Mining hydrothermal vents

摘要

A method of mining a hydrothermal vent involves placing an apparatus of over the vent and directing the vent fluids via pipe work to a surface vessel where electrolysis is used to recover minerals from solution. Residual liquid is then returned to the ocean via a second set of return pipes. In another aspect (fig 2), vent fluids are directed via pipework to mineral containing sediment around the vents, whereby the fluids agitate and cause entrainment of the sediment, wherein the flow produced from the vent may carry the sediment to the vessel for separation. It is also stated that the methods could be used with artificial vents drilled in the ocean floor.