Metalliferous sediments in the Atlantis II Deep: Assessing the geological and economic resource potential and legal constraints

Christine Bertram, Anna Krätschell, Killian O'Brien, Warner Brückmann and Alexander Proelss

No 1688, Kiel Working Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel)

Abstract: To date, mineral resources are only mined on land but projected increases in demand have brought the exploration and exploitation of marine mineral resources back into focus. The Atlantis II Deep, located in the central Red Sea between Saudi Arabia and Sudan, is one of the largest marine sulfide deposits known, with high concentrations of metals such as zinc, copper, silver and gold. However, little is known about the economic potential of marine minerals as well as the legal constraints. Our geological assessment shows that the deep is similar in grades and scale to large land-based deposits. Its economic potential is far from negligible. The present value of possible gross revenues ranges from 3.11 to 8.21 billion US-$, depending on the minerals considered. From a legal perspective, a general duty to cooperate in the exploration and exploitation of non-living resources located in disputed maritime areas is identified in both customary international law and in the UNCLOS. It is submitted that a joint development agreement is one means of ensuring compliance with this duty in general and in the case of the Atlantis II Deep in particular.

Keywords: Atlantis II Deep; deep-sea mining; joint development scheme; metalliferous sediments; resource potential; Saudi-Sudanese Red Sea Commission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q30 Q34 Q38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/45862/1/65458687X.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Metalliferous sediments in the Atlantis II Deep—Assessing the geological and economic resource potential and legal constraints (2011)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1688

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Kiel Working Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics ().