{"id":17376,"date":"2024-01-26T14:51:26","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T13:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2025.mining-report.de\/english\/?page_id=17376"},"modified":"2025-05-26T16:59:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T14:59:51","slug":"sensor-data-fusion-for-navigation-systems-for-the-extraction-of-raw-materials-in-the-deep-sea","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mining-report.de\/english\/sensor-data-fusion-for-navigation-systems-for-the-extraction-of-raw-materials-in-the-deep-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensor Data Fusion for Navigation Systems for the\u00a0Extraction of Raw Materials in the Deep Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"C<\/span>opper ores are found in massive sulphide deposits in the rift zones of the oceans. For the exploration and mining of these hydrothermally formed and very small-scale heterogeneously structured deposits, exact position data of the mining equipment used and also of the individual mining tools are required. At depths of over 2,000 m, navigation has to manage without the support of established navigation systems and is carried out using inertial measurement systems. These must be designed to meet the requirements of the deep-sea environment as well as the extreme vibration stresses from the mining process. The use of robust electronic sensors requires compensation for drift and inter\u00adference by \u00admeans of Kalman filtering.<\/p>\n\n\t\t
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Authors\/Autoren: <\/strong>Alexander M\u00f6lle M.Sc., Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Sobczyk, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg\/Germany, Dr.-Ing. Matthias Semel, BAUER Maschinen GmbH, Schrobenhausen\/Germany\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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1\u00a0 Growing demand for raw materials due to electrification<\/h4>\n\n\t\t
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The ongoing electrification of many areas of life, such as heat generation and transportation, is creating a rapidly increasing demand for the raw materials required for this. In addition to critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite, this is primarily copper, which is essential as a key raw material in large quantities for generators, transformers, motors and cables, and for which demand is projected to be around five times the currently available mining capacity by 2030. This cannot be met in the short term by developing new mines on the mainland. (1)<\/p>\n

Due to the long service life of many electrical systems, no secondary market can be developed here in the short term, so the focus is primarily on increasing productivity, e.\u2009g. through semi-autonomization of mining equipment, in existing mines and the development of known deposits in the deep sea.<\/p>\n\n\t\t

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2 \u00a0Raw materials in the deep sea<\/h4>\n\n\t\t
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Minerals in the deep sea that are of interest for mining can be roughly divided into three groups, which are distinguished not only in terms of their origin and occurrence, but also in terms of the extraction technology used. These groups are manganese nodules, cobalt-rich crusts and massive sulphides.<\/p>\n

The economic use of manganese nodules formed in the deep sea has been studied since the 1960s. The current debate about mining projects in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) off Hawaii is also increasingly part of the political discussion about the effects and consequences of deep-sea mining. Manganese nodules are mainly found in the shallow basins of the deep sea. Current projects for their exploitation rely on mobile, ground-based extraction systems.<\/p>\n

Cobalt-rich crusts are formed by the deposition of minerals dissolved in seawater on exposed rock in areas of volcanic activity.<\/p>\n

Massive sulphides form at the edges of rift zones as a result of the interaction of plate tectonics and water cycles. Due to the high pressure of the water column, deep water is forced into fissures in the basalt mantle at great depths, where it is heated to approximately 500 to 600 \u00b0C. As a result, minerals and other substances are released. As a result, minerals and sulphur are dissolved in the water in high concentrations and the water rises again elsewhere. When it emerges and comes into contact with the deep water, which is around 2 \u00b0C cold, the dissolved minerals suddenly precipitate, creating the visual impression of a plume of smoke (black or white smoker). The minerals are deposited at the exit point and form the typical vent-like structures of precipitated metal-sulphur and metal-silicate compounds on the one hand and a bed of fine-grained precipitated material on the other. During its active phase, the black smoker forms a so-called mound around the exit point, which mainly contains copper, copper-iron or zinc and lead sulphides. The high pressures, temperatures and extremely low pH values do not permit the decomposition of an active smoker, but provide a habitat for organisms that are specifically geared towards heat and sulphur. After the end of activity, the mound compacts through recrystallization processes and becomes accessible for exploration as life also gradually dies out due to the loss of heat.<\/p>\n

In the case of chalcopyrite, bornite or covellite, hydrothermally formed massive sulphides are an essential basis for copper ore mining. Typically, these deposits were formed several hundred million years ago, overlaid with sediment layers several hundred to over two thousand meters thick and compacted and recrystallized by geological processes. Typical copper contents are <\u20091\u2009%. Their development as open-cast mines requires the excavation of correspondingly large pits and spoil heaps. In the case of seabed massive sulphides (SMS), these ores are found relatively young and without sediment overburden; less compacted and therefore easy to dissolve, and with copper contents >\u200910\u2009%, making their development interesting from many aspects of extraction and subsequent processing. On the other hand, the issues of the deep sea as a habitat \u2013 still little explored in many places \u2013 and the associated protection of the environment, the extremely high pressures and the difficult accessibility of the deposits are disadvantageous. (2, 3, 4, 5)<\/p>\n\n\t\t

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3 \u00a0Challenges and technical solutions<\/h4>\n\n\t\t
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Fig. 1. Conceptional design of a Trench Cutter (6). \/\/ Bild 1. Schematische Darstellung der Schlitzwandfr\u00e4se (6).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The vertical approach to deep-sea mining is a minimally invasive procedure, similar to surgery, which attempts to limit the impact at the extraction site to the absolute minimum necessary. The sediment cloud is minimized by shielding the injection point and the negative pressure in the extraction system required by the process. Conveying within a closed system also prevents the formation of particle clouds. Due to the vertical mining direction, the topology of the deposit is met quite precisely and the generation of overburden is minimized (Figure 1). (6)<\/p>\n

The boundary conditions for the design of equipment for the conditions in the German license area are:<\/p>\n