Understanding environmental impacts of marine diamond mining at de Beers Marine Namibia : The road forward / Andre Goosen

Impact of deep-sea diamond mining on the environment off the southern coast of Namibia is the key focus of environmental research at de Beers Marine Namibia. Reports have been compiled on seafloor disturbance concerning plants and resident animals and on their recovery over time. Plume settlement is never constant nor over the same area because it is strongly influenced by changing environmental conditions. Mining impact assessment is carried out by the Jago remotely operated vehicle (R O V) aided with the usage of video footage. In combination with side scan sonar (S S S) which is an equivalent to aerial photography, images of the seabed have provided important information on the impact of mining on the seabed. Electronic development has brought a new generation of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AU V) to collect high resolution data from the seabed. One must also keep in mind that upwelling and sulphur eruptions are also regular occurences which affected sea live for centuaries

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