ABSTRACT
In a 5 million km2 area of the eastern Pacific Ocean more than 27 billion tonnes of polymetallic nodules could be laying on or just under the seabed; they could yield perhaps 7 billion tonnes of manganese, 340 million tonnes of nickel, 290 million tonnes of copper and 78 million tonnes of cobalt. 1 Though not insignificant, this area is only about 3 percent of the total area of the Pacific Ocean. Another report claims that mineral deposits on or just under the sea floor could contain ten times the amount of commercially valuable minerals as those on land. 2
