Key points
- The Ministry of Science and Technology approved the International Joint Research Center for Seabed Mineral Resources Development, built on CRIMM and the Changsha Institute of Mining Research.
- It is China’s only international joint research center in the field of marine mineral development.
- The center will pursue research across the deep-sea mining chain, aiming to form industrial-scale mining system technology within 5 to 10 years.
Recently, the International Joint Research Center for Seabed Mineral Resources Development, built on Changsha Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CRIMM) and the Changsha Institute of Mining Research, was approved and accredited by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The center is China’s only international joint research center in the field of marine mineral development.
Building on the existing cooperation base of the State Key Laboratory of Deep-Sea Mineral Resources Development, the center will integrate deeply into the global innovation system by combining “bringing in” and “going out”, creating a scientific research platform centered on engineering development while also covering applied basic research, and spanning the full industrial chain of technology, equipment and markets. The center’s establishment is a major step in implementing the national maritime power strategy and in deploying the nation’s 13th Five-Year Plan arrangements for international science and technology cooperation. Its approval and accreditation is of great significance for raising the level of China’s international cooperation in deep-sea mining and its global competitiveness, and for promoting the early realization of commercial development of seabed mineral resources.
Anchored in the needs of China’s major engineering programs for the exploration and development of international seabed contract areas, and focused on the key scientific and technological problems of deep-sea mineral resources development, the center will carry out research on seabed mineral survey and evaluation, seabed mineral resources development, deep-sea mining operations, long-distance seabed transport, remote monitoring technology for seabed mining systems, seabed mineral processing and utilization, and the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining. Through various forms of international joint research and industry-academia-research cooperation, it aims to break through and master key deep-sea mining technologies, train scientific research and business talent in the field of seabed mineral resources development, form integrated system technology for industrial-scale mining within 5 to 10 years, cultivate a strategic emerging industry in seabed mineral resources development, and proceed to commercial mining when the time is right.
It is reported that China Minmetals, as the contractor for China’s fourth international seabed exploration contract area, will use the center to carry out in-depth cooperation with a number of well-known international deep-sea mining enterprises on the exploration and evaluation of international seabed contract area resources, mining and deep processing, deep-sea engineering equipment design and manufacturing, and commercial development. In this way it seeks to raise the level of China’s international cooperation in deep-sea mining and its global competitiveness, to create a new pattern of mutually beneficial international science and technology innovation cooperation, and to become a maker of the international regulations for seabed mineral resources development.
