Twitter

Deep Sea Mining

Will Japan Turn to Deep Seabed Mining to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains? – by Oliver Banks and Ariel Silverman (The Diplomat – September 03, 2024)

https://thediplomat.com/

Despite the apparent benefits, there are significant legal gaps and technological limitations that must be addressed before this mineral wealth on the seafloor can be brought to market.

In late June, Japanese researchers found around 230 million metric tons of critical minerals on the seabed within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The resources include enough cobalt to meet the country’s consumption needs for 75 years and over a decade’s supply of nickel. These minerals are crucial components of electric vehicle car batteries central to the low-carbon energy transition.

This discovery is also good news to critics in the West anxious to strip China of its monopolistic control over supply chains for components crucial to high-tech goods and defense technologies.

Read more

Deep-sea mining: Why it is time to sink this ship – by M Rajshekhar (Carbon Copy – August 31, 2024)

Home

A recent scientific discovery of polymetallic nodules producing “dark oxygen” at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean provides another reason why deep sea mining shouldn’t be allowed

This July, a scientific paper in Nature announced an extraordinary discovery. On the sea-bed of the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone, 13,000 feet below the sea’s surface, far beyond the reaches of sunlight, said the paper, metallic lumps have been splitting seawater to produce oxygen.

The paper hit headlines in no time. Until now, it has been assumed that photosynthesis — first by tiny microorganisms known as the archaeans and then by plants and trees — produced the oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere. Some of this oxygen, it was also thought, diffuses into oceans’ surface waters. And that, a part of it sinks down, all the way to the sea-bed, supporting life there.

Read more

The Future of Deep Sea Mining Hinges on a Contentious Election – by Todd Woody (Bloomberg News – July 29, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is tiny, with just 120,000 residents scattered across 32 tropical atolls, but it’s playing an outsize role in an election that will determine whether companies can begin strip-mining the world’s oceans for critical metals.

Leticia Carvalho, a Brazilian ocean scientist, says Kiribati’s ambassador tried to bribe her to drop out of the race to run the International Seabed Authority that’s responsible for both the exploitation and conservation of more than half the ocean floor.

Read more

Deep-sea miner TMC plans to be ready to apply for licence – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 24, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC) plans to be ready to apply for a licence to start mining the seabed before the end of this year, with production expected to start at the end of the first quarter of 2026.

TMC, a deep-sea mining pioneer, has long said it would submit its application after the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority (ISA) current meeting, which ends on July 26. Gathered in Kingston, Jamaica, the 36-member ISA council is negotiating the latest draft of the anticipated seabed mining rules.

Read more

African countries must make their voices heard on deep-sea mining – by Rashid Sumaila (Al Jazeera – July 19, 2024)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

Africa stands at a pivotal moment where its decisions could profoundly influence the trajectory of the industry and the preservation of marine ecosystems.

With negotiations to adopt rules and regulations for commercial deep-sea mining in international waters resuming this week at the International Seabed Authority (ISA), African countries have an extremely important role to play in the future of this industry and the health of our ocean.

ISA, as a UN-affiliated institution, was established in the 1990s to ensure that developing countries would benefit financially from deep-sea mining when/if it starts, ensuring equity in the benefits derived from global commons. As this debate progresses, Africa stands at a pivotal moment where its decisions could profoundly influence the trajectory of this industry and the preservation of marine ecosystems.

Read more

Nations gather to negotiate deep sea mining code as opposition mounts – by David Stanway (Reuters – July 15, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE, July 15 (Reuters) – The United Nations’ International Seabed Authority (ISA) will meet on Monday to consider new rules allowing firms to extract minerals from the ocean floor, despite mounting concerns about the economic and environmental risks.

Supporters say deep sea mining will help boost supplies of raw materials like cobalt and nickel, which are needed for the global energy transition, but critics say it could destroy ecosystems and disrupt migratory routes.

Read more

Fight Over Seabed Agency Leadership Turns Nasty – by Eric Lipton (New York Times – July 4, 2024)

https://www.nytimes.com/

An election over the future of a United Nations-affiliated organization could determine whether the Pacific Ocean floor will soon be mined for metals used in electric vehicles.

Allegations of possible payments to help secure votes. Claims of abuse of agency funds by top diplomats. A possible job offer to entice a candidate to withdraw from a race.

These are not the shenanigans of a corrupt election in an unstable country. Rather, they are efforts in the seemingly genteel parlors of a United Nations-affiliated agency, meant to sway decisions related to the start of seabed mining of the metals used in electric vehicles. It is all part of a nasty fight over who will be the next leader of the International Seabed Authority, which controls mining in international waters worldwide.

Read more

US may not set the rules but can still shape the future of deep-sea mining – by James Borton (South China Morning Post – July 3, 2024)

https://www.scmp.com/

The wealth of critical minerals on the ocean floor and strategic advantages they offer mean the US must act before it is too late

Time is running out for the United States to have a voice in managing deep-sea mining. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) will soon meet to advance the commercial framework regulating the mining of metals essential for the clean energy transition, aiming for adoption next year.

At a recent briefing for US congressional staff titled “Deep Sea Mining: Policy Implications for the United States” that I moderated at the US-Asia Institute in Washington, a group of experts weighed in on Washington’s opportunities and responsibilities in addressing the climate crisis through mineral extraction to power the transition from fossil fuels to green energy.

Read more

Japan finds over 200 million tonnes of battery metals in seabed – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 25, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Japanese researchers have found more than 200 million tonnes of manganese nodules rich in battery metals in the Pacific Ocean, within the country’s exclusive economic zone. The team of experts from the University of Tokyo and the Nippon Foundation said the fist-sized nodules cover an extensive area of the seabed near Minamitorishima, a remote Tokyo Island.

These metals-rich rocks are located at depths of about 5,500 metres and are thought to be very similar to the polymetallic nodules found in the Clarion-Clipperton zone in the Pacific, as they hold cobalt, nickel and copper in addition to manganese.

Read more

Norway to award Arctic blocks for seabed mining in 2025 (Reuters – June 26, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

OSLO, June 26 (Reuters) – Norway offered large areas of the Arctic region for its inaugural seabed mineral licensing round on Wednesday and aims to award exploration permits during the first half of 2025, the country’s energy ministry said.

Norway may become the first country in the world to start commercial deepsea mining, hoping to extract minerals needed for solar panels, wind turbines and electric car batteries needed to replace fossil fuel energy.

Read more

Cobalt Conundrum: India’s Deep-Sea Mining Push Challenges China’s Dominance, Sparks Tensions With Sri Lanka – Analysis – by Girish Linganna (Eurasia Review – June 21, 2024)

Home

India is rushing to get permission to explore a cobalt-rich underwater mountain located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. However, there are other countries interested in the same area. Sri Lanka is also looking to mine precious minerals there, adding to the competition.

Cobalt is a critical mineral used in rechargeable batteries for smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles. It also plays a key role in making alloys for jet engines, gas turbines and cutting tools. Additionally, cobalt is used in medical implants and as a catalyst in the chemical industry.

Read more

NGO sues Norway over deep-sea mining plans – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 24, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Environmental activists have once again turned to the Norwegian courts, this time suing the government over its plans for seabed mineral exploration, which they claim has failed to test the possible impacts of such activity.

The case, led by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), argues the decision breaches national law, goes against the counsel of the government’s own advisers, and sets an alarming precedent.

Read more

In Seawater, Researchers See an Untapped Bounty of Critical Metals – by Jim Robbins (Yale Environment 360 – May 15, 2024)

https://e360.yale.edu/

Researchers and companies are aiming to draw key minerals, including lithium and magnesium, from ocean water, desalination plant residue, and industrial waste brine. They say their processes will use less land and produce less pollution than mining, but major hurdles remain.

Can metals that naturally occur in seawater be mined, and can they be mined sustainably? A company in Oakland, California, says yes. And not only is it extracting magnesium from ocean water — and from waste brine generated by industry — it is doing it in a carbon-neutral way.

Read more

The Tiny Nation at the Vanguard of Mining the Ocean Floor – by Pete McKenzie (New York Times – May 9, 2024)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Below the waters of the Cook Islands, population 15,000, lie minerals used to power electric cars. Extracting them could bring riches, but many say it’s a bad idea.

Two ships arrived in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific in March of last year. One was a familiar sight: a massive cruise ship, bringing hundreds of tourists to the pristine shores of this nation of 15,000 people. The other, a neon-orange vessel hauling complex scientific equipment, was more unusual.

On a nearby wharf, Prime Minister Mark Brown and many other prominent citizens had gathered to celebrate the smaller boat’s arrival. To Mr. Brown, the cruise ship represented his country’s troubling dependence on tourism. He described the other vessel, owned by an international mining company, as a harbinger of incredible wealth.

Read more

Underwater power play for metals in full swing – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – May 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Despite its stranglehold on mining and processing, there’s one arena of critical minerals that China doesn’t control – underwater resources. No one does, as deep sea mining has yet to begin. But it’s not the sci-fi fantasy it once may have seemed.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA), which next meets in July, is hashing out the world’s first underwater mining code. Deep sea mining could technically begin as soon as July, even in the absence of rules which the ISA aims to have in place by 2025.

Read more