A METHOD OF MINING AND PROCESSING SEABED SEDIMENT

摘要

A method and apparatusfor mining and processing seabedsediment comprising disturbing sedimentat the seabed (3) to form a slurry;transporting the slurry to the surfacevia a production riser (6) andprocessing the slurry to dissociate hydratesand remove hydrates from theslurry in gaseous form at the surface.The slurry may also contain sapropeland minerals. If so, the slurry may besplit into a mineral rich stream and asapropel rich stream each of whichmay be subjected to further treatment.