IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/ifwkwp/1688.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Metalliferous sediments in the Atlantis II Deep: Assessing the geological and economic resource potential and legal constraints

Author

Listed:
  • Bertram, Christine
  • Krätschell, Anna
  • O'Brien, Killian
  • Brückmann, Warner
  • Proelss, Alexander

Abstract

To date, mineral resources are only mined on land but projected increases in demand have brought the exploration and exploitation of marine mineral resources back into focus. The Atlantis II Deep, located in the central Red Sea between Saudi Arabia and Sudan, is one of the largest marine sulfide deposits known, with high concentrations of metals such as zinc, copper, silver and gold. However, little is known about the economic potential of marine minerals as well as the legal constraints. Our geological assessment shows that the deep is similar in grades and scale to large land-based deposits. Its economic potential is far from negligible. The present value of possible gross revenues ranges from 3.11 to 8.21 billion US-$, depending on the minerals considered. From a legal perspective, a general duty to cooperate in the exploration and exploitation of non-living resources located in disputed maritime areas is identified in both customary international law and in the UNCLOS. It is submitted that a joint development agreement is one means of ensuring compliance with this duty in general and in the case of the Atlantis II Deep in particular.

Suggested Citation

  • Bertram, Christine & Krätschell, Anna & O'Brien, Killian & Brückmann, Warner & Proelss, Alexander, 2011. "Metalliferous sediments in the Atlantis II Deep: Assessing the geological and economic resource potential and legal constraints," Kiel Working Papers 1688, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1688
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/45862/1/65458687X.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stein, Robert & Walter, Ingo, 1977. "Seabed resources and international law," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 237-242, December.
    2. Kirthisingha, P. N., 1983. "International policies on the economic resources of the deep-seabed," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 77-98, June.
    3. Hoagland, Porter & Beaulieu, Stace & Tivey, Maurice A. & Eggert, Roderick G. & German, Christopher & Glowka, Lyle & Lin, Jian, 2010. "Deep-sea mining of seafloor massive sulfides," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 728-732, May.
    4. Shusterich, Kurt, 1982. "Mining the deep seabed : A complex and innovative industry," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 175-192, July.
    5. John C Hughes & Gareth James & Andrew Evans & Debra Prestwood, 2009. "Implementation of Standard Industrial Classification 2007: December 2009 update," Economic & Labour Market Review, Palgrave Macmillan;Office for National Statistics, vol. 3(12), pages 51-55, December.
    6. Halfar, Jochen & Fujita, Rodney M., 2002. "Precautionary management of deep-sea mining," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 103-106, March.
    7. Clark, Joel P. & Neutra, Marian R., 1983. "Mining manganese nodules : Potential economic and environmental effects ag]," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 99-109, June.
    8. repec:wbk:wbpubs:27846 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Cameron, H. & Georghiou, L. & Perry, J. G. & Wiley, P., 1981. "The economic feasibility of deep-sea mining," Engineering Costs and Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(3-4), pages 279-287.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fox, Sarah Jane, 2022. "‘Exploiting – land, sea and space: Mineral superpower’ In the name of peace: A critical race to protect the depths and heights," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Daniel Keaney & Brigid Lucey & Karen Finn, 2024. "A Review of Environmental Challenges Facing Martian Colonisation and the Potential for Terrestrial Microbes to Transform a Toxic Extraterrestrial Environment," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Alexander Cunningham, 2024. "Assessing the feasibility of deep-seabed mining of polymetallic nodules in the Area of seabed and ocean floor beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, as a method of alleviating supply-side issues ," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 37(2), pages 207-226, June.
    4. Sebastian Ernst Volkmann & Felix Lehnen & Peter A. Kukla, 2019. "Estimating the economics of a mining project on seafloor manganese nodules," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 32(3), pages 287-306, November.
    5. Van Dover, C.L. & Aronson, J. & Pendleton, L. & Smith, S. & Arnaud-Haond, S. & Moreno-Mateos, D. & Barbier, E. & Billett, D. & Bowers, K. & Danovaro, R. & Edwards, A. & Kellert, S. & Morato, T. & Poll, 2014. "Ecological restoration in the deep sea: Desiderata," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 98-106.
    6. Harald Ulrik Sverdrup & Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir & Deniz Koca, 2017. "Integrated Modelling of the Global Cobalt Extraction, Supply, Price and Depletion of Extractable Resources Using the WORLD6 Model," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-29, March.
    7. Mark C. Quigley & Luke G. Bennetts & Patricia Durance & Petra M. Kuhnert & Mark D. Lindsay & Keith G. Pembleton & Melanie E. Roberts & Christopher J. White, 2019. "The provision and utility of science and uncertainty to decision-makers: earth science case studies," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 307-348, September.
    8. Rasmus Noss Bang & Lars-Kristian Lunde Trellevik, 2023. "Reserve-dependent capital efficiency, cross-sector competition, and mineral security considerations in mineral industry transition," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 36(3), pages 383-400, September.
    9. Chennat Gopalakrishnan, 1989. "Transnational Corporations and Ocean Technology Transfer: New Economic Zones Are Being Developed by Public/Private Partnerships but Deep Sea Miners Balk on Royalties," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 373-383, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Atlantis II Deep; deep-sea mining; joint development scheme; metalliferous sediments; resource potential; Saudi-Sudanese Red Sea Commission;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q30 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
    • Q34 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Natural Resources and Domestic and International Conflicts
    • Q38 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy (includes OPEC Policy)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1688. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwkiede.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.