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The Investigation of Polymetallic Nodule Resources in the Deep Ocean:...
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The Investigation of Polymetallic Nodule Resources in the Deep Ocean: Review and Perspective

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Deposits".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (22 December 2023) | Viewed by 5825

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Huaiming Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Submarine Geosciences, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou 310012, China
Interests: geochemistry; marine geology; geological processes; mineralization; geology; minerals
Dr. Xiangwen Ren

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resource, Qingdao 266061, China
Interests: mineralization and resources estimation of polymetallic nodules; Co-rich Fe-Mn crusts; REEs-rich mud

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the past decade, the exploration and exploitation of polymetallic nodules has surged, with the practice being denoted the second “metal rush” since the 1960s, demonstrated by the high number of exploration contracts signed by the International Seabed Authority, the number of pilot mining tests being conducted by companies such as Metals, and by the recent progress of mining code. Polymetallic nodules are emerging as the most promising deep-sea minerals since they are enriched in some critical metals, including Co, Ni, Mn, Cu, and REEs. Those critical metals are foundational for the energy transition of transportation from ICE to cleaner EV.

In recent years, new progress has been made in the research and exploration of polymetallic nodules. New exploration areas such as the Western Pacific have opened. New instruments and techniques such as AUV and AI have been deployed. A new vision from a global scale to a nanometer scale was expanded.

We are pleased to invite you to submit your new research results on the mineralization of nodules, exploration discoveries, resources assessment, and exploration techniques.

This Special Issue aims to publish the progress made over the last 10 years in the field of the research and exploration of polymetallic nodules.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Discoveries on the mineralization researches;
  • New exploration results on geochemical, mineralogical, and spatial distribution characteristics of nodules;
  • New progresses in terms of resources assessment techniques.

Dr. Huaiming Li
Dr. Xiangwen Ren
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

  • polymetallic nodule
  • mineralization
  • deposit
  • deep sea
  • exploration
  • exploitation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 17216 KiB  
Article
Geochemical Behavior of Shallow Buried Nodules from Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone in the East Pacific: A LA-ICP-MS Mapping Analysis Perspective
by Zedong Fan, Xiaohu Li, Zhenggang Li, Weilin Ma, Zhimin Zhu, Jie Li, Hao Wang, Kehong Yang, Huaiming Li, Fengyou Chu and Yanhui Dong
Minerals 2024, 14(1), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14010080 - 11 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1353
Abstract
The Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone of the east Pacific contains numerous shallow buried nodules that are in direct contact with pore water in sediment, providing a direct reflection of the interaction between nodules and sediment. However, research on the geochemical behavior of these shallow-buried [...] Read more.
The Clarion–Clipperton Fracture Zone of the east Pacific contains numerous shallow buried nodules that are in direct contact with pore water in sediment, providing a direct reflection of the interaction between nodules and sediment. However, research on the geochemical behavior of these shallow-buried nodules is limited. This study used laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to compare mineral and element distribution in shallow buried nodules with surface nodules. The shallow buried nodules are products of nodules entering the burial stage. In comparison to surface nodules, shallowly buried nodules develop a fourth oxidized-suboxic diagenetic growth layer after entering the burial stage, in addition to the three main growth inner layers (L1, L2, L3). We suggest that L4 is not influenced by the bottom water source and that the presence of todorokite and the high flux of Mn2+ in the sediment pore water compete with other metal elements to enter the lattice of manganate, resulting in significantly higher Mn, W, and Li contents in L4 compared to L2. However, the content of Ni, Mg, and other hydrogenetic elements is much lower in L4 compared to L2. We suggest that the instantaneous change in surface primary productivity results in a sudden shift in the redox environment of the upper sediment layer. This reaction leads to the reduction of solid-phase Mn, providing growth opportunities for the buried nodules. Simultaneously, this may also be the reason why the growth layer of the nodules is jointly controlled by the sedimentary processes of hydrogenetic, oxic diagenetic, and suboxic diagenetic processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Investigation of Polymetallic Nodule Resources in the Deep Ocean: Review and Perspective)
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13 pages, 11221 KiB  
Article
Hydrogenetic and Diagenetic Controls on the Specific Surface Area of Polymetallic Nodules in Deep Ocean Basins
by Xiangwen Ren, Haonan Li, Shijuan Yan, Huaiming Li and Xuefa Shi
Minerals 2023, 13(11), 1431; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13111431 - 11 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1750
Abstract
Polymetallic nodules (nodules) are a predominant deep-sea mineral resource due to theirenrichment with critical metals, such as Co, Ni, and Cu, and rare earth elements (REEs). The loose and porous nature of nodules contributes to their adsorption and enrichment in trace metals from [...] Read more.
Polymetallic nodules (nodules) are a predominant deep-sea mineral resource due to theirenrichment with critical metals, such as Co, Ni, and Cu, and rare earth elements (REEs). The loose and porous nature of nodules contributes to their adsorption and enrichment in trace metals from seawater and pore water. Consequently, the specific surface area (SSA) of nodules is a key factor requiring further study. However, controls on the SSA of nodules with various genetic types remain poorly characterized. This study aimed to investigate controls on nodule SSA by analyzing the transition metals, REEs, mineralogy, and SSA of nodules recovered from basins in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, including the Northwest Pacific Basin (NPB), Bauer Basin (BB), Tiki Basin (TB), Wharton Basin (WB), Central Indian Basin (CIB), and Angola Basin (AB). Nodule SSAs were compared among the various basins by calculating the BET SSA (based on the equation proposed by Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller, 1938). The results suggest thatnodules from the PNB, WB, CIB, and AB are mainly hydrogenetic, and those nodules have a relatively high SSA, high Co, low Ni and Cu, positive Ce anomalies, and low X-ray diffraction (XRD) intensities at ~10 Å. The nodules from the BB and TB are mainly diagenetic in origin, characterized by a relatively low SSA, low Co, high Ni and Cu, negative Ce anomalies, and high XRD intensities at ~10 Å. The SSAs of nodules were significantly positively correlated with Co, δCe, and light REEs (LREEs), and negatively correlated with the XRD intensity at ~10 Å, Ni, and Cu. The SSAs of nodules from the NPB ranged from 329.440 m2/g to 418.711 m2/g, comparable to the SSAs of Co-rich crusts on seamounts. This study proposes that nodule SAA is regulated by nodule genesis and that hydrogenetic nodules have a higher SSA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Investigation of Polymetallic Nodule Resources in the Deep Ocean: Review and Perspective)
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Review

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30 pages, 6637 KiB  
Review
Enrichment Characteristics and Mechanisms of Critical Metals in Marine Fe-Mn Crusts and Nodules: A Review
by Sucheng Huang and Yazhou Fu
Minerals 2023, 13(12), 1532; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13121532 - 9 Dec 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2119
Abstract
Marine Co-rich ferromanganese crusts and polymetallic nodules, which are widely distributed in oceanic environments, are salient potential mineral resources that are enriched with many critical metals. Many investigations have achieved essential progress and findings regarding critical metal enrichment in Fe-Mn crusts and nodules. [...] Read more.
Marine Co-rich ferromanganese crusts and polymetallic nodules, which are widely distributed in oceanic environments, are salient potential mineral resources that are enriched with many critical metals. Many investigations have achieved essential progress and findings regarding critical metal enrichment in Fe-Mn crusts and nodules. This study systematically reviews the research findings of previous investigations and elaborates in detail on the enrichment characteristics, enrichment processes and mechanisms and the influencing factors of the critical metals enriched in Fe-Mn crusts and nodules. The influencing factors of critical metal enrichments in Fe-Mn crusts and nodules mainly include the growth rate, water depth, post-depositional phosphatization and structural uptake of adsorbents. The major enrichment pathways of critical metals in marine Fe-Mn (oxy)hydroxides are primarily as follows: direct substitution on the surface of δ-MnO2 for Ni, Cu, Zn and Li; oxidative substitution on the δ-MnO2 surface for Co, Ce and Tl; partition between Mn and Fe phases through surface complexation according to electro-species attractiveness for REY (except for Ce), Cd, Mo, W and V; combined Mn-Fe phases enrichment for seawater anionic Te, Pt, As and Sb, whose low-valence species are mostly oxidatively enriched on δ-MnO2, in addition to electro-chemical adsorption onto FeOOH, while high-valence species are likely structurally incorporated by amorphous FeOOH; and dominant sorption and incorporation by amorphous FeOOH for Ti and Se. The coordination preferences of critical metals in the layered and tunneled Mn oxides are primarily as follows: metal incorporations in the layer/tunnel-wall for Co, Ni and Cu; triple-corner-sharing configurations above the structural vacancy for Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Tl; double-corner-sharing configurations for As, Sb, Mo, W, V and Te; edge-sharing configurations at the layer rims for corner-sharing metals when they are less competitive in taking up the corner-sharing position or under less oxidizing conditions when the metals are less feasible for reactions with layer vacancy; and hydrated interlayer or tunnel-center sorption for Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Tl and Li. The major ore-forming elements (e.g., Co, Ni, Cu and Zn), rare earth elements and yttrium, platinum-group elements, dispersed elements (e.g., Te, Tl, Se and Cd) and other enriched critical metals (e.g., Li, Ti and Mo) in polymetallic nodules and Co-rich Fe-Mn crusts of different geneses have unique and varied enrichment characteristics, metal occurrence states, enrichment processes and enrichment mechanisms. This review helps to deepen the understanding of the geochemical behaviors of critical metals in oceanic environments, and it also bears significance for understanding the extreme enrichment and mineralization of deep-sea critical metals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Investigation of Polymetallic Nodule Resources in the Deep Ocean: Review and Perspective)
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