Deep Marine Mineral Resources

The risks of shortages for some crucial metals and uncertainty about the land-based reserves of several others justify the search to diversify our sources of supply and investigate their potential. Mineral resources in the deep sea are attracting increasing interest with the progressive discovery of various forms of ores. France possesses large areas of deep seafloor in the three oceans as well as world-class human and technological resources and know-how, resulting from over 40 years of experience. This study takes stock of knowledge about mineralisations and associated metals, technologies for exploring and exploiting them, biodiversity and the potential impact of exploitation on the deep environment and the partnerships which are vital for France and Europe. This information will be useful for decision-makers in drawing up strategies, defining research and development programmes and in enhancing and developing commercial utilizations for these high-potential resources.

Yves Fouquet, holding a PhD in metallogeny and an accreditation to direct research (HDR), joined Ifremer in 1982, where he is currently head of the Geochemistry and Metallogeny laboratory. He is one of the specialists in hydrothermal systems on ocean ridges. In 2010, he was awarded the Grande médaille Prince Albert 1^er de Monaco.

Denis Lacroix is an engineer by training with a PhD in animal science and has been a researcher at Ifremer for the past thirty years. He has worked in the field of aquaculture and in international relations, both in overseas France and the Mediterranean. Since 2006, he has led the foresight unit at Ifremer and was coordinator of the study on Marine renewable energy sources, published in 2009 by Editions Quæ.