Blue Pacific Minerals are supplying bulk minerals to be used as drilling fluids on a scientific expedition drilling into the Indian Ocean floor. The goal being to try to get below the Earth's crust for the first time.
Scientists from the IODP - International Ocean Discovery Programme want to sample rock from the planet's mantle - its deep interior. It will probably take several years to drop the full 5 to 5.5km and is scheduled in stages over several expeditions.
In the last 6 months BPM have been resupplying bulk minerals for IODP projects out of Perth and Darwin. Providing a mineral solution in a challenging environment where the IODP has had difficulty accessing materials before is an exciting development for BPM.
Below is a link to a BBC page on the expedition:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34967750
About the science programme:
The JOIDES Resolution is a seagoing research vessel that drills core samples and collects measurements from under the ocean floor, giving scientists a glimpse into Earth’s development. Data from The JR's ocean drilling offer a scientific means of understanding climate and environmental change throughout a significant part of our planet’s history—a research subject often termed Earth's paleoclimate. The JR’score samples are the “smoking gun” in evaluating many historical events related to paleoclimate, changes in the solid earth and more -- like the extinction of the dinosaurs and plate tectonics, for example.
