COBRA Webinar – October 2025

Marine minerals and economic geology

Dr. John Jamieson (University of Ottawa, Canada Research Chair in Marine Geology)

Conversations regarding deep-sea mining are often dominated by the uncertainties associated with environmental impact, supply/demand and economic viability, and the regulatory framework. However, a fundamental, but often overlooked, aspect of the deep-sea mining discussion is the resource potential of deep-sea minerals (i.e. how many deposits are on the seafloor and are they big enough or rich enough to mine). In this presentation, I will give an overview of mineral exploration at the seafloor, primarily focusing on seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits that form at hydrothermal vents. I will discuss how deposits are found, and how their economic viability is determined. I will provide an economic geology-based global assessment of the viability of SMS deposits as a future source of metals and the uncertainties associated with this assessment.