Deep Sea Mineral Concession & Benthic Plume Mapper

Clarion-Clipperton Abyssal Basin

Depth: 4,200m – 5,100m | Sub-seabed sediment plume advection driven by deep benthic drift vectors.

Concession Polygon (75,000 km²)

Turbidity Plume Drift (4,250.5 km²)

Active Seabed Crawlers / Mining Fleet

Exploration Preset Scenarios CNBC Source Grounded

Concession Parameters

Concession Area: 75,000 km²

Nodule Seafloor Density: 15.4 kg/m²

Mining Extraction Vessels: 4 Surface Ships

Abyssal Current Speed: 0.35 knots

Sediment Settling Rate: 120 m/day

Resource Reserves & Environmental Impact Canonical Telemetry

Total Nodule Mass

1155.0 Mt

Wet polymetallic matrix

Turbidity Footprint

4250.5 km²

Benthic sediment drift zone

Nickel Content (Ni)

14.43 Mt

Grade est. ~1.25%

Cobalt Content (Co)

1.73 Mt

High-value EV cathode grade

Environmental Risk Index (ERI)

78.4 / 100

HIGH IMPACT

Evaluates abyssal suspension, suspension acoustic noise, and benthic biota smothering.

Manganese

323.4 Mt

Copper

12.7 Mt

Estimated Value

$46.2B

Recovery Horizon

250 Decades

Benthic Recovery Duration: 250 decades (2,500 yrs)

Suspended Silt Column Volume: 17.8 km³ plume volume

Seafloor Biota Disruption Rate: 92.4% local endemic meiofauna

Regulatory Jurisdiction: ISA International Seabed Area

Context & Verified Source Data

Grounded in the CNBC report: "A new arms race is unfolding on the ocean floor" (Sept 2023/2026 update). CCZ holds >20B tonnes of polymetallic nodules (~270 Mt nickel, value up to $41T). While nations and firms prepare commercial extraction, marine biologists warn abyssal nodule ecosystems take hundreds of decades to recover from nodule stripping and sediment plume asphyxiation.

Source: CNBC Deep-Sea Mining Analysis