Deep Reach Technology, Inc. Receives Contract with Ocean Mining Exploration Company for a Deep-Sea Nodule Mining Scoping Study
Houston, Texas (USA) – 2018
Deep Reach Technology, Inc. (“DRT”) has been contracted to carry out a scoping study to develop an initial concept for a deep-sea nodule mining system. The system will harvest seabed nodules that are rich in a variety of metals in high grades that are increasingly rare in terrestrial mines. Tracked or towed nodule collectors hydraulically extract the nodules and pass them to a vertical transport riser driven by an airlift system. The riser carries the nodules to a mining ship that processes them before transferring them to a transport ship for delivery to metal extraction facilities on shore.
DRT will evaluate both large-scale commercial systems and smaller hybrid pilot/commercial systems. The analysis will include design of an airlift system to transport nodules from the seabed to the surface and of the mining vessel. The airlift analysis will take advantage of DRT’s proprietary airlift simulation software to support design decisions with sensitivity studies and automated optimization algorithms. The vessel design will include gross sizing of major equipment and evaluation of nodule storage needs based on a variety of configurations of the transport fleet that ca
carry nodules from the mining vessel to onshore processing facilities. Particular attention will be directed to the shipboard material handling system, including a pressure letdown system, nodule dewater methods, nodule re-slurrification options, and hydraulic transfer of nodules to transport ships.
The client will use DRT’s results to support their Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), that in turn will be used to launch a fundraising campaign. Depending on the success of that campaign, DRT will follow up our evaluations with a risk assessment and mitigation project.
The DRT Team has a strong multi-disciplinary legacy in deep ocean mining going back to pioneering work in the 1970’s. The current team includes geologists, ocean engineers, process engineers and environmental scientists with extensive experience in deep sea mining. We are capable of performing a broad range of services from concept and feasibility studies, to equipment design and test, to full FEED engineering. For further information contact Mr. Steven Rizea, DRT President at SRizea@deepreachtech.com or Dr. John Halkyard, Chairman, at JHalkyard@deepreachtech.com.