Underwater Mining Conference (UMC) – Programme Ready

We are pleased to announce 40 international speakers at UMC in Bergen 11 – 12 September. Join the conference to learn about the many opportunities in this next subsea frontier.

We are pleased to have State Secretary Ingvil Smines Tybring-Gjedde, Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Energy giving the opening speech at UMC. The title of her speech is "Resource Management of Seabed Minerals on the Norwegian Continental Shelf".

Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) performed the world’s first successful ore lifting test for Seafloor Polymetallic Sulphides in Autumn 2017. It will be of great interest to the community to hear keynote speaker Professor Nobuyuki Okamoto from JOGMEC presenting the results from this project.

We will also get a keynote presentation from The International Seabed Authority (ISA) who are developing the legal framework for marine mineral mining in international waters. Harald Brekke, member of the Legal and Technical Commission International Seabed Authority, will present ISA Draft Regulations for Exploitation.

New Discoveries in the Norwegian Sea

Swire Seabed has just finished Norway's first commercial cruise to map marine mineral resources on the Norwegian continental shelf om behalf of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). NPD will present the preliminary results of this cruise, containing new discoveries.

Some of the presentations with especially high relevance for the subsea industry are;

• Swire Seabed and UiB (Norway) - Use of Autonomous Technology for mapping Seabed Minerals
• Fugro (USA) - Meeting client needs in a new market. Fugro’s first commercial AUV, geotechnical, and resource survey for polymetallic nodules in the CCZ
• Kongsberg (Norway) - A System Approach to Survey, Exploration and Environmental Assessment
• SUT (UK) - Eyes in the Deep – how autonomous underwater vehicles can support and enhance deep sea mining operations
• INESC (Portugal) - EVA a robotic vehicle for underwater mining operations support
• DEME-Group (Belgium) - GSR’s PROCAT-Project: Technical de-risking of deep sea mining equipment – A step-by-step approach towards future exploitation
• Royal IHC (Netherlands) - Upscaling towards deep-sea mining by 130 meter vertical riser experiments.
• CRIMM (China) - The development and 500 m sea trial of the seabed collector for deep-ocean polymetallic nodules
• DNV GL (Norway) - Towards operational environmental threshold levels for exploitation of mineral resources in the deep sea

Many Opportunities for the Subsea Industry

- We see many opportunities for the subsea industry within marine minerals says Jon O. Hellevang, Senior Subsea Innovator in GCE Subsea, and member of the programme committee. Much of the technology used for exploration and exploitation of marine minerals is very similar to the subsea oil and gas industry.

The programme is divided into the following eight sessions:

• Law of the Sea and Regulatory Framework
• Technological Challenges and Development of Underwater Mining
• Tools for Exploring the Seafloor
• Subsea Massive Sulfides Exploration and Characterisation
• Critical Metals and Underwater Mineral Deposits
• Resources, Reserve and Mining Subsea Massive Sulfides
• Plume Dispersal and Environmental Impact
• Technological Challenges and Development of Underwater Mining

Read the programme as of 10 August.

Read more about the event and register at UMC 2018.