dimensionless parameters. The dual-drum type is determined to be the best choice in terms of energy costs, followed by the down-milling type. The performance of the compact mining vehicle based on different slope angles and two sea trial results in the South China Sea indicate that the slope angle, substrate, and crust have significant effects on the stability. The modeling method proposed in this paper can help designers estimate the structure and power of mining vehicles based on mining stability. Full article
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Review

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18 pages, 3739 KiB  
Review
Development of Hydraulic Lifting System of Deep-Sea Mineral Resources
by Qiong Hu, Zhenfu Li, Xiaoyu Zhai and Hao Zheng
Minerals 2022, 12(10), 1319; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12101319 - 19 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2995
Abstract
Lifting coarse mineral particles from thousands of meters of seabed to the supportive vessSel is a crucial part of exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources, and the vertical transportation part is a key component of the deep-sea mining system. Three typical vertical transportation schemes [...] Read more.
Lifting coarse mineral particles from thousands of meters of seabed to the supportive vessSel is a crucial part of exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources, and the vertical transportation part is a key component of the deep-sea mining system. Three typical vertical transportation schemes are discussed and compared from the aspects of working mechanism, structural scheme, transportation capacity, system efficiency and implementation feasibility in the context of commercial exploitation of deep-sea polymetallic nodules. The conclusion is that the hydraulic pipeline lifting system with a centrifugal pump is a comprehensive scheme. Furthermore, the basic composition and function of the hydraulic lifting system are introduced, and the transportation performance indicators and technical requirements under commercial mining conditions are analyzed. As the key equipment of the lifting system, the structural characteristics, design theory, transportation performance analysis methods and research progress of the lifting pump are described. A 1000 m sea trial was carried out. The lifting system, the tests of the centrifugal pump and the sea trial are introduced. Full article
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