Marine technology and biotechnology have both enjoyed incredible expansion in recent years, led by military and basic research, but also motivated by the high profits to be made in offshore oil production and the virtually unlimited promise of biotechnical applications. Global Positioning System navigation, high band-width fiber-optic cables, in situ microprocessor-controlled data acquisition systems (tethered and autonomous), high resolution acoustic imaging systems, isobaric/isothermal biological sampling systems, and other new developments are available through proven, commercial channels.
A high-tech autonomous underwater vehicle	DSM has assembled leading experts (practitioners) in these developments into a unique team which will take full advantage of this expansion to accomplish the tasks in seabed exploration, bioprospecting and screening, and mineral production with an efficiency and technical competence only dreamed of a few years ago. Oceanographic research vessels will be required which are capable of precision navigation and station-keeping, deployment of tethered and autonomous instrument systems in most anticipated sea states, reliable mineral sample and data archiving, and the facilities for preserving and culturing extremophile organisms and associated biological materials. DSM team members have accumulated thousands of hours in the design, fabrication and use of the necessary equipment and procedures, and adequate research ships are available for lease and cooperative efforts from several sources worldwide.
DSM's first priority in bioprospecting is to secure select biological samples for further analysis internally and through strategic collaborations with other firms in the pharmaceutical, fine chemicals, cosmetic and nutraceutical industries. Large companies have proprietary screening programs, which are generally best employed by the companies themselves. In this regard, DSM would provide the biological samples with some minimal characterization. There are also intermediate companies and companies that specialize in screening programs (companies that have been created during the last few years to capitalize on advances in microarray technology). With these, DSM would have collaborative arrangements where additional select screening would be done internally.	German research vessel SONNE A world class research ship
There are also several federal programs that encourage the exploitation of natural products isolated from unusual sources for benefit (such as for anticancer agents) and for which highly sophisticated screening programs are in place. DSM will, of course, make use of such programs. Additionally, DSM will have its own limited screening program for select targets of opportunity.
	DSM scientists and engineers are working with Phelps Dodge Exploration Corporation and Halliburton SubSea (an operating unit of Halliburton Company) to develop the necessary exploration and mining systems from proven commercial components. Halliburton SubSea is the designer and fabricator of the NamSSOL device which is very successfully producing marine diamonds off the coast of Namibia in southern Africa, has extensive operations in deep-water oil and gas exploration and production, and routinely operates to depths of 5,000 meters or greater. Numerous discussions between Halliburton SubSea and DSM personnel confirm that these technologies are directly transferable to deep seabed mining. DSM proposed a study to scope the cost of designing and constructing a seabed mining facility. This would include removal of seafloor materials, transporting to the surface and then surface transport to an onshore treatment facility. Halliburton SubSea has proprietary engineering software from their worldwide oil and gas activities to accomplish this.
Since the discovery of hydrothermal vent systems in the late 1970's, marine scientists have initiated intensive studies of these systems using deep-diving submersibles and other modern tools. The base of the food web for hydrothermal vent communities is populated by a group of bacteria-like microbes, named Archaea, which are genetically quite distinct from other life on Earth. Scientists now believe that Archaea may have preceded all other life forms on the planet. The associated mineral deposits, called volcanogenic massive sulfides (VMS), are the modern and still-forming analogs of ancient mineral deposits currently mined on land (e.g. the Kuroko, Kidd Creek, and Noranda mines).	Namco Diamond Mining Dredging Machine
They form near seabed volcanoes where mineral-laden hot springs, also known as hydrothermal vents, deposit their loads of dissolved metals. DSM intends to mine only inactive vent sites (sulfide accumulations) and to use active vents a guide to inactive sites. More than 140 sites worldwide have been explored where massive sulfide deposits are in evidence; dozens of these sites have positive indications that potentially commercial deposits exist. Some appear to have bonanza grades of copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold, though much exploration must be done to confirm this.
Examples of deep sea exploration technology	Today there is no real competition in the area of deep sea mining and biotechnical gathering around the black smokers or sulfide deposit areas of tectonic plate collision. DSM "will be going where no man has gone before". As a result the technologies, inventions, processes, and thinking are entering new eras. Therefore, DSM does not have patterns to follow or others who are entering into the same arena to observe their success and failure. DSM's primary goal is to become within five years the first major deep seabed mining and biotechnology company, producing commercial levels of copper, zinc and other metals and also providing high value biological products for pharmaceutical, neutraceutical and chemical industries. Before Year 5, at least six deposit sites will be economically evaluated and, where warranted, detailed mining programs will be defined. An extensive bioprospecting and screening program will be operating during this period. Before the end of Year 4, the decision will be made for commercial mining and, if the decision is positive, the commercial system will be deployed in Year 5.