Prospecting and exploration for manganese nodules has, as its ultimate objective, the discovery and delineation of an area of the ocean floor with reserves of sufficient quantity and quality to support a mining operation under existing economic, technical and political conditions. While prospecting concentrates primari- lyon the collection of geological information, an exploration programme includes other activities that relate to the develop- ment of technology, financial analysis of the prospect and environmental protection. Such work on a deposit in turn leads to the development of a...