FOR RELEASE:  October 30, 1995                        CONTACT:  Tom DeRocco
                                                             (202) 208-3983
                                                             Barney Congdon
                                                             (504) 736-2595

           MMS CONTINUES AGREEMENT WITH MISSISSIPPI TO EVALUATE 
             SHELL RESOURCES IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO  

     The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS)
has awarded $40,000 to Mississippi's Marine Minerals Technology Center (MMTC)
to evaluate shell resources in the northern Gulf of Mexico, MMS officials
announced today.  The project marks the first use of state-of-the-art
technology -- a multi-channel, high resolution seismic system -- to evaluate
shallow water shell deposits.

     Shell is widely used throughout the southern United States as
construction material in building roads and foundations. 

     "Since 1989, including these funds, MMS has provided $120,000 to MMTC for
cooperative studies of offshore resources," said MMS Director Cynthia
Quarterman.  "Collaborative efforts such as this are an investment in good
science.  The resulting data will enable us to make environmentally sound
resource decisions in the future."  

     Study plans call for a multi-phased project designed to:

     -    develop seismic "signatures" for known inshore shell deposits that   
          could be used to identify offshore buried shell and other type       
          deposits;

     -    develop and evaluate an exploration method to help identify          
          potential shell deposits in federal waters; and,

     -    identify resource areas based on the results of the high-resolution  
          seismic work as favorable sites for future study for offshore shell
          deposits.

     Similar efforts to evaluate marine mineral resources--especially sand
resources for use in beach restoration--have been initiated with other States
on the Gulf of Mexico and on the East Coast. 

     The MMS is the federal agency that manages the Nation's natural gas, oil
and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf, and collects,
accounts for and disburses about $4 billion yearly in revenues from offshore
federal mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on federal and Indian
lands.
                                  --MMS--