Adepth Minerals, a Norwegian deep-sea mineral exploration firm, has received a NOK 11.7 million (about $1,3 million) grant from Innovation Norway, triggering investment in FlexiCore technology and enabling the collection of deep-sea mineral core samples in 2022.
With its partners Seabed Solutions and DeepOcean, Adepth Minerals will develop FlexiCore dubbed "a core sampling solution that is more flexible and efficient than other coring solutions."
The solution will be able to take core samples core in sloping and variable terrain, at an angle, and change drilling bits at the seabed. Also, it will be able, according to Adepth Minerals, to take core samples on multiple locations without recovery to the surface due to its inherent mobility.
“Our FlexiCore technology will be able to take more and better cores on the seabed in less time. It will be an important element for realizing better knowledge-building based on a larger amount of data collected,” says Dr. Anette Broch Mathisen Tvedt, CEO of Adepth Minerals.
FlexiCore is a core sampling technology based on technology and equipment from land operations, where certain critical equipment components are replaced, and the equipment is "marinized" and adapted to operations in the deep sea.
The FlexiCore will be mounted to the “Seabed Excavator”, an existing electric, crawling, flexible and powerful subsea tool carrier designed for deep-sea operations down to 4,000 meters and has previously completed projects at 3,200 meters. The Seabed Excavator and FlexiCore drilling equipment are electrically powered and remotely controlled from an offshore service vessel.
Adepth Minerals expect that the FlexiCore will be used for data collection related to the exploration and evaluation of the mineral potential on the Norwegian shelf.
“Our ambition is to provide more data through efficiently core drilling of potentially economically interesting mineral deposits to gain a better understanding of their distribution and resource potential. The funding from Innovation Norway is highly valuable to us, and we expect to be ready for coring during 2022,” adds Anette Broch Mathisen Tvedt.
In addition to being a flexible core drilling solution suited for deep sea mineral exploration, the FlexiCore technology can be utilized for both offshore wind and infrastructure surveying and preparations, Adepth Minerals said.