Expanding Cobalt-Rich Crust Activities in the Pacific Ocean

Cobalt-rich crust-related activities were concentrated in the Pacific Ocean in the 1980s and 90s. The main areas of interest were the Hawaiian Archipelago, the US possessions and Trust Territories, and the CCOP/SOPAC area of the South Pacific. Japanese work was concentrated in the NW Pacific. From the resource point of view, the most interesting crusts were found to occur above 2000 m depth in the tropical central Pacific and to be enriched in Ni and Pt in addition to Co. Evaluation of crusts reached an advanced state in the Hawaiian Archipelago, where the first cobalt-rich crusts Environmental Impact Statement was prepared, but no crusts were mined there, or anywhere else, in the twentieth century.