Korea secures manganese crust in western Pacific Ocean

The government announced on Wednesday that it received permission for exclusive exploration of a manganese crust mine area in seamount Magellan located in west pacific east from the Philippines. The size of the mine area is 3,000km², which is 1,034 times larger than Yeouido (2.9 km²). Manganese crust is a mineral resource created when metal in sea water is absorbed onto a seamount and contains cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese. The resource is used for industrial purposes such as electric/electronic products, steal manufacture, and jewelry.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries made an announcement on the day by stating, "The International Seabed Authority (ISA) has approved our mine exploration at the 22nd ISA general meeting. That means that we have secured the fifth exclusive mine exploration following the manganese nodule mine in the pacific, the seabed hydrothermal deposit mine in the Indian Ocean, and two others." The manganese crust buried in this new mine is high in cobalt and rare earth resources and is cheaper to excavate than manganese nodule which is buried deeper, drawing international attention. Near that mine are mines owned by China, Japan, Russia, and Brazil.

The government expects that since 40 million ton of manganese crust is buried in that mine and one million ton can be used for commercial purpose per year, the import substitution effect in the next 20 years will be 6 trillion won. The government will make a contract with the ISA in 2018, choose the most potential mine through precise exploration, and start the privately-led business.

The government also explained that this achievement is very meaningful as Korea now has all three kinds of seabed mines (manganese nodule, seabed hydrothermal deposit, and manganese crust) in international waters. The only countries other than Korea who have exclusive exploration license for all the three kinds of mines are China and Russia. Manganese nodule has similar constituents to manganese crust (800 meter to 2,500 meter below sea level) but different in shape and found in different locations (4,500 to 5,000 meter below sea level). Seabed hydrothermal deposit is a mineral resource formed when metal ion is deposited after seawater heated by magma rises.

조숭호기자 shcho@donga.com