Indian Scientists To Set Sail In Search Of Valuable Minerals

Indian scientists are preparing to set sail to a region of the Indian Ocean, off the East coast of Madagascar, where they believe are plenty of valuable minerals to pick up.

- M Ramesh

It’s been two years since India leased a 10,000 sq km area (for 15 years) from the International Seabed Authority, part of the United Nations; so, there is a lot of work to be done before the country shovels in the riches. But a beginning is to be made at least by next year, said M Ravichandran, Director, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa.

NCPOR and Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), will jointly purchase an autonomous underwater vehicle — an unmanned, preprogrammed vehicle that can dive into the ocean and collect pictures and samples. Both NCPOR and NIOT are research institutions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Ravichandran told Business Line that NCPOR has “identified a dozen locations”, potential candidates for detailed exploration for tapping into minerals spewed by ‘hydrothermal vents’.