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Deep-Sea Mining versus Land-Based Mining: A Cost Comparison

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The Economics of Deep-Sea Mining

Abstract

During a Pacific voyage of the British Research Vessel “HMS Challenger” in 1876, nodular polymetallic structures containing large amounts of manganese were discovered on the ocean floor. One hundred years later, the planned mining of these manganese nodules became the central topic of debate at the Third UN Law of the Sea Conference. The main points at issue at this conference were the conditions under which deep-sea mining can be carried out1, the organization of the seabed supervisory authorities, the production quotas, the transfer of technology, and the taxation of deep-sea mining2.

The author wishes to thank Wilfried Prewo for his valuable suggestions and comments. This paper was translated into English at the Multilingual Services Division, Department of the Secretary of State, Canada.

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Authors
  1. Rolf Dick
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Kiel Institute of World Economics, Düsternbrooker Weg 120, 2300, Kiel 1, Germany

    Juergen B. Donges

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© 1985 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Dick, R. (1985). Deep-Sea Mining versus Land-Based Mining: A Cost Comparison. In: Donges, J.B. (eds) The Economics of Deep-Sea Mining. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70252-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70252-5_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-70254-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-70252-5

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