Rich lode of copper found by sub off South America

Scientists exploring the Pacific sea floor by submarine discovered an accessible 25 million-ton natural concentration of copper and other metals worth an estimated $2 billion.

Announcing the spectacular find in international waters 350 miles west of Ecuador, Dr. Alex Malahoff, chief scientist of the National Ocean Survey, said there is evidence of similar mineral lodes off Oregon and Washington. The find, he says, could mark a turnaround in the assessment of the volume of accessible worldwide deposits of strategic minerals.