By Mata Press Service
A B.C. mining company has teamed up with an international team of scientists to explore the seafloor near Papua New Guinea to search for a treasure trove of minerals.
Using remotely operated underwater vehicles, the team is investigating active and inactive hydrothermal vents and the formation of mineral deposits containing copper, gold and other commercially valuable minerals.
The cruise is a joint expedition between Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Nautilus Minerals Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, a mining exploration company that holds exploration leases in the Bismarck Sea within the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea.
Nautilus is the first firm to commercially explore the ocean floor for economically viable massive sulfide deposits, and is interested in understanding the size and mineral content of the seafloor massive sulfide systems.
Geophysicist Maurice Tivey of WHOI is heading the 42-day expedition, which began July 21 from Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, aboard the research vessel Melville, operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
WHOI is dedicated to research and higher education at the frontiers of ocean science.
The joint expedition includes a 32-day WHOI research program funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to the Pacmanus vent sites in the Eastern Manus Basin.
Nautilus is funding an additional 10-day program to explore and sample the Vienna Woods sulfide prospects on the Manus Ridge, northwest of the Pacmanus study area.
The cruise ends September 1 at Suva, Fiji.
Tivey and his co-investigators are interested in the geochemistry and structure of the seafloor and the formation of mineral deposits along mid-ocean and back-arc ridge systems, where new ocean crust is formed.
The team is using the remotely operated vehicle Jason and the Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE), both developed and operated by WHOI and veterans of many expeditions to hydrothermal vent sites around the world.
The Pacmanus site is in 1,700 metres of water (about 4,500 feet), while the Vienna Woods site is in 2,500 metres (about 8,000 feet).
The research program is designed to determine what factors may be affecting vent deposit chemistry, Tivey said.
They will also map the seafloor, and below the seafloor using geophysical techniques, to better discern the geologic history and structure of the sites.
Nautilus CEO David Heydon states on his website: "This is an excellent example of collaboration between scientific organizations, industry and government aimed at promoting our understanding of the seafloor and the mineralized systems that form on it. From this work we expect to better understand the nature of, distribution, size, grade and manner of formation of seafloor massive sulphide deposits and to use this information to promote the discovery and evaluation of these systems within our leases and elsewhere."
Nautilus is the first company to commercially explore the ocean floor for gold and copper seafloor massive sulphide deposits and is positioned to become a world leader in underwater mineral exploration.
