Following India's registration as a Pioneer Investor and allocation of the pioneer area, exploration strategies have been progressively refined, reducing the sampling interval from 100 km to 25 km and then to 12.5 km to generate accurate bathymetric maps of the pioneer area leading to better visualisation of seabed topography from where the nodules are to be collected. The work has been carried out mainly by employing the Indian research vessel ORV Sagar Kanya. Four cruises of ORV Sagar Kanya (154 ship days) were devoted to this purpose. Exploration and detailed bathymetric mapping of the pioneer area are currently being carried out with the aid of multi-beam swath bathymetric system (hydrosweep system) which was procured and installed on ORV Sagar Kanya during the year 1990 . About 75 percent of the pioneer area has been mapped using the state-of-the art technology, Baseline oceanographic data on physical, chemical and biologica1 parameters was collected. 9,000 line km echo sounding, 12, 500 line km magnetics, 13, 500 line km gravity data were also collected. Environmental data at 13 stations and sediment sampling and dredging operations were also carried out. Intensive coring operations were carried out for geostatistical studies of the seabed resources. High resolution bathymetric maps of the pioneer area covered during these research cruises have also been prepared. Based on the spot sampling data generated at the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, geostatistical evaluation has been carried out with periodic updating.