Norway’s continental shelf may contain huge amounts of minerals and metals. Mining at sea may become a future industry.
On Thursday, Oil and Energy minister, Tord Lien, invited industry and researchers to provide input to the planned strategy for the sea.
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) estimates that the Norwegian continental shelf may contain minerals and metals worth up to 1.000 billion, reported NRK news. The actual value is uncertain because of fluctuating metal prices.
‘We estimate significant resources of copper and zinc, and maybe also silver and gold’, says Project Manager, Professor Kurt Aasly at the Department of Geology and Mineral Engineering at NTNU.
Aasly believes that technology used in the oil industry can be developed for the mineral industry and mining on the ocean floor.
‘Now we must consider how we can collect these resources in a sustainable, prudent, not to mention profitable manner’, Tord Lien told NRK.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
