Is a Deep-Sea Mining Boom Inevitable?

By Felicity Bradstock - Feb 27, 2024, 

• Norway's recent approval of deep-sea mining sets a precedent for other nations, as they seek to access critical minerals necessary for renewable energy technologies.
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• While environmentalists and scientists oppose deep-sea mining due to potential ecological damage, the growing demand for critical minerals is driving interest and exploration in this sector.
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• The International Seabed Authority is expected to resume talks on deep-sea mining regulations, with concerns over environmental impact and calls for a pause on mining activities from various countries and major corporations.
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Just a month after Norway approved the world’s first deep-sea mineral mining, a UN regulator has stated that he thinks the international practice of deep-sea mining is likely inevitable. There is growing interest in commercial deep-sea mining for critical metals and minerals to support an accelerated global green transition. However, there is also widespread opposition due to fears of the environmental impact of these types of activities, which could hinder efforts to tackle climate change. 

At the beginning of the year, Norway became the first country to approve the practice of deep-sea mining for critical minerals. There has been a growing international discussion around the potential for deep-sea mining to extract metals and minerals needed to grow the world’s renewable energy capacity and help develop clean technologies. However, there has been widespread opposition to these types of mining activities from environmentalists and scientists who say we do not yet understand the potential impact of deep-sea mining well enough for it to be deemed safe. Many worry that the environmental impact of deep-sea mining could undermine the efforts of developing the world’s renewable energy capacity to tackle climate change. 

In January, the Norwegian parliament voted in favour of opening its waters for commercial-scale deep-sea mining to support a global shift away from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives. It also believes that deep-sea mining could be less harmful to the environment than land-based mining, the widespread practice currently used to extract metals and minerals. There is an abundance of potato-sized nodules of critical minerals, including cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese, sitting on the bottom of the seafloor that Norway, and many other world powers, want to access through deep-sea mining to meet the growing demand for critical minerals from the green energy sector. However, Norway will not immediately commence mining operations. The government will instead assess proposals from mining companies on a case-by-case basis for license approval. 

This month, Michael Lodge, the head of the International Seabed Authority, the U.N. regulator that oversees deep-sea mining, said that he believes it is only a matter of time until deep-sea mining activities take place. Lodge is seeing renewed global interest in deep-sea mining as a means of accelerating the global green transition. Governments and regulators worldwide have been exploring ways to meet the growing demand for critical metals and minerals, for fear that demand will outstrip supply if we cannot access alternative mineral deposits. 

Lodge explained, “One of the main drivers of industrial interest is the potential to produce larger quantities of minerals at equivalent or lower cost to what can be produced on land.” He added, “That’s the commercial driver and certainly there is vast resource potential in seabed minerals. The question is whether they can in the end be produced economically. “But the resource potential is absolutely there. This is clear. The technology is advanced, so it seems like it is possible. And at the same time, it is very clear also that demand for minerals is increasing exponentially and is only going to continue to increase.”

The ISA is scheduled to recommence talks on deep-sea mining in Kingston, Jamaica, in March. If successful, this could lead to the development of a regulatory framework for deep-sea mining on a commercial scale. The ISA regulates mining across an area covering 54 percent of the world’s oceans, representing 68 member states as well as the EU, but not the U.S. The ISA Council has previously stated its intention to develop deep-sea mining regulations by 2025. However, 24 countries around the globe have called for a pause on these types of activities, supported by several major companies, such as Google, Samsung, and Volvo. Deep-sea mining requires the use of heavy machinery to remove metals and minerals from the ocean floor. There is a fear that commencing deep-sea mining operations before fully understanding the potential impact on the sea bed could lead to permanent harm to marine life and ecosystems. 

Nevertheless, Lodge believes it is only a matter of time until deep-sea mining activities are approved. He said, “Clearly now, we are reaching a very high level of interest so I would say that yes it seems to be inevitable.” Lodge added, “Whether that takes place in international waters, or in national waters, whether that be Norway or another country, that’s impossible to say. It depends in part upon the terms and conditions I suppose.” He emphasised the unsustainability of the current situation, with a few state powers dominating the mineral and metal mining industry – such as China and Russia, and suggested that deep-sea mining could create greater competition in the industry and provide the stable supply of resources needed to support a global green transition. 

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

Norway Considers Opening Huge Area To Deep Sea Mining

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Jun 09, 2023,

Norway’s government plans to submit to Parliament in the coming weeks plans to open a large area to deep sea mining as it seeks to access and extract critical minerals from the seabed.

The government has prepared an impact assessment which was open for comments until the end of January this year. The Petroleum and Energy Ministry now plans to submit a report and a plan to open a Germany-size area to deep sea mining to Parliament, which is expected to vote on the proposal this autumn.  

The plan has drawn opposition from environmental groups and the fishermen’s association.

The government and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) believe that deep sea mining could become an important new industry in Norway and could help raise supply of metals key to the energy transition.                   

Deep sea mining could help Europe meet the “desperate need for more minerals, rare earth materials to make the transition happen,” Amund Vik, state secretary in Petroleum and Energy Ministry, told the Financial Times. 

Early this year, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate issued a resource assessment, in which it said that there were “substantial resources on the Norwegian shelf.”

Copper, zinc, manganese, cobalt, rare earth minerals, and other critical minerals could be found on the Norwegian seabed, according to the report, which noted that “The NPD’s assessment is that the resources in place are significant. For several of the metals, the mineral resources compare to many years of global consumption.”

Still, the NPD noted that “It remains to be seen whether the areas will be opened, and whether production can be profitable from a financial standpoint.”

At the end of the consultation period in January, Norway’s Fishermen’s Association said that the impact assessment had “significant shortcomings” on the impact on environment and fisheries. The government’s assessment “is not a good enough decision-making basis to authorize a possible opening of large parts of the Norwegian Sea for deep sea mining.”

WWF’s Norwegian chapter, Greenpeace, and other environmental organizations called on the government to halt the process of opening the shelf to deep sea mining as the assessment has many unanswered questions about the consequences of exploration and extraction on the Norwegian economy, climate, and seabed habitat.   

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Norway proposes opening Germany-sized area of its continental shelf to deep-sea mining

by Elizabeth Claire Alberts on 20 April 2023


Norway has proposed opening up a Germany-sized part of the Norwegian Sea to deep-sea mining.

The area holds considerable quantities of minerals needed for renewable energy technologies, such as magnesium, cobalt, copper, nickel and rare-earth metals.
The Norwegian government and industries say they will take a precautionary approach to this deep-sea mining.

However, critics say plans should be progressing more slowly to properly assess the marine environment and the possible impacts of mining, and the Norwegian government received numerous responses during a public consultation period arguing that the country should not mine its deep sea.

Norway is moving forward with plans to mine its continental shelf to procure minerals critical for renewable energy technologies. However, some scientists, members of civil society and even industry leaders have raised concerns about Norway’s proposal, arguing that deep-sea mining in this part of the ocean could cause widespread environmental harm.

The nation’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has proposed opening up a 329,000-square-kilometer (127,000-square-mile) portion of the Norwegian Sea to deep-sea mining, an area nearly the size of Germany. The region overlaps with many marine areas previously flagged by Norwegian research institutes and government agencies as vulnerable or valuable. A study by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), a government agency responsible for regulating petroleum resources, found that this area holds significant quantities of minerals such as magnesium, cobalt, copper, nickel and rare-earth metals. Investigators found these minerals on manganese crusts on seamounts and sulfide deposits on active, inactive or extinct hydrothermal vents at depths of 700-4,000 meters (2,296-13,123 feet).

A sliver of this proposed mining area is within Norway’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The rest falls across the adjoining continental shelf — the gently sloping seabed stretching out from Norway’s mainland into the ocean — in international waters beyond Norway’s jurisdiction. However, Norway gained access to the continental shelf that borders its EEZ in 2009 after filing an application with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a U.N. body that manages extended access to the nations’ continental shelves. Norway’s access applies only to the seabed, not the water column or surface waters above the continental shelf.

Guillemots flying in the Svalbard and Jan Mayen region, a vulnerable area. 

Image by Rob Oo via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

In 2021, the Norwegian government began working on a mining impact assessment and released it for public consultation in October 2022. It received more than 1,000 responses, most from individuals, research institutes, environment agencies and other groups expressing opposition to Norway’s deep-sea mining plans.

One response came from the Norway Environment Agency, a government bureau under the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The agency raised several issues with the impact assessment, including that it did not provide adequate information about how mining could be done safely and sustainably. The agency argued that this omission violates the country’s Seabed Minerals Act, a legal framework created in 2019 for surveying and extracting minerals on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Now that the public consultation process has finished, the decision whether to open Norway’s EEZ and continental shelf to deep-sea mining sits with the federal government. If the government does open the area, Norway could become one of the first nations to initiate deep-sea mining in its nearby waters. A few other countries, including China, Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands and New Zealand, have explored starting similar projects, but none have begun full-scale exploitation. According to the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority, a government agency responsible for regulating seabed minerals, the country has issued exploration licenses to obtain “the information necessary to inform future decisions about whether it will allow mining to commence in line with the precautionary approach.” In the case of New Zealand, its supreme court blocked a proposed seabed mining operation in 2021, generating a major stumbling block for the industry.

 

‘Enormous supply gap’

Walter Sognnes, the CEO of Loke Marine Minerals, one of three companies looking to mine Norway’s continental shelf, said he believes the deep sea is key to supplying the “increasing demand” for critical minerals. Loke is aiming to mine manganese crusts that occur on seamounts on Norway’s continental shelf, believed to hold cobalt and rare-earth metals worth billions of dollars.

“We need to solve this enormous supply gap that is coming … and we think deep-sea minerals are the right way to go,” Sognnes told Mongabay.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), today’s mineral supply will fall short of what’s needed to transform the energy sector, resulting in a delayed and more expensive transition to renewable technologies. A recent study in Nature Communications likewise suggested that demand will escalate as countries work to replace gas-combustion vehicles with electric ones. For instance, it suggested that if nations aim to make all vehicles electric by 2050, the global demand will increase by 7,513% for lithium, 5,426% for nickel, 2,838% for manganese and 2,684% for cobalt. The study also pointed out that most of these critical minerals were available only in “a few politically unstable countries such as Chile, Congo, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa.”

While environmental experts argue that industries can obtain minerals through means such as battery recycling, Sognnes said he doesn’t think that will become a viable option for at least a couple of decades.

Mineral supply chains can also be complicated by geopolitical tensions with countries like China and Russia, which currently generate many critical minerals, Sogness said.

“You have to look at the alternatives,” he said. “We believe that if you apply the best technology and work together [to protect] the environment, deep-sea minerals can be a better alternative, both on ESG rating, but also on the geopolitical side, you can have a resource that makes us less dependent on China.”

An ESG rating is a measure of how well a company addresses environmental, social and governance risks 

.

Jan Mayen Island, adjacent to the proposed mining area. 

Image by Ian Geoffrey Stimpson via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Sognnes said if Norway does open its continental shelf, Loke would not begin mining until early in the 2030s. He said it would first be necessary to map and explore the seabed and develop the best possible technologies. Loke plans to use excavation tools, thrusters and pumps to “scrape” the manganese crusts then transport them to a collection vessel.

Some researchers have suggested that plumes generated from deep-sea mining extraction could be highly destructive by distributing sediment and dissolved metals across large swaths of the ocean, which would threaten organisms and introduce heavy metals into the pelagic food chain. However, Sognnes said he does not expect Loke’s crust cutting and collection to generate plumes.

Loke also recently acquired UK Seabed Resources (UKSR), a deep-sea mining firm formerly owned by U.S. global security company Lockheed Martin. This acquisition has given Loke full ownership of two exploration licenses and partial ownership of another in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean. This proposed mining would focus on extracting polymetallic nodules, which are potato-shaped rocks containing critical minerals like manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper. Since the CCZ is located in international waters beyond any nations’ jurisdictions, mining activities there are regulated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), a U.N.-affiliated body tasked with protecting the marine environment while ensuring nations receive equal access to minerals.

While the ISA has yet to issue an exploitation license for deep-sea mining, it is working to finalize a set of regulations that could allow mining to start as early as next year — a move that has garnered criticism from governments, civil society organizations, research institutes and many other individuals and groups. Those in opposition say that not enough is known about the deep sea to accurately assess the impacts of mining, and that mining technology is not advanced enough to minimize harm. Additionally, critics say what is known about the deep sea suggests that mining could cause irreversible harm to habitats and species that are essential to the functioning of the ocean.

Some nations and delegates to the ISA are calling for a “precautionary pause” or a moratorium on deep-sea mining until more research is conducted on the deep sea and the possible impacts of mining. France has even called for an outright ban.

Norway, an ISA council member, has generally supported swiftly completing the international mining regulations but stated at recent ISA meetings that no mining should proceed without the “necessary knowledge about ecosystems.”

Other Norwegian companies looking to mine in Norway include ADEPTH Minerals and Green Minerals. While Norwegian energy company Equinor previously expressed interest in deep-sea mining, the company called for a “precautionary approach” during the public consultation, saying experts must have sufficient time to properly understand the possible environmental consequences of deep-sea mining.

A coral reef in the deep-sea. Critics of deep-sea mining and experts say deep-sea mining activity would cause irreparable damage to marine ecosystems, and that seabed minerals are not necessary for green technologies. 

Image by NOAA.

‘Too quick and too big’

Peter Haugan, a scientist who serves as policy director of Norway’s Institute of Marine Research and director of the Geophysical Institute at the University of Bergen, said the Norwegian government should not rush mining in the country’s continental shelf.

“Jumping right into mining and opening big areas for exploration first with the implication that there will be mining is a bit too quick and too big,” Haugan told Mongabay. “Normally, when we think about new industries that may be moving into areas in the ocean, we typically take small steps.”

Haugan said that while some academic research has been conducted on features like hydrothermal vents in the proposed mining area, more is needed to understand this deep-sea environment, the water column and the organisms that live there. Before mining is allowed to proceed, he said researchers need to conduct extensive baseline studies to understand the impacts for both the mining area and the wider environment, which would be hard to do within short timespans.

“It’s very difficult to imagine that a single company getting a license for a small area will be prepared to do the environmental baseline that is needed in their area and in the surrounding areas, which may be affected and which may have connected ecosystems,” Haugan said.

According to an assessment by the Institute of Marine Research, there is a lack of information for 99% of the proposed mining area.

Kaja Lønne Fjærtoft, a marine biologist and global policy lead at WWF, told Mongabay it’s difficult to “nail down the actual consequence” of deep-sea mining on the Norwegian shelf without more knowledge of the environment, technology and mining impacts. Based on what is known, she said there is concern that mining manganese crusts or sulfide deposits could have widespread effects on species through the destruction of habitat, generation of harmful plumes and noise pollution. (Sognnes of Loke, however, said his company’s proposed operations would not target unique habitats or generate plumes and would produce minimal noise.)

A minke whale near Svalbard. Image by Rob Oo via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Transboundary concerns

Norway’s plans also raise several transboundary concerns. For one, mining activities could impact fisheries operating in the water above the extended continental shelf, Fjærtoft said.

“We don’t have exclusive rights to fisheries above it, so the mining that could happen in the seabed could impact international fisheries because most of the [proposed mining] areas are also in areas where like the U.K. would be fishing, the EU would be fishing,” she said. “And that’s not really accounted very well for in the impact assessment.”

According to 2019 data, the U.K. and several EU countries fish in the proposed deep-sea mining area, targeting species like shrimp, cod, sole, haddock and mussels.

Norway submitted its impact assessment to Denmark and Iceland in accordance with the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment, which requires parties to disclose if activities could cause transboundary environmental harm. Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency wrote a letter to the Norwegian Environment Agency, arguing that the mining’s possible effects on seabirds and marine mammals have not been thoroughly investigated, according to documents reviewed by Mongabay.

Another issue is that part of Norway’s proposed mining area falls across the continental shelf of Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The Svalbard Treaty, which 48 countries have ratified, recognizes Norway’s sovereignty over Svalbard but also specifies that parties have equal rights to engage in commercial activities there. However, in a letter viewed by Mongabay, Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs informed the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the exploitation of any mineral resources on Svalbard’s continental shelf was “subject to the provisions of the Svalbard Treaty, including the principle of equality.” In other words, Norway couldn’t claim sole ownership of these resources.

“If Norway actually goes ahead with extraction of seabed minerals, it will be the first time the Svalbard Treaty — in terms of extractive seabed resources, including oil and gas — is tested in that region,” Fjærtoft said. “This will set precedent for future potential oil and gas extraction in this area.”

Fjærtoft also argues that Norway’s plans for deep-sea mining contradict its commitments as a founding member of the Ocean Panel, a global initiative that aims to help member nations “sustainably manage” 100% of their national marine waters by 2025.

A fulmar fishing in Svalbard waters. Image by Alastair Rae via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

In a paper, the Ocean Panel stated that nations should take a precautionary approach to deep-sea mining and that regulations and knowledge should be in place by 2030 to “to ensure that any activity related to seabed mining is informed by science and ecologically sustainable.”

More recently, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, the current head of the Ocean Panel, said in an interview with a Norwegian paper in March that deep-sea mining can be one of three sustainable ocean actions Norway can set in motion and that deep-sea mining could be done in a way that doesn’t harm marine biodiversity. Støre’s comments garnered criticism from environmental NGOs.

Haugan, who serves as co-chair of the Ocean Panel’s Expert Group, said the Norwegian government’s course technically satisfies the panel’s “not very precise” statement directing a precautionary approach to deep-sea mining. However, he said he was still concerned about how quickly things were moving.

“There is a real fear that the quality and quantity of those environmental investigations will not be sufficient,” Haugan said. “And therefore, there’s this big danger that this will run off and lead to inappropriate actions in the deep sea.”

A benthos community of sea anemones, hydrozoans and basket stars on Noway’s seabed. Image © Gavin Newman / Greenpeace.

What happens next?

Amund Vik, state secretary of Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, the body forwarding the proposal to mine, told Mongabay the impact assessment, consultation impact and resource report from NPD “will form an important part of the decision basis on whether to open areas” to deep-sea mining. However, he emphasized that a decision to open the area wouldn’t necessarily result in commercial activities. Vik also said the government will submit a white paper about the issue to parliament in “spring.”

“A comprehensive permitting regime has been established in Norwegian legislation, and this regime is based upon a stepwise approach to allowing commercial activities to take place,” Vik said in an emailed statement. “Seabed mineral activities will only take place if it can be done in a prudent and sustainable manner.”

However, Fjærtoft said she believes if and when the Norwegian government does approve the opening of the proposed mining area, commercial activities could quickly begin. The nation’s Seabed Minerals Act specifies that companies may immediately apply for exploitation licenses alongside exploration licenses. According to Fjærtoft, companies are likely to opt for exploitation licenses because they confer exclusive rights to an area; exploration licenses, on the other hand, are nonexclusive.

“Norway could be the first country to give an exploitation license,” Fjærtoft said. “If they do that, that is heavily criticizable because you definitely do not have enough knowledge to be able to assess anything on the impact of exploitation. You don’t even have enough to assess impacts of exploration.”

Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a senior staff writer for Mongabay. Follow her on Twitter @ECAlberts.

Banner image: Walruses in Svalbard, Norway — a vulnerable area. Image by Gregoire Dubois via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Citations:

The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions. (2021). Retrieved from International Energy Agency website: https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/executive-summary

Zhang, C., Zhao, X., Sacchi, R., & You, F. (2023). Trade-off between critical metal requirement and transportation decarbonization in automotive electrification. Nature Communications, 14(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37373-4

Transformations for a Sustainable Ocean Economy: A Vision for Protection, Production and Prosperity. (2022). Retrieved from High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy website: https://oceanpanel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/transformations-sustainable-ocean-economy-eng.pdf

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for DEEP SEA MINING 

Deep sea mining: Here’s which countries oppose and support the controversial practice

By Angela Symons  with AP

Published on 02/08/2023 - 14:41

Finland, Germany and Portugal were among the countries that blocked deep sea mining licences.

After weeks of fierce debate, deep sea mining has failed to get approval during international talks.

The controversial practice involves removing precious metals and minerals from the ocean’s seabed. So far, only small tests have been carried out but companies were hoping to get the green light to start full-scale production.

Opponents point to the destruction it would cause to marine ecosystems and the climate.

The UN’s 36-member International Seabed Authority (ISA), which governs international waters, began a lengthy conference on the issue on 10 July in Jamaica. It ended on 28 July with more than 20 governments opposing fast-tracked licences.

However, a legal loophole remains, which could allow companies to start mining next year.

What is deep sea mining and why is it problematic?

Deep-sea mining would see heavy machinery scoop up small rocks containing rare metals and minerals from the ocean floor. These would then be pumped to the surface.

Companies are particularly interested in cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese, which could be extracted for electric car batteries and smartphones.

These precious metals and minerals have built up on the seafloor over millions of years. They form an important habitat for marine life.

Scientists have warned that such extraction could kick up silt storms and create noise and light pollution in the little-explored ocean deep.

Environmentalists are also concerned about the impact of deep sea mining on the ocean as a heat and carbon sink. Others say it could negatively impact the fishing industry.

Companies pushing for deep sea mining, however, argue that undersea mining would be cheaper and have less of an environmental impact than land mining.

Greenpeace, a vocal opponent of deep sea mining, says we should instead focus on improving recycling and reducing dependence on cars.

• Deep-sea mining: green-tech enabler or environmental catastrophe?
• Coal mining is to blame for Oder River mass die-off, Greenpeace Poland warns

Where has deep sea mining taken place so far?

The ISA has issued more than 30 exploration licences but none for actual mining so far.

Most of the exploration is focused in an area between Hawaii and Mexico that spans some 4.5 million square kilometres, with the activity taking place at depths of up to 6,000 metres.

As well as debating the future of licensing, the recent conference looked at laying out regulations for the budding industry.

A deadline of 9 July was set to finalise the regulations. This is because in July 2021 the Micronesian island of Nauru announced its intention to begin deep sea mining. That announcement triggered a loophole called the ‘two-year rule’, which obliged the ISA to provisionally approve the application by July 2023, regardless of whether regulations were in place.

The regulatory framework is still stuck in draft mode, however, and will be discussed again at the body's November meeting, the third one of the year.

Which countries are opposed to deep sea mining?

A growing number of countries are calling for a temporary suspension of deep sea mining, saying they are concerned about the potential environmental impact. They want more scientific studies to be done first.

Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland and Vanuatu were among the 21 countries that support a ban, moratorium or precautionary pause on deep sea mining.

China, Norway, Nauru, Mexico and the UK, meanwhile, were in support of fast-tracking licences for deep sea mining.

The next meeting of the Assembly will take place in mid-2024.

French President says deep-sea mining must not go ahead

Reuters | June 30, 2022 | 

French President Emmanuel Macron. 

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday a legal framework was needed to stop deep-sea mining from going ahead and urged countries to put their money on science to better understand and protect the world’s oceans.


There is growing international interest in deep-sea mining but there is also pressure from some environmental groups and governments to either ban it or ensure it only goes ahead if appropriate regulations are in place.

Deep-sea mining would involve using heavy machinery to suck up off the ocean floor potato-sized rocks, or nodules that contain cobalt, manganese, and other rare metals mostly used in batteries.

“We have … to create the legal framework to stop high sea mining and to not allow new activities putting in danger these ecosystems,” Macron said at an event on the sidelines of the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon.

“But at the same time we need to promote our scientists and explorers to better know the high seas… we need to better understand in order to protect,” Macron added.

Although he expressed concerns about deep-sea mining, France holds an exploration contract through the Institut Francais de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer, valid until June 2026, for a 75,000-square-kilometre (28,958-square-miles) area in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the North Pacific rich in polymetallic nodules.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA), a UN body, is drawing up regulations governing seabed mining in the high seas – areas outside any national jurisdiction. Until global rules are in place, seabed mining is not allowed.

Several nations, such as the Pacific islands of Palau and Fiji but also Chile, have called for a global moratorium on all deep-sea mining activities, citing environmental concerns and a lack of sufficient scientific data.

But not all countries are against it. China is a leader in deep-sea mining exploration, and small nations have also gotten involved. The tiny island nation of Nauru last year asked the ISA to fast-track the adoption of seabed mining regulations.

G7 countries last month agreed they would only consent to such mining projects if they did not seriously harm the environment. Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy for the Ocean, told Reuters he believed regulations to counter those concerns will appear soon.

(By Catarina Demony and Helen Reid; Editing by Sandra Maler)

‘Terrifying’: WWF chief hits out at plans to mine the deep sea

Reuters | June 28, 2022 

Marco Lambertini, WWF’s director general. Credit: WWF

The World Wildlife Fund’s chief warned on Tuesday that the potential impact of mining the deep sea could be “terrifying” and called for strict regulations to avoid yet another environmental disaster.


There is growing interest in deep-sea mining but there is also pressure from some environmental groups and governments to either ban it or ensure it only goes ahead if appropriate regulations are in place.

Deep-sea mining would involve using heavy machinery to suck up off the ocean floor potato-sized rocks or nodules that contain cobalt, manganese, and other rare metals mostly used in batteries.

“Have we not learned our lesson?” asked Marco Lambertini, WWF’s director general, referring to the environmental impacts of digging for minerals on land. “We simply don’t know what we will unleash by going down hundreds, thousands of meters (feet)to the bottom of the ocean.”

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Lambertini said the WWF was confident there would be consequences if plans to excavate mineral deposits from the deep seabed get a green light.

He said it could potentially generate damaging sediment plumes and affect fish migration. Lambertini said authorities should instead look into the “great potential of recycling” e-waste for the materials needed for batteries.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA), a UN body, is drawing up regulations governing seabed mining in the high seas – areas outside any national jurisdiction. Until global rules are in place, seabed mining is not allowed.
‘Everybody’s waters’

WWF has called for a global moratorium on all deep-sea mining activities, and countries such as the Pacific islands of Palau and Fiji launched an “alliance” on Monday to back it.

But not all nations are against it. China is a major proponent and even smaller nations like the tiny Pacific island of Nauru, for instance, asked the ISA last year to fast-track the adoption of seabed mining regulations.

Speaking to Reuters, US climate envoy John Kerry said his country, which has not ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, has concerns regarding deep-sea mining and is “very wary of procedures that could disturb the ocean floor”.

The United States is not a member of the ISA but has participated as an observer state in negotiations over the regulations.

“We are looking very closely at the proposals and procedures and we will continue to be involved,” Kerry added.

WWF’s Lambertini also said it was “fundamental” that UN member states reach an agreement on a treaty to protect the open seas beyond national jurisdictions, which they failed to do in March this year.

“Today they are nobody’s waters and we need to turn the concept on its head,” he said, explaining that not having a treaty means the high seas are not regulated enough. “They need to become everybody’s waters.”

Member states will meet again in August to discuss the issue and although Lambertini believes there was a “general consensus” on some countries were likely to oppose the long-awaited treaty.

“Without having a common governance mechanism, I think it will be very difficult to coordinate action,” he said.

(By Catarina Demony; Editing by Sandra Maler)

‘Not worth the risk’: Palau, Fiji call for deep-sea mining moratorium
Reuters | June 27, 2022 | 

Tavarua Island, Fiji. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Concerned about the potential impacts of deep-sea mining on ocean biodiversity, the Pacific islands of Palau and Fiji on Monday launched an “alliance” to call for a moratorium of the nascent industry.


The backing of a moratorium comes amid a wave of global interest in deep-sea mining but also growing pressure from some environmental groups and governments to either ban it or ensure it only goes ahead if appropriate regulations are in place.


Deep-sea mining uses heavy machinery to suck up off the ocean floor potato-sized rocks or nodules that contain cobalt, manganese, and other rare metals mostly used in batteries.

Speaking to a packed room at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Palau President Surangel Whipps asked: “How can we in our right minds say ‘let’s go mining’ without knowing what the risks are?”

“We believe it is not worth the risk,” he said. “We ask all of you to support that… deep-sea mining increases the vulnerability of the seabed floor and marine life.”

The International Seabed Authority (ISA), a U.N. body, is drawing up regulations governing seabed mining in the high seas – areas outside any national jurisdiction. Until global rules are in place, seabed mining is not allowed.

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, which also supports a moratorium, said the ISA would meet in July and August to try to push through draft regulations that, if adopted, would see mining licensed to begin in the deep ocean as soon as July 2023.

Earlier this month, Chile also called for a 15-year moratorium on adopting regulations, citing environmental concerns and a lack of sufficient scientific data.

G7 countries last month agreed stringent environmental controls should govern deep-sea mining and that they would consent to such mining projects only if they did not seriously harm the marine environment.

But not all nations are against it. China is a major proponent and even smaller nations like the tiny Pacific island of Naru, for instance, asked the ISA last year to fast-track the adoption of seabed mining regulations.

Companies such as Google, BMW and Samsung were the first globally to sign up to a World Wildlife Fund call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

“The costs outweigh the short-term benefits,” said renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle. “We need to hit the stop button.”

(By Catarina Demony, Sergio Goncalves and Helen Reid; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Attenborough backs calls for a halt to mining the deep sea for minerals used in smartphones and electric car batteries - saying it has a 'huge impact' on wildlife and climate change

Conservationists warn deep sea mining will cause a range of serious problems

Sir David says mining the sea bed without understanding it is 'beyond reason'

Experts warn mining the sea bed could cause the destruction of ecosystems

Run off from sediment creating through mining could smother areas and kill fish

By RYAN MORRISON FOR MAILONLINE 24 March 2020

Sir David Attenborough has backed a call for deep sea mining to be stopped as conservationists warn it could have a 'huge impact' on wildlife and the climate.

A report by Fauna and Flora International (FFI) calls for a moratorium on moves to mine the deep sea for minerals used in mobile phones and electric car batteries.

The conservation organisation says deep sea mining could see entire ecosystems of species never studied and barely understood disrupted and destroyed.

The process could also create large plumes of sediments that smother areas far away from the mining sites themselves and kill marine life, FFI claims.

'The rush to mine this pristine and unexplored environment risks creating terrible impacts that cannot be reversed,' said Sir David, vice president of FFI.

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Sir David Attenborough is backing a call for a moratorium on deep sea mining. He says mining the surface without fully exploring it is 'beyond reason'


This image of a tripod fish is among the species that could be harmed through deep sea mining if it is allowed to continue, says Sir David Attenborough

FFI said in their report toxic and heavy metals could be released and spread dangerous toxins to areas of the oceans that are important for fisheries.

Mining could also lead to the loss of microbes that capture methane and carbon and disrupt the oceans 'biological pump' which takes carbon from the atmosphere and transports energy and nutrients through the oceans, the team warn.

'Mining the deep sea could create a devastating series of impacts that threaten the processes that are critical to the health and function of our oceans,' said Sir David.

'Fauna & Flora International is calling on global governments to put in place a moratorium on all deep sea mining – a call I wholeheartedly support.'

The wildlife presenter said the idea that people should be considering the destruction of deep sea places before they have understood them or the role they play in the health of the planet 'is beyond reason'.

'We need to be guided by science when faced with decisions of such great environmental consequence.'

Exploratory deep sea mining is already under way, but mining on a large scale is on hold until nations have agreed the rules covering it, which are being developed under the UN International Seabed Authority with efforts to finalise them in 2020.

FFI warned that human activity was already putting a huge strain on the oceans.

They have already absorbed a third of our carbon emissions and 93 per cent of the extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases, FFI said.

Oceans are becoming more acidic because of the carbon dioxide dissolving into them, fisheries are under pressure as a result of over-exploitation and there are hundreds of huge 'dead-zones'.


This rare deep-sea cirrate octopod is among the ocean species that are being studied by scientists. Sir David Attenborough says the rush to mine this pristine and unexplored environment risks creating terrible impacts that cannot be reversed


Whole ecosystems including octopus and sea sponges could be destroyed if mining is allowed to continue, according to Flora and Forna International

'Minerals on the seabed are centre-pieces of deep sea ecosystems. Plans to mine the deep sea must be put on hold,' said Pippa Howard, director at FFI.

'From methane release to disruption of the ocean's life-support systems and the destruction of unstudied ecosystems, the risks of deep sea mining are numerous and potentially disastrous,' she said.

'To place the ocean under the additional stresses that would be created by deep sea mining would be rolling the dice with the functioning of key planet-wide processes. We take this step at our peril.'

A Government spokesman said the UK is pushing for the highest international environmental standards including on deep sea mineral extraction.

'While we have sponsored two exploration licences, these allow only for marine research to understand the effects of deep sea mining,' he said.

'We will not issue a single exploitation licence without a full assessment of the environmental impact.'

Mining the Deep Sea

by JULIA BARNES

AUGUST 17, 2020 

They want to mine the deep sea.

We shouldn’t be surprised. This culture has stolen 90% of the large fish, created 450 deoxygenated areas, and murdered 50% of the coral reefs. It has wiped out 40% of the plankton. It has warmed and acidified the water to a level not seen since the Permian mass extinction. And indeed, there is another mass extinction underway. Given the ongoing assault on the ocean by this culture, there is serious question as to whether the upper ocean will be inhabitable by the end of this century.

For some people, a best-case scenario for the future is that some bacteria will survive around volcanic vents at the bottom of the ocean. Deep sea mining is about to make that an unlikely possibility.

It’s being touted as history’s largest mining operation.

They have plans to extract metals from deposits concentrated around hydrothermal vents and nodules – potato sized rocks – which are scattered across the sea floor.

Sediment will be vacuumed up from the deep sea, processed onboard mining vessels, then the remaining slurry will be dumped back into the ocean. Estimates of the amount of slurry that will be processed by a single mining vessel range from 2 to 6 million cubic feet per day.

I’ve seen water go from clear to opaque when an inexperienced diver gives a few kicks to the sea floor.

Now imagine 6 million cubic feet of sediment being dumped into the ocean. To put that in perspective, that’s about 22,000 dump trucks full of sediment – and that’s just one mining vessel operating for one day. Imagine what happens when there are hundreds of them. Thousands of them.

Plumes at the mining site are expected to smother and bury organisms on the sea floor. Light pollution from the mining equipment would disrupt species that depend on bioluminescence. Sediment plumes released at the surface or in the water column would increase turbidity and reduce light, disrupting the photosynthesis of plankton.

A few environmental groups are calling for a moratorium on deep sea mining. Meanwhile, exploratory mining is already underway. An obscure organization known as the International Seabed Authority has been given the responsibility of drafting an underwater mining code, selecting locations for extraction, and issuing licenses to mining companies.

Some companies claim that the damage from deep sea mining could be mitigated with proper regulations. For example, instead of dumping slurry at the surface, they would pump it back down and release it somewhere deeper. Obviously, regulations will not stop the direct harm to the area being mined. But even if the most stringent regulations were put in place, there still exists the near-certainty of human error, pipe breakage, sediment spills, and outright disregard for the rules. As we’ve seen with fisheries, regulations are essentially meaningless when there is no enforcement. 40% of the total catch comes from illegal fishing. Quotas are routinely ignored and vastly exceeded. On land, we know that corporations will gladly pay a fine when it is cheaper to do so than it is to follow the rules.

But all this misses the point which is that some activities are so immoral, they should not be permitted under any circumstances. Permits and regulations only serve to legalize and legitimize the act of deep sea mining, when a moratorium is the only acceptable response.

Canadian legislation effectively prohibits deep sea mining in Canada’s territorial waters. Ironically, Canadian corporations are leading the effort to mine the oceans elsewhere.

A spokesperson from the Vancouver-based company Deep Green Metals attempted to defend deep sea mining from an environmental perspective, “Mining on land now takes place in some of the most biodiverse places on the planet. The ocean floor, on the other hand, is a food-poor environment with no plant life and an order of magnitude less biomass living in a larger area. We can’t avoid disturbing wildlife, to be clear, but we will be putting fewer organisms at risk than land-based operations mining the same metals.” (as cited in Mining Watch https://miningwatch.ca/news/2020/6/16/deep-sea-mining-environmental-solution-or-impending-catastrophe).

This argument centers on a false choice. It presumes that mining must occur, which is absurd. Then, it paints a picture that the only area affected will be the area that is mined. In reality, the toxic slurry from deep sea mining will poison the surrounding ocean for hundreds of miles, with heavy metals like mercury and lead expected to bio-accumulate in everyone from plankton, to tuna, to sharks, to cetaceans.

A study from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences stated that “A very large area will be blanketed by sediment to such an extent that many animals will not be able to cope with the impact and whole communities will be severely affected by the loss of individuals and species.”

The idea that fewer organisms are at risk from deep sea mining is an egregious lie. Scientists have known since 1977 that photosynthesis is not the basis of every natural community. There are entire food webs that begin with organic chemicals floating from hydrothermal vents. These communities include giant clams, octopuses, crabs, and 10-foot tube worms, to name a few. Conducting mining in these habitats is bad enough, but the effects go far beyond the mined area.

Deep sea mining literally threatens every level of the ocean from surface to seabed. In doing so, it puts all life on the planet at risk. From smothering the deep sea, to toxifying the food web, to disrupting plankton, the tiny organisms who produce two thirds of the earth’s oxygen, it’s just one environmental disaster after another.

The most common justification for deep sea mining is that it will be necessary to create a bright green future. A report by the World Bank found that production of minerals such as graphite, lithium, and cobalt would need to increase by nearly 500% by 2050 to meet the growing demand for so-called renewable energy.

There is an article from the BBC titled “Electric Car future May Depend on Deep Sea Mining”. What if we switched the variables, and instead said “the future of the ocean depends on stopping car culture” or “the future of the ocean depends on opposing so-called renewable energy”. If we take into account all of the industries that are eviscerating the ocean, it must also be said that “the future of the ocean depends on stopping industrial civilization”.

Evidently this culture does not care whether the ocean has a future. It’s more interested in justifying continued exploitation under the banner of green consumerism.

I do not detail the horrors of deep sea mining to make a moral appeal to those who are destroying the ocean. They will not stop voluntarily. Instead, I am appealing to you, the reader, to do whatever is necessary to make it so this industry cannot destroy the ocean.

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More articles by:JULIA BARNES

 Julia Barnes is the director of the award-winning documentary Sea of Life.