UN may license first seabed mining in 2016, but enviro scepticism lingers – by Nomvelo Buthelezi (MiningWeekly.com – June 7, 2013)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

The United Nations (UN) has published its first plan for deep-sea mining and has announced that companies could apply for mining licences as soon as 2016. This comes at a time when this form of mining is becoming an increasingly attractive investment proposition.

After the release of a technical study by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the UN body managing the industry, it is taking steps on how to move from bids handling mining exploration to considering how to license the first operations.

To date, the ISA has issued 17 exploration permits, while seven applications are currently being processed. They cover vast areas of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. “We are at the threshold of a new era of deep seabed mining,” ISA legal counsel Michael Lodge told a BBC interviewer.

It is generally acknowledged that the world’s largest and most valuable resources of gem-quality diamonds are contained in the exposed marine gravel beaches along the Namibian and South African west coasts and on the submerged beaches in the adjacent territorial waters.

More than 90% of the diamonds currently mined from the sea and adjacent coastal areas are of gem quality because only the best-quality stones survived the transport-ation process to the coast.

However, amid increasing interest in deep-sea mining, a vital question remains: What impact will deep-sea mining have on the environment?

STATE OF DEEP-SEA MINING IN SA

Experts say that not much deep-sea mining is taking place in South Africa, unlike in neighbouring Namibia, where Debmarine Namibia has a fleet of five ships mining at depths of 90 m to 140 m using drill and crawler mining technology. De Beers environment principal and marine ecologist Dr Patti Wickens adds that there are also smaller vessels and shore-based diamond divers working off the west coast of Southern Africa.

Panda Marine Mining & Exploration CEO Kobus Pansegrouw observes that, currently, the industry is “pretty quiet”, attributing this state of affairs to the collapse of the diamond price a few years ago. But he adds that the South African deep-sea mining industry has a lot of potential, as there are minerals available for extraction.

He also notes that the slowdown in the South African deep-sea mining industry can be attributed to the political challenges that have been dominating South Africa for the last 20 years, resulting in many operations relocating to, and continuing in, Namibia.

De Beers’ view is that profitability, and not politics, is the essential challenge facing diamond mining operators in South African waters, who have been affected by diamond production profiles characterised by smaller, lower-value diamonds than those mined off the Namibian coast.

One of the biggest challenges facing deep-sea mining in South Africa is attracting foreign investment.

“The biggest challenge is capital investment because this is a very expensive business. Currently, investors are shy, owing to the ongoing situation with land-based mining operations,” says Pansegrouw.

“Investors are hiding and will not be willing to commit to investing in projects until all the unrest at land-based mining operations has been resolved. Marine mining is still lagging behind, but once opportunities emerge and investors show interest, there will be major benefits from deep-sea mining.”

The South African land-based mining industry will continue to suffer unless key stakeholders come together to realise a common goal for the future of the industry, notes BDO head of mining Ursula van Eck.

Further, retaining jobs in land-based mining remains a challenge, owing to the volatile labour environment. Mining executives may find that there is little room to manoeuvre in terms of introducing new technology, owing to added pressure from government to create and retain jobs.

These challenges are making it difficult to generate positive recognition of the opportunities that exist in the land-based and deep-sea mining industry, making it even more difficult to garner support for deep-sea mining.

“As a deep-sea mining industry, we are always trying to generate interest for foreign investment. We still find that there are some investors that have an appetite specifically for deep-sea mining. There is a huge interest in deep-sea mining worldwide, but the challenge is in trying to get investors to assist in this chaotic climate,” Pansegrouw says.

A further hurdle that deep-sea mining faces pertains to fears about its environ-mental impact, with conservation experts having long claimed that mining the seabed will be highly destructive and have disastrous long-term implications for marine life.

For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/un-may-license-first-seabed-mining-operations-in-2016-but-enviro-scepticism-lingers-2013-06-07-1?utm_source=Creamer+Media+FDE+service&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Mining+Weekly+Daily+News+-+North+America+and+South+America&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.miningweekly.com%2Farticle%2Fun-may-license-first-seabed-mining-operations-in-2016-but-enviro-scepticism-lingers-2013-06-07-1