A METHOD OF MINING USING A CRAWLER TO DISTURB SEABED SEDIMENT AND FORM A SLURRY

摘要

A method and apparatus for mining and processing seabed sediment comprising disturbing sediment at the seabed (3) to form a slurry; transporting the slurry to the surface via a production riser (6) and processing the slurry to dissociate hydrates and remove hydrates from the slurry in gaseous form at the surface. The slurry may also contain sapropel and minerals. If so, the slurry may be split into a mineral rich stream and a sapropel rich stream each of which may be subjected to further treatment.