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Information Brochure 11 Cook Islands Deep-Sea Minerals Potential

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Information Brochure 11 Cook Islands Deep-Sea Minerals Potential SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals (DSM) Project Information Brochure 11 Cook Islands Deep-sea Minerals Potential The Cook Islands consists of fifteen islands, all islands between 8oS and 23oS and 156oW and 167oW. It is geographically divided into two groups a Northern Group comprising Penrhyn, Rakahanga, Manihiki, Suwarrow, Nassau and Pukapuka. All are atolls except Nassau. The Southern Group comprises Palmerston, Rarotonga, Mangaia, Mauke and Atiu as high islands; Aitutaki a part atoll with a volcanic peak and a large lagoon; Mitiaro an elevated coral island and Manuae and Palmerston atolls. Tukutea is a small island near Atiu. However, submarine topographic features divide the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Cook Islands into four regions: the Penrhyn Basin in the northeast, the Manihiki Plateau in the northwest, the Samoa Basin to the west, and the Cook Islands seamount line in the south (Figure 1). Seabed minerals explorations within the EEZ of the Cook Islands were reported to have been first carried out by the US and USSR research vessels in the 1960s. Penrhyn These surveys were later picked Manihiki Plateau Basin up by other companies and consortia in the early 1970s and continued until the late 1980s that resulted in the discovery of Samoa significant manganese nodule Basin resources. These early seabed mineral investigations were mainly focused on identifying mineral occurrences and understanding Southern Seamounts their mode of occurrence and the geological setting in which they occur. Apart from efforts to identify other mineral types such as metalliferous sediments, cobalt-rich crusts, phosphate, and precious coral, manganese nodules was the chief target of seabed mineral prospecting in the offshore areas of the Cook Islands. Figure 1. Seafloor topography of the Cook Islands waters showing major features. 1 Deep Sea Minerals in the Pacific Islands Region Brochure 11.indd 1 9/30/13 11:51 AM Figure 2. Japan-SOPAC 1985, 1986 and 1990 survey areas within the EEZ of the Cook Islands. Early surveys were not carried out in a reasonably detailed and systematic manner hence manganese nodule resources could not be quantified. It was not until the twenty-one year Japan-SOPAC Cooperative Study that commenced in 1985 that any serious attempt was made to estimate the manganese nodule resources within the Cook Islands’ EEZ. Four exploration cruises (i.e. in 1985, 1986, 1990 and 2000) were carried out in the Cook Islands as part of this programme and the sea areas surveyed in the first three cruises are shown in Figure 2. The 2000 survey was conducted in the central eastern part of the country’s EEZ. 2 SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals Project SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals Project Deep Sea Minerals in the Pacific Islands Region Brochure 11.indd 2 9/30/13 11:51 AM Figure 3. Sampling sites where nodule and crust samples were collected during the research cruise SO 193. Samples that were taken for further studies are underlined and station TVG 71 is marked by an arrow (from Halbach, 2010). Additionally, a survey was conducted by the RV Sonne (i.e. research cruise SO 193) in the Manihiki Plateau in 20071. This submarine Plateau is considered to be a large Igneous Province and was formed by several Hot Spot centres. The main objective of the cruise was to study the petrological and geological development of the plateau. During the 2007 survey, a flat top seamount (i.e. guyot) was visited and sampled by TV grab stations (Figure 3). TVG 71 was carried out on a platform that has an average water depth of 1220 m, and the sample locality is shown on Figure 3 below. 7 The data and results of the 2007 RV Sonne survey are being included in this information brochure with the permission of Professor Peter Halbach of the Free University, Berlin Germany. SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals Project SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals Project 3 Deep Sea Minerals in the Pacific Islands Region Brochure 11.indd 3 9/30/13 11:51 AM Exploration History A summary of offshore research and seabed mineral investigations that were undertaken in the Cook Islands’ waters are given in Table 1 below. Table 1: Summary of previous offshore research and minerals exploration in the Cook Islands. Research Vessel & Year of Survey Survey Area Surveyed Commodity RV Tangaroa (1974) Rarotonga, Cook Islands Manganese Nodules MV Ravakai (1976) Area between Rarotonga and Penrhyn Manganese Nodules, Metalliferous Sediment and Phosphate RV Acheron (1977) Southern Group, Cook Islands Precious Coral, Manganese Nodules RV Coriolis (1977) Selected areas within the EEZ of the Cook Manganese Nodules Islands RV Machias (1978) Penrhyn and Samoa Basins, Nearshore waters Manganese Nodules and Precious Coral of the Cook Islands RV Sonne (1978) West of Rarotonga and Aitutaki Passage Manganese Nodules RV Machias (1980) Northern Cook Islands Manganese Nodules, Phosphate, Precious Coral RV Machias (1980) East of Penrhyn Island, Penrhyn Basin, Manganese Nodules, Precious Coral, Penrhyn, Manihiki, Nassau Islands Phosphate RV Sonne (1980) Aitutaki Passage Manganese Nodules RV Hakurei Maru (1980) South Penrhyn Basin Manganese Nodules MV Ravakai (1983) Slopes of Rakahaga and Manihiki Atoll Precious Coral RV Hakurei Maru (1983) South Penrhyn Basin Manganese Nodules RV Hakurei Maru 2 (1985) Western Penhryn Basin, eastern margin of Manganese Nodules the Manihiki plateau and the North of Penrhyn Island. HMNZS Tui (1986) Manihiki Plateau and adjacent Southwest sea Cobalt-rich Crust, Manganese Nodules areas RV Hakurei Maru 2 (1986) Western edge of the southern Penhryn Basin Manganese Nodules (to the east of the Manihiki plateau) RV Moana Wave (1987) Cook Islands: Suwarrow trough, eastern Cobalt-rich Crust and Metalliferous Manihiki Plateau, Rakahaga-Manihiki island sediments area RV Thomas Washington (1987) Northern Cook Islands and adj acent High Manganese Nodules, Cobalt-rich Crust, Seas Deep Sea Sediment RV Sonne (1990) North-east edge of Manihiki Plateau Complex of Volcanic Cones and mineral resources RV Hakurei Maru 2 (1990) Southern Cook Islands Manganese Nodules RV Hakurei Maru 2 (2000) Central Cook Islands (i.e. Southern Penrhyn Manganese Nodules Basin) RV Sonne (2007) Manihiki Plateau Petrological and geological plateau development, Manganese Nodules Survey Results Summary of Pre-Japan-SOPAC Survey Findings • During the 1976 survey (Figure 4), a large field of manganese nodules was discovered to extend further to the south than previously reported. The deposit is thought to cover most of the South Penrhyn Basin between Aitutaki and Penrhyn. Manganese nodules were recovered at 9 of the 12 sampling stations occupied, and bottom photographs at 6 of these 9 stations indicate about 90% nodule coverage. • Deep sea sediments collected in the vicinity of the southern Cook Islands during the 1977 expedition are brown clay with a surface layer of ferromanganese nodules. 4 SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals Project SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals Project Deep Sea Minerals in the Pacific Islands Region Brochure 11.indd 4 9/30/13 11:51 AM • Out of the five sampling stations surveyed in the northern Penrhyn Basin in 1978, high density of manganese nodules per unit area was recovered from three sites. The survey results show two distinct areas: the western part has an undulating seafloor and nodules are irregularly distributed, rarely occurring densely. The eastern part is flat floored and is covered by a layer, probably continuous of densely distributed nodules. In the Samoa Basin, moderate numbers of small to medium sized nodules were collected at two of the three stations occupied. • During the 1980 survey (Figure 5), nodule concentrations varied from insignificant to dense, with the highest concentrations of 23.7kg/m2 occurring to the southeast of Penrhyn Island – just outside the Cook Island waters, but significant concentrations occur within Cook Island waters in this same area (Figure 5). • Manganese nodules occur to the southeast of Penrhyn Island in sufficient abundance to have potential as an economic deposit. However, the trend in general based on the March 1980 survey indicates that nodule abundances in the Penrhyn Basin itself are very low. • Only one manganese nodule sample was Figure 4. Cruise track of the RV Ravakai during the 1976 survey in the Cook Islands. collected during the April 1980 cruise in the Penrhyn Basin between Manihiki and Penrhyn consisting of 5.75kg of nodules. • Based on the 1983 survey, the mineral resource potential of the Manihiki Plateau and adjacent areas appears to be minimal. The manganese crust collected are relatively thin, and the manganese nodules for the most part resemble those of the Cook Island facies, characterised by low Nickel, Copper and Cobalt contents. 0.3kg/m2 1.5kg/m2 11kg/m2 24kg/m2 Figure 5. The 1980 survey track-lines highlighting nodule abundance at selected sampling sites. SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals Project SPC-EU EDF10 Deep Sea Minerals Project 5 Deep Sea Minerals in the Pacific Islands Region Brochure 11.indd 5 9/30/13 11:51 AM 1985 Japan-SOPAC Survey • Distribution of the manganese nodules in the 1985 survey area was ascertained to be higher to the west of the 158°W longitudinal line and lower to the east. Small sized manganese nodules (0 – 2cm, 2 - 4cm) are the majority from the center to eastern part in the surveyed areas. Middle sized (>4cm) are distributed in the surroundings of sea knolls in the western part of the area. • Co grade increases with abundance while Ni and Cu grades decrease. 1986 HMNZS Tui Survey • High nodule abundances were confirmed in the area of the 1986 HMNZS Tui cruise and dredged sediments of the eastern escarpment of the Manihiki Plateau, revealed 0.5 to 2cm of crust. Two samples have very well developed crusts up to 4.5cm thick; • The 1986 survey of the Manihiki-Rakahaga area revealed a series of conical protrusions that can be interpreted as that of mud volcanoes.
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