UN debates deep sea mining as countries and companies now allowed to seek provisional licenses – by Danica Coto (Associated Press – July 10, 2023)

https://apnews.com/

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A U.N. agency tasked with regulating the deep sea is debating whether to open the Earth’s watery depths to countries and companies that as of Monday were allowed to start applying for provisional mining licenses.

The International Seabed Authority, based in Jamaica, launched a two-week conference on the issue Monday, a day after it missed a deadline to approve a set of rules and regulations to govern deep sea mining in international waters. “We have a lot of work ahead of us,” said Juan José González, the authority’s council president.

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As the world gathers to discuss the perils of deep-sea mining, a Vancouver-based company is forging ahead – by Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail – July 10, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

As an international body meets Monday to discuss deep-sea mining, the debate around the practice is growing louder, with conservation groups calling for a moratorium and a Vancouver-based proponent saying it hopes to be mining in 2024.

Those competing visions will be front and centre in Kingston, Jamaica, where the International Seabed Authority is scheduled to hold meetings that will largely focus on this issue until July 28.

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Deep-sea mining tussle pits France and Germany against China – by Kenza Bryan (Financial Times – July 9, 2023)

https://www.ft.com/

Crunch talks in Jamaica to determine future of drive to extract critical minerals from ocean depths

France and Germany are leading a fightback against plans to allow large-scale commercial mining in the deep seas, warning that a China-supported push to harvest battery metals from the seabed could do lasting harm.

Representatives of 168 member states of the International Seabed Authority will gather on Monday for a marathon, three-week negotiation on whether to lay down the first operating guidelines for the nascent industry.

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The world needs more battery metals. Time to mine the seabed (The Economist – July 6, 2023)

https://www.economist.com/

Getting nickel from the deep causes much less damage than getting it on land

Burning fuel to move humans and goods by road produced about 6bn tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2021, 16% of global energy-related emissions. If countries are to curb the increase in the world’s temperature, they must stop these emissions. That means building battery-powered vehicles which run on electricity rather than internal combustion. And that in turn means mining and processing metals on an unprecedented scale.

Take nickel, which is used in the part of a battery that stores energy. The International Energy Agency reckons 80m tonnes of it must be mined between now and 2040 if the world is to hit its climate targets. That is more nickel than has ever been mined, and approaches the 100m tonnes of global unmined reserves measured by the United States Geological Survey.

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Deep sea mining permits may be coming soon. What are they and what might happen? – by Victoria Milko (Associated Press – July 3, 2023)

https://apnews.com/

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The International Seabed Authority — the United Nations body that regulates the world’s ocean floor — is preparing to resume negotiations that could open the international seabed for mining, including for materials critical for the green energy transition.

Years long negotiations are reaching a critical point where the authority will soon need to begin accepting mining permit applications, adding to worries over the potential impacts on sparsely researched marine ecosystems and habitats of the deep sea.

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Deep-sea mining and species survival – by Craig Guthrie (Mining Magazine – June 21, 2023)

https://www.miningmagazine.com/

A battle raging between conservationists and miners which already spans from the desert-like plains of Nevada to the frozen tundra of the Sami in Scandinavia, has found a new flashpoint – a remote, expansive region of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico.

Scientists from Britain’s Natural History Museum (NHM) said in May that as a result of compiling all the records from expeditions to the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ, which has been targeted for mineral exploration, they estimate over 5,000 yet-to-be-named species are thriving among the polymetallic nodules resting there.

The revelation has ignited a fresh wave of claims and counter-claims between conservationists striving to protect those newfound species and miners who say minerals from the ocean’s depths are essential for mankind’s shift away from fossil fuels.

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OPINION: Your next EV could be made from metals extracted from the seabed – a potential environmental disaster – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – June 17, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The oceans are suffering from chemical pollution, Texas-size patches of swirling plastic, acidification from climate change and overfishing. To that litany of environmental horrors we may soon add subsea mining. Blame the rise of electric vehicles and their voracious demands for “critical” metals.

Norway, the oil powerhouse whose output helped keep hundreds of millions of cars and trucks rolling on European roads, now wants to do the same for EVs. The government plans to submit a proposal this month to parliament that would allow mineral exploration and extraction near Svalbard, its archipelago in the Arctic.

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Can We Mine the World’s Deep Ocean Without Destroying It? – by Richard Schiffman (Yale Environment 360 – June 15, 2023)

https://e360.yale.edu/

The U.N. body charged with regulating deep-ocean mining will soon consider whether to permit the first project to move forward. But ecologist Lisa Levin, who has long studied the deep sea, worries that in the rush for key minerals, a pristine and important ecosystem will be lost.

Few people know the deep ocean as intimately as Lisa Levin, an ecologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Not content with doing pure science, Levin, who has participated in more than 40 oceanographic expeditions, founded the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative, a global network of more than 2,000 scientists, economists, and legal experts that seeks to advise policymakers on managing the ocean’s depths.

Of particular concern to Levin now is the prospect of deep-sea mining. The tiny island nation of Nauru has notified the International Seabed Authority on behalf of its Canadian partner, the Metals Company, of its intent to seek a permit to mine in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a 1.7- million-square-mile region of the Pacific where polymetatallic nodules are scattered that have high concentrations of cobalt and other valuable minerals.

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OPINION: Deep-sea mining for battery minerals is coming – thanks to a Canadian firm – by Laura Trethewey (Globe and Mail – June 15, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Laura Trethewey is the author of The Deepest Map: The High-Stakes Race to Chart the World’s Oceans coming this July.

On July 9, a United Nations body is set to start accepting applications for deep-sea commercial mining. In the most likely scenario, big machines that resemble army tanks plow across the deep plains, crushing all the life beneath them as they extract manganese nodules, which contain nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements, from the seabed.

Mining proponents cite a desire to save the planet: the rise of carbon-saving technology and predicted demand for metals to make electric-vehicle batteries and wind turbines.

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Norway considers opening Germany-sized area to deep-sea mining – by Staff (Mining.com – June 9, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

Norway’s government is gearing up to establish itself as a frontrunner in deep-sea mining, with plans to open an oceanic area nearly the size of Germany to extract essential battery metals from its sea floor.

The move comes as companies and nations shift their attention to the mineral-rich ocean floor, a valuable source of materials for smartphones and electric vehicles.

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Pro Take: Can Nickel, Cobalt and Other Battery Metals Be Sourced Sustainably? – by Yusuf Khan (Wall Street Journal – May 11, 2023)

https://www.wsj.com/

Environmental worries over Indonesian nickel are being used to build a case for deep sea mining

As companies and countries withdraw their support for seabed mining, the about-face is raising broader questions about how metals used in battery production are sourced and the scale of the associated environmental costs. The sourcing of nickel particularly has been in the spotlight.

Last week, A.P. Moller-Maersk became the latest company to drop its investment in The Metals Company, a prospective seabed miner based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Lockheed Martin and Norway’s Storebrand also have recently sold their interests in deep-sea mining companies.

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The deep sea mining debate is “gone” — it’s happening, says The Metals Company CEO – by Bruno Venditti (Mining.com – April 11, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

Despite opposition from environmental groups, the CEO of The Metals Company (TMC) which has exclusive access to the Nori Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) polymetallic project, located 4,000 metres deep in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and ranked as the world’s biggest undeveloped nickel project, sees deep sea mining happening by the end of 2024.

Mining international waters is in the spotlight as companies and countries are looking at minerals concentrated on the ocean floor that can be used in batteries for smart phones and electric vehicles.

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Companies Can Vie to Mine the Deep Sea Starting in July – by Todd Woody (Bloomberg News – April 3, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A United Nations-affiliated organization is expected to start accepting applications this summer from companies looking to mine deep sea ecosystems for valuable metals, despite failing on Friday to establish regulations governing the embryonic industry.

That doesn’t necessarily mean mining is set to begin anytime soon. Given the absence of environmental regulations, as well as ongoing disagreement among the International Seabed Authority’s 167 member nations over whether deep sea mining should even proceed, there are doubts about whether licenses will be issued and under what conditions.

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UN body mulls deep sea mining amid demand for minerals – by Dánica Coto, (The Associated Press – March 31, 2023)

https://apnews.com/

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Pressure is mounting on an obscure U.N. body based in Jamaica to hit pause on plans to potentially open the world’s deep seas to mining as companies push for permission to extract metals from seabeds in international waters.

The International Seabed Authority on Friday closed two weeks’ worth of negotiations without approving rules and regulations to oversee deep sea mining amid growing calls to pause, ban or place a moratorium on the quest to extract minerals from the Earth’s watery depths that are used in green technology like electric car batteries.

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Deep-sea mining for rare metals will destroy ecosystems, say scientists – by Robin McKie (The Guardian – March 26, 2023)

https://www.theguardian.com/

An investigation by conservationists has found evidence that deep-seabed mining of rare minerals could cause “extensive and irreversible” damage to the planet.

The report, to be published on Monday by the international wildlife charity Fauna & Flora, adds to the growing controversy that surrounds proposals to sweep the ocean floor of rare minerals that include cobalt, manganese and nickel. Mining companies want to exploit these deposits – which are crucial to the alternative energy sector – because land supplies are running low, they say.

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