NOAA's New Office of Marine Minerals

A new Office of Marine Minerals has been established in the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The new office serves as a focal point for NOAA's new and expanding programs in marine minerals. It also has planning, coordinating and certain operational responsibilities. During the past year the new office has initiated various plans and studies. An important example in environmental assessment involves the development of a plan for a multi-phased "Assessment of Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Onshore Processing Activities Associated with Deep Ocean Mining" in response to Congressional request and concerns of others. A contract on the first phase has already been awarded. One of the major areas of involvement was in determining national needs in marine minerals. A major workshop was convened in Silver Spring, Maryland in early 1976 to review past and present NOAA activities in marine minerals including those conducted by the Marine Minerals Technology Center (MMTC) and Sea Grant and to assess future national needs. Approximately eighty persons from academia, industry, government and NOAA participated. This is the first time such a widely based marine minerals workshop was ever held. This paper will also review some of the highlights of this meeting held in Silver Spring.