Why has a Canadian company partnered with the tiny island of Nauru to fast-track deep-sea mining?

A leaked video of ocean pollution during a trial by The Metals Company (TMC) has renewed calls for a ban on deep-sea mining.

By Joanna Chiu

Staff Reporter
Mon., Feb. 20, 2023

Brown-black discharge gushed out of a pipe from a hulking ship, dispersing murky clouds of sediment into the international waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The scene, captured in a video that’s garnered international attention, turned a spotlight to a controversial Canadian company that is poised to become the first in the world to extract critical metals from the ocean floor — with the help of a tiny island in Micronesia.

While The Metals Company (TMC) insists the incident during a mining trial was harmless, the spill has renewed calls for a global ban on deep-sea mining. Protesters in Vancouver recently waved placards that singled out TMC for its operations, and asked that delegates to a global ocean conference push for a ban.

The uproar has highlighted the tension between our world’s growing demand for metals that power renewable energy technologies and the impact on the earth of pursuing them.

This month, Canada issued a surprise domestic moratorium on deep-sea mining and said international mining should only take place if regulators can ensure environmental protections.

But the federal government stopped short of weighing in on whether there should be a global ban.

“It’s a huge debate we’re having about how to responsibly produce batteries for electronic vehicles and other technologies for clean energy,” says Dr. Juan José Alava, principal investigator at the University of British Columbia’s Ocean Pollution Research Unit.

“But as metals or valuable elements from the land become scarce or more difficult to extract, more industries are looking to the ocean bottom.”

Speaking a day after the Natural Resources Canada statement, TMC chief executive officer Gerard Barron defended his company’s handling of the incident on the ship Hidden Gem and laid out his arguments for why the benefits of deep-sea mining would outweigh harm to marine life.

“It wasn’t toxic waste,” he told the Star. “It was water and nodules and sediment … We shut it off right away.” (In the mining trial, the company picked up nodules — potato-sized rocks containing metals such as cobalt, copper, nickel and manganese needed for batteries — but is not allowed to sell them commercially.)



The International Seabed Authority, a United Nations body regulating mineral-related activities, said a preliminary assessment by its experts identified no threat of harm to the environment. But it was awaiting a more detailed report from TMC’s subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc.

The video came from scientists who were part of TMC’s required team of experts to monitor mining trials, a Greenpeace spokesperson told the Star. The scientists shared the video with a group of NGOs including Greenpeace, and allowed Greenpeace to post the video and share with media. The scientists shared it with organizations but declined to speak with journalists, according to the spokesperson.

Barron objected to calling the video a “leak” from concerned scientists. “There were more than 200 people on board. We weren’t trying to hide anything,” he said.

Hundreds of international experts have questioned the company’s claims, saying the deep-sea environment is the least understood ecosystem in the world and that scientists simply don’t have enough data to understand the effects of using heavy machinery to hoover up nodules that took millions of years to form.

Sharing slides over a Zoom call, Barron displayed a map of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which spans 4.5 million square kilometres between Hawaii and Mexico. It is here where some of the world’s deep-sea mining companies are conducting trials in anticipation that the International Seabed Authority may soon announce a regulatory framework for projects to begin.

Barron pointed out an area near an edge of the zone. “In this section alone, where we’ve invested 90 per cent of our resources (hundreds of millions of dollars), there is enough metal to power 60 million mid-sized electric vehicle batteries,” he said.

“In this area, most life is under the sea floor, and those are very small organisms … Let’s look at it from a bigger perspective. Let’s not just think about the worms,” Barron said.

The longtime Australian investor, who works out of TMC headquarters in Vancouver, said he was drawn to deep-sea exploration for environmental protection reasons.

To him, the prospect of “picking up” nodules from the sea floor seemed far less destructive than mining on land, which is “threatening rainforests in the Philippines and Indigenous communities.”

Alava, from UBC, said the company should allow independent scientists to closely review all data and protocols related to the incident since video clips and TMC’s public statement may not tell the full story.

“Simply calling it an accident is unacceptable. We don’t know if it was human error, engine failure or machine failure,” he said. “When you have a lot of suspension of sediment, it can obstruct the feeding processes of marine life for quite some time.”

It’s not only the prospect of future deep-sea mining that worries scientists, but existing activities such as offshore oil exploitation and natural gas drilling.

“A lot of research is still needed on whether we can use modelling tools to predict impact in the long term on seawater quality and marine biodiversity because there are more marine species being discovered every day.”

The concern is that we might lose unique marine species, ones which may have applications in medicine and technology before they are found.”

Newly discovered deep-sea creatures include a blind eel with transparent skin, deep-sea batfishes that are flat with beady eyes and a new species of spiderfish with large mouths, which dwell below the surface of the Indian Ocean.

TMC pairs up with Nauru

While 22 different companies have deep-sea mining exploration contracts from the ISA, a consensus among industry observers is that TMC and its subsidiaries are clearly in the lead. Barron confirmed TMC could start mining as early as next year, pending regulatory approvals.

The imminent legalization of deep-sea mining projects is connected to the actions of Barron’s company, too.

Since 2011, TMC has partnered with the tropical island nation of Nauru, which has a population of 12,500. The Canadian company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Enterprises, is registered in Nauru. Nauru acts as the firm’s official state sponsor.

Since deep-sea mining in international waters is not allowed because no regulations exist to govern the industry, Nauru issued a two-year deadline to the ISA in June 2020 to complete rules on deep-sea mineral exploitation. They invoked the so-called “two-year rule,” a treaty provision obliging the authority to try to finalize decisions within the deadline.

In response to Nauru and TMC’s gambit, more than 700 marine science and policy experts signed a letter calling for a pause to deep-sea mining. The experts said organisms in the deep sea support “ecosystem processes necessary for the Earth’s natural systems to function,” playing a key role in climate regulation and elemental cycling.

Major companies using advanced batteries, including Google, Samsung, Volvo and BMW, also joined a World Wildlife Fund call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining over fears of environmental impact.

A spokesperson for the ISA said the body has been discussing a draft exploitation regulation since 2019 and declined to comment on criticisms that Nauru’s deadline put pressure on the authority to rush the process.

“Discussions are progressing well, and ISA member states have agreed to continue their work with a view to reaching an agreement for the adoption of the exploitation regulations for July 2023, if possible.”

In his interview, Barron said his company was “utilizing” the two-year rule to ask for regulations to be completed by this year, before correcting himself to say it was Nauru that had invoked the treaty provision at the ISA.

“I think scientists will be very pleased when they see the volume and quality of the science we’ve been gathering this last decade,” Barron said.

If mining exploitation can go forward, it’s not clear how Nauru will benefit. Negotiations on future revenue sharing are underway but for now, TMC supports several local jobs including two Nauruan directors as well as initiatives such as university sponsorships, according to Barron. In the future, the company may pay taxes to Nauru. A representative for the Nauru government at the UN could not be reached for comment.

The whole situation has raised eyebrows, says Pradeep Singh, a specialist in ocean regulation and fellow at the Research Institute for Sustainability, Helmholtz Centre in Potsdam, who advises several governments on deep seabed mining and attends ISA meetings as an observer delegate.

“It is apparent that the company does not currently have a significant presence or meaningful and physical assets within the jurisdiction of Nauru so the question is raised as to whether it is appropriate for the country to be sponsoring this company,” Singh said.

“The pertinent question to ask is whether Nauru has effective control over the actual activities that are being carried out in the name of Nauru Ocean Enterprises Inc.,” he added.

TMC has struck similar deep-sea mining exploration partnerships with the countries of Tonga and Kiribati, in 2012 and 2015, respectively. “Without investment in this industry from private sector companies such as ours, developing nations would not otherwise have an opportunity to benefit from this new resource opportunity,” Barron argued.

Green Party supports ban

Besides questions over Nauru’s role, the crux of TMC’s reasoning for the relative environmental good of deep-sea mining is flawed, Singh says.

“The launch of a deep-sea mining industry doesn’t mean that traditional mining companies will drop out as competition. Rather, it is likely that terrestrial miners will compete, and in so doing, make matters worse by digging further and deeper, with lesser controls, more abuses just to gain a competitive edge,” Singh told the Star.

“So that really eats into the narrative that deep-sea miners claim to reduce terrestrial mining, whereby in reality, we will just see more of the old problems on land and new ones at sea.”

Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, is among those supporting an international ban on deep-sea mining and says Canada should take a stronger leadership role on such a position.

“I think we should ban deep-sea mining and that should be (Canada’s) position globally … It’s too big a threat to the climate, it’s a threat to biodiversity,” she told the Star.

“The question you have to ask is, ‘Do we need this?’ There are many ways to recycle metals and minerals. There are other places to be mining for lithium and other metals that are needed in electric vehicles. We have plenty of sources.”

In fact, international and Canadian companies are set to open several new lithium mines across Quebec, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, in what is being dubbed the “White Gold Rush.”

Calls from countries for a pause on deep-sea mining now include several ISA Council members including Palau, Fiji, Samoa, Micronesia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Spain, Germany, Panama and Chile. Last month, France became the first country to call for an outright ban on international deep-sea mining.

Barron chalks up the growing opposition from some governments to “narrative warfare” waged by activist groups who “think some magical cure will drop out of the sky” to meet renewable energy power needs.

“What we can do is be as transparent as possible. It’s an understandable question people have of, ‘How do we know what you’re doing deep in the ocean, thousands of miles from shore?’ We have a plan to set up a digital dashboard from our ships so regulators and stakeholders can get a near-live view of what we’re doing.”

With files from Marco Chown Oved

Joanna Chiu is a B.C.-based staff reporter for the Star. She covers global and national affairs. Follow her on Twitter: @joannachiu

JUST SAY NO
Deep sea mining permits may be coming soon. What are they and what might happen?


Mon, July 3, 2023



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.

Here's a look at what deep sea mining is, why some companies and countries are applying for permits to carry it out and why environmental activists are raising concerns.

WHAT IS DEEP SEA MINING?

Deep sea mining involves removing mineral deposits and metals from the ocean’s seabed. There are three types of such mining: taking deposit-rich polymetallic nodules off the ocean floor, mining massive seafloor sulphide deposits and stripping cobalt crusts from rock.

These nodules, deposits and crusts contain materials, such as nickel, rare earths, cobalt and more, that are needed for batteries and other materials used in tapping renewable energy and also for everyday technology like cellphones and computers.

Engineering and technology used for deep sea mining are still evolving. Some companies are looking to vacuum materials from seafloor using massive pumps. Others are developing artificial intelligence-based technology that would teach deep sea robots how to pluck nodules from the floor. Some are looking to use advanced machines that could mine materials off side of huge underwater mountains and volcanoes.

Companies and governments view these as strategically important resources that will be needed as onshore reserves are depleted and demand continues to rise.

HOW IS DEEP SEA MINING REGULATED NOW?

Countries manage their own maritime territory and exclusive economic zones, while the high seas and the international ocean floor are governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas. It is considered to apply to states regardless of whether or not they have signed or ratified it. Under the treaty, the seabed and its mineral resources are considered the “common heritage of mankind” that must be managed in a way that protects the interests of humanity through the sharing of economic benefits, support for marine scientific research, and protecting marine environments.

Mining companies interested in deep sea exploitation are partnering with countries to help them get exploration licenses.

More than 30 exploration licenses have been issued so far, with activity mostly focused in an area called the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, which spans 1.7 million square miles (4.5 million square kilometers) between Hawaii and Mexico.

WHY IS THERE PRESSURE ON THE ISA TO ESTABLISH REGULATIONS NOW?

A clause of the U.N. treaty requires the ISA to complete regulations governing deep sea exploitation by July 2023.

Countries and private companies can start applying for provisional licenses if the U.N. body fails to approve a set of rules and regulations by July 9. Experts say its unlike it will since the process will likely take several years.

WHAT ARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS?

Only a small part of the deep seabed has been explored and conservationists worry that ecosystems will be damaged by mining, especially without any environmental protocols.

Damage from mining can include noise, vibration and light pollution, as well as possible leaks and spills of fuels and other chemicals used in the mining process.

Sediment plumes from the some mining processes are a major concern. Once valuable materials are taken extracted, slurry sediment plumes are sometimes pumped back into the sea. That can harm filter feeding species like corals and sponges, and could smother or otherwise interfere with some creatures.

The full extent of implications for deep sea ecosystems is unclear, but scientists have warned that biodiversity loss is inevitable and potentially irreversible.

“We’re constantly finding new stuff and it’s a little bit premature to start mining the deep sea when we don’t really understand the biology, the environments, the ecosystems or anything else,” said Christopher Kelley, a biologist with research expertise in deep sea ecology.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The ISA's Legal and Technical Commission, which oversees the development of deep sea mining regulations, will meet in early July to discuss the yet-to-be mining code draft.

The earliest that mining under ISA regulations could begin is in late 2024 or 2025. Applications for mining must be considered and environmental impact assessments need to be carried out.

In the meantime, some companies — such as Google, Samsung, BMW and others — have backed the World Wildlife Fund's call to pledge to avoid using minerals that have been mined from the planet's oceans. More than a dozen countries—including France, Germany and several Pacific Island nations— have officially called for a ban, pause or moratorium on deep sea mining at least until environmental safeguards are in place, although it’s unclear how many other countries support such mining. Other countries, such as Norway, are proposing opening their waters to mining.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Victoria Milko, The Associated Press

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

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The Pros And Cons Of Deep Sea Mining

By Felicity Bradstock - Aug 27, 2022

• Experts expect the global metals and minerals market to have a compound annual growth rate of more than 8% between now and 2026 as the energy transition accelerates.
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• As demand for metals and minerals grows, interest in deep sea mining is increasing, although scientists, governments, and environmentalists are concerned about its potential environmental impacts.
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• The longstanding refusal of the U.S. to ratify the U.N.'s Law of the Sea treaty means that it may fall behind in deep sea mining if regulations are agreed upon and mining begins.

While everyone’s sights are set on lithium, a mining boom is taking off across a range of metals and minerals. As the demand for mined minerals accelerates to support the rapidly expanding renewable energy industry, Wall Street is betting big on commodities, with plans for land and deep sea mining picking up the pace around the world. The question is, how will the industry be able to develop at the rapid pace needed to meet the growing global demand while also responding to concerns around its impact on the environment?  Experts expect the global metals and minerals market to grow from $6,877.41 billion in 2021 to $7,507.82 billion in 2022, with a CAGR of 9.2 percent. It will expand even further to $10,274.68 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 8.2%. The Asia Pacific was the biggest metals and minerals mining region in 2021, followed by Western Europe. Several technological innovations are expected to drive innovation in metals over the next decade from 3D printing to artificial intelligence and big data analytics. The use of drones in mining projects is also expected to make operations more efficient thanks to better monitoring, surveying, and mapping techniques to repair faults, manage inventory, and enhance site safety. 

The anticipated growth of the mining industry has encouraged Wall Street analysts to bet big on the commodities market. Earlier this year, supply-side constraints following the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a sharp rise in commodity prices. While this has largely settled, due to rising inflation and other global economic concerns, analysts are expecting the market to rally again towards the end of the year. 

Recently, the push for deep sea mining has been greater than ever, as the future demand for metals and minerals looks bright. The question is how to manage the approval of mining in international waters. In 2021, the small island state of Nauru called for the first use of a procedure that gave the UN body the International Seabed Authority (ISA) a 2023 deadline for the fast-track of deep sea mining exploitation rules. But governments, scientists, and environmentalists are concerned about the two-year ultimatum.

During ISA meetings in Jamaica earlier this month, the organization rejected calls to put the issue on the agenda for comment from member states. This means the 167 powers represented in the ISA will not have a chance to comment on the issue before the 2023 deadline. Since the enactment of the two-year deadline, the ISA secretary has established a roadmap, which would allow for commercial deep sea mining operations to start as soon as next year. Regardless of whether the mining code has been finalized or not, the procedure would require the ISA to “consider and provisionally approve” requests for exploitation licenses. 

Several countries are concerned about the environmental implications of rushing a decision on deep sea mining, accusing the ISA of being blindsided by plans to develop the industry at the cost of safeguarding the marine environment. In June, Chile called for a 15-year memorandum on adopting regulations. Chile’s ambassador Constanza Figueroa questioned, “Are we willing to be accomplices to the unknown and irreparable damages submarine mining might cause?” Ecuador’s representative added, “We are not ready… If we act with haste, we could put ourselves in irreversible situations with respect to the marine environment.”  

The deep sea environment holds a wealth of minerals, such as manganese, cobalt, copper, and nickel, which could be used for rapidly growing renewable energy technologies including solar panels, wind turbines, and electric-vehicle batteries. Professors at MIT exploring the potential for deep sea mining explain that sediment on the ocean floor accumulates at a rate of 1 millimeter a millennium, meaning that areas disturbed by mining would take a very long time to recover. This could have a significant biological impact. Experts fear that mining could hurt all surrounding ecosystems and marine life. But on the flip side, many recognize the importance of mining in support of building the components required for a transition to greener energy and the movement away from fossil fuels.  

But while some raise concerns about the impact deep sea mining could have on the environment, others highlight the potential opportunity of becoming one of the first countries to exploit these resources. A deep sea region between Hawaii and Mexico contains greater levels of copper, cobalt, nickel, and manganese than all of its proven land deposits combined. This has driven many mining firms to push for undersea projects. And the Biden government cited a projected 400 to 600 percent increase in demand for critical minerals earlier in the year. However, the U.S. is not currently an ISA member state, meaning it may not be involved in the early stages of deep-sea mining. 

As the demand for metals and minerals continues to increase worldwide, mining activities are rapidly expanding as various countries look to lead the growing global industry. In addition, the nascent deep sea mining industry will likely begin to be developed despite growing environmental concerns over rushing regulations in the sector.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

Mining crystals locked in the deep-sea could help fight climate change. It may also destroy Earth's last untouched ecosystem.


Kiley Price

LIVE SCIENCE
Sat, July 15, 2023 

closeup of the center of a brittle star from Clarion Clipperton Zone

To prevent a climate catastrophe, the world must dramatically slash its carbon emissions. But creating enough batteries to power the electric vehicles (EVs) needed for a carbon-free future will require a massive scale-up in our supply of minerals such as copper, cobalt and manganese.

Countries are scrambling to mine these precious materials from the earth, digging everywhere from the rainforests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Indonesia. However, these efforts have been plagued by environmental problems and human rights issues.

So some companies have turned their eyes elsewhere: the seafloor.

Miles below the ocean's surface, billions of rocky lumps laden with manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper and other precious minerals line the seafloor. In some areas, cobalt is also concentrated in thick metallic crusts flanking underwater mountains.

Related: What is renewable energy?

Several companies and countries are gearing up to harvest these so-called deep-sea polymetallic nodules and extract the treasures within them. Currently, seabed mining in international waters is legally murky, and companies have not yet begun commercial exploitation operations. But delegate nations of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) — a U.N.-backed intergovernmental body — are currently meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, for the next two weeks (July 10 to July 28) to develop regulations that could pave the way for such mining.

This practice may have serious consequences for the world's oceans, experts told Live Science. So how bad are those environmental impacts? And is it possible for us to meet our climate goals without mining the deep sea?

Rocky lumps on the seafloor
Deep-sea devastation

Emerging evidence suggests deep-sea mining could damage seafloor ecosystems.

One key area targeted by mining companies is a stretch of ocean from Hawaii to Mexico. Despite its frigid temperatures and low food availability, this deep-sea habitat, known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), harbors a staggering number of species, ranging from glowing sea cucumbers to toothy anglerfish. Scientists recently cataloged more than 5,500 deep-sea species in the CCZ, roughly 90% of which were unknown to science.

A moving gif of a floating orange sea cucumber spotted southeast of Honolulu

Most seabed mining will require large machines to collect nodules, bring them to the surface and then discharge the unnecessary sediment back into the ocean. This method could have catastrophic consequences for the animals living there, researchers wrote in a letter to the journal Nature Geoscience in 2017.

"They effectively have to excavate and grind up the seafloor in order to get their minerals," Douglas McCauley, a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told Live Science. "So anything that's living in that habitat will be destroyed." This includes animals that attach to and live on the nodules themselves, such as sea sponges and black corals.

Because the practice has not yet begun at an industrial scale, marine scientists have mostly relied on computer models and small-scale trials to predict the impacts of deep-sea mining. However, in 1989, a team of scientists attempted to mimic the effects of seabed mining by plowing an area of the seafloor in Peru measuring roughly 3.9 square miles (10.1 square kilometers) at around 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) deep. Many of the species in this area had still not returned more than 25 years later, and tracks from the plow were still visible, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Related: 10 bizarre deep sea creatures found in 2022

Negative impacts likely won't be isolated to the original mining site; machinery can cause noise pollution that stretches for hundreds of miles across the ocean, computer models suggest. This noise could disrupt animals' ability to navigate, locate prey or find a mate.

But perhaps one of the most destructive byproducts of seabed mining is the plumes of sediment the undersea vehicles leave in their wake, which could act "like undersea dust storms that could smother life out there," McCauley said. These sediment plumes could harm tuna habitats, which are changing as ocean temperatures warm and will increasingly overlap with areas in the mineral-rich CCZ, according to a study co-authored by McCauley and published July 11 in the journal npj Ocean Sustainability.

A few companies are working on technology to shrink these plumes. For example, Norway-based minerals company Loke recently acquired UK Seabed Resources Ltd., a deep-sea mining firm with two exploration contracts that allow the company to start searching for minerals in the CCZ, though not yet commercially mine them. Loke aims to start deep-sea mining operations by 2030, Walter Sognnes, the company's CEO, told Live Science.

"What we are trying to do is minimize the impact and maximize the understanding of that impact," Sognnes said.

Loke is developing mining vehicles that will generate plumes only when moving across the seafloor, and not from dumping excess sediment into the ocean after retrieving the nodules, Sognnes said. However, the technology is still theoretical.

Illustration of a boat with instrument developed by Loke used to mine seafloor deep below

Some researchers are skeptical that there is a "sustainable" way to mine the deep sea.

"I think there's no way to do this without having locally major environmental damage causing huge damage on scales of tens of thousands of square kilometers," Craig Smith, a deep-sea ecologist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, told Live Science. "It's just not possible."

Can we meet EV mineral demand without deep-sea mining?

A terraced, open-pit copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo

If we are to meet the climate goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries must increase their mineral output for EVs 30-fold by 2040, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

This urgent need for materials raises a question: If we don't harvest the seafloor, can we get minerals used in EVs elsewhere? The answer is most likely yes, but accessing those land-based mineral reserves in a sustainable way may be tough.

In 2022, Earth had roughly 25 million tons (23 million metric tons) of terrestrial cobalt resources, which meets demand through 2040, assuming all land-based reserves are exploited, research shows. There is also roughly 300 million tons (272 million metric tons) of nickel in the world's resources, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, enough to support the ramping up of EV production, CNBC reported. However, these resources, often hidden deep within dense forests, are not always easily reachable or economically viable to mine. Operations to create new mines drive massive amounts of deforestation, which can reduce biodiversity and release climate-warming emissions into the atmosphere.

"You could get all the minerals you need for all the world's electric vehicles or whatever from land-based deposits, but the lowest-environmental-impact way to do it could actually be to use some deep-sea deposits in a responsible way with good regulation," Seaver Wang, co-director of climate and energy at The Breakthrough Institute, a California-based environmental research center, told Live Science. However, he added that firmer regulations and guidelines from the ISA should be in place before any deep-sea mining operations begin.

Emerging battery technologies could help reduce pressure on the minerals market, experts say. Currently, the most widely used batteries in EVs are called NMC (which use lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt), but car manufacturers are hungry for cheaper technology that doesn't require as many of these minerals. Those may include sodium-ion batteries or LFP batteries made with lithium, as well as iron (ferrous) and phosphate — materials that are more widely available and accessible than cobalt and manganese. In May, Ford announced plans for a new factory in Michigan that is set to begin producing LFP batteries by 2026. However, these batteries currently have lower energy densities, which could limit the range of an electric vehicle, according to the IEA.

"A substantial transition to EVs can be done without deep sea mining," Kenneth Gillingham, an energy economist at Yale University who studies EVs, told Live Science, though he added that seabed mining could potentially "take off some of the pressure" on the critical metals market.

Aerial view of lithium mines in dry salt lake beds in California

Related: Wind and solar power overtake coal for the first time ever in the US

Despite the abundance of critical mineral resources that deep-sea mining could provide, some car manufacturers — including BMW, Volvo and Renault — and nearly 20 countries have publicly supported a moratorium on the practice so scientists have more time to research its potential environmental impacts. Additionally, more than 750 scientists and policy experts have signed an official statement calling for a hold on deep-sea mining activities.

Though the rules surrounding deep-sea mining are not yet finalized, as of July 9, the ISA is required to receive seabed mining applications due to an obscure provision in the current treaty.

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This doesn't necessarily mean deep-sea mining will occur anytime soon, because the ISA is under no obligation to approve those applications and the law is still murky. A growing number of experts say the key to determining whether to mine the deep sea is more time — to research, to create new technologies and to weigh the positives of seabed mining alongside its pitfalls.

"Understanding of benefits and costs of deep-sea mining requires an extremely thoughtful assessment that involves many uncertainties that are not resolved at this point," Sergey Paltsev, an energy economist at MIT, told Live Science in an email.

Deep-sea mining ‘seems to be inevitable,’ UN regulator says, as fight for critical minerals heats up

CNBC
WED, FEB 21 2024

KEY POINTS

Scraping the ocean floor for a treasure trove of valuable metals is likely just a matter of time, according to the head of the International Seabed Authority.

Established 30 years ago, the ISA is an international organization that regulates mining and related activities an area that covers around 54% of the world’s oceans.

When asked whether it was likely only a matter of time before countries begin deep-sea mining, ISA’s Lodge replied, “Clearly now, we are reaching a very high level of interest so I would say that yes it seems to be inevitable.”


Activists at a “Look Down action” rally to stop deep sea mining, outside the European Parliament in Brussels on March 6, 2023.
Kenzo Tribouillard | Afp | Getty Images

It’s likely only a matter of time before scraping the ocean floor for valuable metals becomes a reality, according to the head of the International Seabed Authority, the U.N. regulator that oversees deep-sea mining.

Michael Lodge, secretary-general of the ISA, told CNBC that global interest in deep-sea mining has climbed to levels not seen since the 1970s, with advocates clearly excited by the industry’s potential role in the energy transition.

“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,” Lodge told CNBC via videoconference.

“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,” he added.

“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.”

His comments come as the ISA prepares to recommence talks on deep-sea mining in Kingston, Jamaica next month. The seabed watchdog’s forthcoming session will seek to iron out a regulatory framework that, if adopted, would give the go-ahead to deep-sea mining on a commercial scale.

Established 30 years ago, the ISA regulates mining and related activities in an area that covers around 54% of the world’s oceans. The group consists of 168 member states and the European Union. The U.S. is not a member of the ISA.

It hasn’t been done yet so it is very hard to say conclusively that it would be as destructive as some people claim that it would be.

Michael Lodge

SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY

The controversial practice of deep-sea mining involves using heavy machinery to remove minerals and metals — such as cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese — that can be found in potato-sized nodules on the ocean floor. The end-use of these minerals are wide-ranging and include electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and solar panels.

Scientists have warned that the full environmental impacts of deep-sea mining are hard to predict. Environmental campaign groups, meanwhile, say the practice cannot be done sustainably and will inevitably lead to ecosystem destruction and species extinction.

Marine ecosystems

Notably, Norway’s parliament recently voted to approve a government proposal to open a vast ocean area for deep-sea mining on a commercial scale. The decision signaled the Nordic country’s intention to begin deep-sea mining activities in its national waters near the Svalbard archipelago.

To be sure, Norway’s government does not intend to immediately start drilling for minerals. Instead, mining companies will need to submit proposals for licenses that will be voted on a case-by-case basis in parliament.

When asked whether it was now likely a matter of time before countries begin deep-sea mining, ISA’s Lodge replied, “Clearly now, we are reaching a very high level of interest so I would say that yes it seems to be inevitable.”

“Whether that takes place in international waters, or in national waters, whether that be Norway or another country, that’s impossible to say,” he added. “It depends in part upon the terms and conditions I suppose.”

Environmental activists calling for an international moratorium on deep-sea mining.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

The ISA Council, a body composed of 36 member states, has previously said it intends to continue its work on deep-sea mining regulations, with a view to finalizing the measures by July 2025.

To date, 24 countries worldwide have called for a moratorium or pause on the industry, while multinational companies such as Google, Samsung and Volvo have pledged not to source any minerals from the seabed.

Marine ecosystems are not well understood. Campaigners fear that exploration and exploitation activities in the deep sea could permanently alter a home that is unique to known — and many as yet unknown — species.

“It hasn’t been done yet so it is very hard to say conclusively that it would be as destructive as some people claim that it would be,” the ISA’s Lodge said.

“It is a very deliberate and slow process. Exploration has been going on in excess of 30 years now, so a great deal of information and data has been gathered. The technology is still developing, the more recent results of technology tests have been extremely encouraging in terms of being actually very low impact compared to other forms of mining.”

‘Desperate situation’

The world’s fast-growing appetite for energy transition minerals shows no sign of slowing down.

Nonetheless, the International Energy Agency has warned that today’s supply falls short of what is needed to transform the energy sector. That’s because there’s a relatively high geographical concentration of the production of many energy transition elements.

Norwegian Energy Minister Terje Aasland told CNBC last month that the government’s decision to move forward with deep-sea mining marked a necessary step into the unknown that could help to break China’s and Russia’s rare earths dominance.

“We’re in a fairly desperate situation,” Lodge said, citing the IEA’s expectation that demand for critical minerals is set to increase rapidly in the coming years.

“We’re nowhere close to meeting those targets at the moment with current land-based reserves. Even with the rapidly increased production that’s taking place in countries like Indonesia, we’re still nowhere close,” he added. “And permitting times, for example, in North America, for a new mine are in the order of more than a decade so it is very difficult.”

Clean Energy will drive Deep-Sea Mining to become a $100 billion plus industry, but U.S. can't participate

 

Kitco News  Thursday September 09, 2021 

(Kitco News) - The U.S. has locked itself out from the next major mining frontier -- deep sea mining -- while China leads the world in it, said Alex Gilbert. Achieving the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 would require six times more of certain minerals that are currently mined by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency. This has led to a demand in deep sea mining.

Gilbert, who is a Fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, spoke to Michelle Makori, lead anchor and editor-in-chief of Kitco News.

There is a Law of the Sea Treaty set up in 1982 that regulates deep sea mining, but the U.S. cannot participate in deep sea mining because the U.S. did not ratify this treaty. "American companies cannot participate. American companies that are interested in deep sea mining have to go abroad and work as a multinational corporation with their foreign subsidiaries," Gilbert said.

"The country that has received the most exploration permits for deep sea mining so far is China. For the U.S., this is potentially a large concern from an economic competitiveness perspective, because currently China is the leading processor of metals around the world," Gilbert explained. "If you believe that we are going through this energy transition from a fossil fuel based energy system to one based on metals for clean energy, the U.S. plays a central role in the fossil fuel based commodity system."

The shift to clean energy is expected to drive a huge demand for many metals but the International Energy Agency reported that there isn't enough supply at current levels. "The U.S. doesn't have a central role in the supply chain for metals. China is quickly moving across the board, not just for deep sea mining, but around the world it has established claims and mines so it can dominate the supply chain of the future," Gilbert discussed. "The question is how broadly do we ensure critical mineral supply, but that's something the U.S. needs to figure out."

The lack of metal supply has led to a demand in deep sea mining. The global deep sea mining technologies market and equipment is expected to reach about $73 billion by 2030, according to Allied Market Research.

"The potential size of the deep-sea mining market is really large. It is a huge question mark, it's an industry that we are just on the verge of really birthing. We are in the exploration phase. We are moving closely toward the exploitation phase," said Gilbert. "This could be an industry that's anywhere from a very small cottage industry up to a global industry that is a juggernaut. It could be a hundred billion plus industry by 2040 or later."

Gilbert discussed that in order to meet the decarbonization goals we set internationally, it is imperative that we significantly increase the amount of mining we are doing. "The current production levels are not going to be sufficient," Gilbert said. "We are going to have to find new sources, rapidly develop new technologies that are using resources more efficiently, and we are going to need to use more recycling technologies."

In terms of investing in deep sea mining companies, Gilbert emphasized that "This is still an early industry, and he cautions investors to be careful. We see a fair amount of action happening primarily with a Canadian based company called Deep Green. It is currently going public as part of SPAC, which will be called the Metals Company going forward. It is targeting polymetallic nodules for electric vehicle supplies."

Critics of deep-sea mining say that harvesting these nodules on the bottom of the sea could do more harm than good in terms of decarbonization, and this could disturb the ecosystem dramatically. "One of the big issues that we are struggling with is that we only just started exploring the deep seabed in a systematic manner in terms of looking at the biology there. If this is going to be a major source of clean energy we need to resolve these environmental uncertainties, "Gilbert said.

UN Seabed-Mining Watchdog Doing Business “Behind Closed Doors”

Conservationists consider deep-sea extraction a “scientific and political minefield.”


MICHAEL MECHANIC

Senior Editor

Mother Jones

A deep sea mining ship docked in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Charles M. Vella/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

The UN-affiliated organization that oversees deep-sea mining, a controversial new industry, has been accused of failings of transparency after an independent body responsible for reporting on negotiations was kicked out.

The International Seabed Authority is meeting this week at its council headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, to develop regulations for the fledgling industry. But it emerged this week that Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB), a division of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), which has covered previous ISA negotiations, had not had its contract renewed.

While the ISA negotiations are filmed live via webcam, the absence of ENB—which would have created a permanent independent record of proceedings—was described as a “huge loss” for stakeholders.

Some states, including Germany, are also concerned that the ISA is developing its mining standards and guidelines behind closed doors, and that current knowledge of deep-sea ecosystems and the potential effects of mining on the marine environment are insufficient to allow it to go ahead.Scientists warn the damage from mining various metals from the sea floor would be “dangerous,” “reckless,” and “irreversible.”

Scientists have warned that the damage to ecosystems from mining nickel, cobalt and other metals on the deep-seabed would be “dangerous,” “reckless,” and “irreversible.” One estimate suggests that 90 percent of the deep-sea species that researchers encounter are new to science.

As opposition to deep-sea mining grows, the ISA is facing resistance over its rush to develop a roadmap to be adopted before July 9, 2023. The plan was prompted in June last year, when the island of Nauru informed the ISA of its intention to start mining the seabed in two years’ time, via a subsidiary of a Canadian firm, The Metals Company (TMC, until recently known as DeepGreen Metals). This invoked an obscure clause of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which said the ISA must finalize regulations within two years of such an announcement.

Google, BMW, Volvo, and Samsung SDI, a battery subsidiary of the electronics firm, have joined a World Wildlife Fund call for a moratorium on mining the deep sea, which will affect the potential market for deep-sea minerals used for car and smartphone batteries.

The ISA said ENB’s contract was not renewed due to budget cuts. The IISD, meanwhile, said it was now fundraising to be able to cover the next round of negotiations in July. “Transparency of the talks are important, especially for small islands and developing countries who can’t always attend,” said the IISD’s Matthew TenBruggencate.

Germany and environmentalists also expressed concern over a lack of transparency by the ISA’s legal and technical commission (LTC), a body charged with developing standards and guidelines for the mining code, which meets behind closed doors.

The LTC comprises 30 members. A fifth of them work for contractors for deep-sea mining companies.

Germany said the mining code “still lacked binding and measurable normative requirements” for marine protection.

In its opening remarks on the ISA’s website, Germany highlighted the absence of stakeholders’ comments, or marked-up changes in the LTC’s draft standards and guidelines document. “In order to be transparent and allow for a proper debate, a mark-up document as provided by the facilitator regarding the draft regulation would be very helpful for our negotiations,” it said. “Therefore, we suggest that the council request such a document.”

Germany also said the mining code “still lacked binding and measurable normative requirements” for marine protection. It argued that, because the current standards, guidelines and regulations do not yet contain “specific environmental minimal requirements” for measurable pollution, sediment plumes, biodiversity, and noise and light impacts, the code as it stands would not regulate future mining effectively.

“The current state of knowledge is, in our view, insufficient to proceed to exploiting mineral resources,” it said.

It supported the EU’s formal position that marine minerals “cannot be exploited before the effects of deep-sea mining on the marine environment, biodiversity and human activities have been sufficiently researched, the risks are understood and technologies and operational practices are able to demonstrate that the environment is not seriously harmed, in line with the precautionary principle.”

Other states, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Costa Rica and Chile, adopted similarly precautionary approaches, highlighting the gulf in scientific knowledge of the deep sea. On the other hand the UK, which is no longer part of the EU, has been pushing ahead for rapid development of regulations, according to observers.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the UK government was engaging in ISA negotiations to ensure that high environmental standards were adopted in deep-sea mining regulations. “Any ongoing conversations in support of this should not be interpreted as support for deep-sea mining,” a spokesperson said.

Duncan Currie, an international lawyer with the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, which is tracking the negotiations, said he was “very concerned” by the various failures of transparency. “There is no transparency of the LTC, who meet behind closed doors. It sounds like an innocuous body, but it is in essence the decision-making body within the ISA.”

Currie wants to see a moratorium on deep-sea mining, akin to that set up by the Antarctic protocol. “The whole area of deep-sea mining is a scientific and political minefield. There should be a moratorium put in place.”

Also missing from the proposed standards and guidelines was the possibility not to continue with mining.

Greenpeace, an observer at the talks, called for reform of the ISA’s secretariat, which it accused of bias towards allowing mining to take place, to the detriment of the environment.

“There are a herd of elephants in the room,” said Arlo Hemphill, an oceans campaigner for Greenpeace USA. “There’s not enough time to get it right, and there is not the science to get it right.”

The ISA secretariat was approached for comment but did not respond.

Cook Islands PM ‘proceeds with caution’ on deep-sea mining as critics warn over risks

Deadline tied to the regulation of controversial plans to extract seabed minerals looms amid division over the practice

Rarotonga, Cook Islands. The nation is studying the feasibility of harvesting minerals through deep-sea mining within its waters. Photograph: Holger Leue/Getty Images

Pacific project Deep-sea mining
Jon Letman in Hawaii

THE GUARDIAN

Fri 7 Jul 2023

Days ahead of a deadline that highlights the pressure to develop rules on deep-sea mining, Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown said pursuing the controversial practice is “the right thing to do for our country.”

Brown told the Guardian the small Pacific nation continues to “proceed with caution” as it studies the feasibility of harvesting seabed minerals within its waters. As the Cook Islands moves ahead, opposition to the nascent industry is widespread – including among Pacific states – with some countries calling for a moratorium or outright ban. Those against deep-sea mining are concerned about the environmental impact it could have on marine ecosystems.

“Exploring this opportunity is not only the right thing to do for our country, it is the responsible thing to do,” Brown said in an email interview, while stressing his government hasn’t made a decision on whether it will mine the sea floor.


Row erupts over deep-sea mining as world races to finalise vital regulations

His remarks come ahead of the 9 July deadline that compels the UN-affiliated International Seabed Authority (ISA) to complete regulations governing deep-sea mining. Those regulations are unlikely to be ready, however countries and companies will still be able to apply for permits to begin exploitation of the sea floor.

The Cook Islands is a nation of 15 small islands located between Tonga and French Polynesia, with a population of about 18,000. It estimates there is vast mineral wealth embedded in around 7bn tonnes of polymetallic nodules sitting on the seabed within in its territorial waters. Forming over millions of years, the typically black, round potato-sized nodules are rich in cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese. Brown has previously said the Cook Islands could become a source of critical strategic metals with enough nodules to meet the world’s current demand for cobalt for 80 years.

Along with Nauru, Tonga, and Kiribati, the Cook Islands is a state sponsor of international companies preparing to apply for a permit to mine the ocean floor in sovereign and international Pacific waters.

Proponents say deep-sea mining offers states a chance to develop their economies using ocean resources while contributing to a transition away from fossil fuels. While no companies are currently mining the ocean floor, significant exploration work is under way. In 2022, the Cook Islands issued three exploration licences within its exclusive economic zone. As a result, Brown says 20,000 sq km of Cook Islands’ seafloor has been mapped and biological and geological samples collected.

The 168-member ISA is mandated to control mineral-resource related activities on the sea floor while ensuring protection of the marine environment.

The ISA has granted 30 active exploration contracts to 21 contractors including the governments of India, South Korea, Poland, and companies supported by the four Pacific sponsoring states.

Ahead of the July deadline, a spokesperson for ISA told the Guardian that exploitation applications can be received at any time and would be the start of a long and rigorous approval process.

“Decision making at ISA is based on a consensus and a work plan for exploitation would be approved only if member states … agree to it. At the moment, it is too soon to say when potential exploitation could begin.”

In a statement to the ISA in March, Margo Deiye, Nauru’s ambassador to the ISA, stated her country would not submit an application on behalf of its commercial partner in July.

The collection of nodules involves the deployment of unmanned robotic vehicles which will vacuum nodules from the seafloor to be pumped back to a ship on the surface.

Last year French president Emmanuel Macron called for a total ban on deep-sea mining, while governments in Germany, Chile, Spain, New Zealand and elsewhere support a moratorium or ban.

Fiji and Tuvalu, which had previously considered supporting deep-sea mining companies, have both reversed course. Fiji has joined Palau, Samoa, Vanuatu and other Pacific nations in demanding a moratorium or pause.

Concerns have been raised by scientists and conservation bodies like the IUCN, environmental advocacy groups and Indigenous people. Corporations including Google and Volkswagen have called for a pause, while prominent ocean experts warn of “enormous damage”.

The harbour on the island of Mauke, Cook Islands. 

Photograph: Jessica Palmer/Getty Images

Craig Smith, a professor emeritus of oceanography at the University of Hawaii, specialises in the biodiversity and disturbance ecology of the deep ocean, leading research expeditions in the CCZ. He told the Guardian an estimated 40-70% of the area’s species have not been collected.

“We’re still very early on in censusing the biodiversity of the region that is targeted for abyssal polymetallic nodule mining,” Smith said. A recent study documented over new 5,000 species in the CCZ.

He said he’s not for or against deep-sea mining but that the activity would have profound and undeniable impacts including the irreversible destruction of deep-ocean habitat, sediment plumes, and noise that can affect whales and other marine life hundreds of kilometers from a mining operation. The effects, he believes, may be more significant than people expect.

Fiji-based Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) supports a global ban on deep-sea mining. Deputy coordinator Joey Tau has been observing ISA mining code regulatory negotiations for two years.


Discovered in the deep: the mini cities of hairy-chested Hoff crabs

Speaking from Tonga on the sidelines of an ISA-hosted workshop on equity for sponsoring states, Tau told the Guardian, “We cannot be talking about benefit sharing and equity in the absence of proper environmental regulations and standards.”

With deep-sea mining dividing Pacific Island nations, Stuart Minchin, director-general of the Pacific Community (SPC), the region’s largest scientific and technical organisation, said its role is to be objective and support all 27 member nations with “the best available science on sovereign and regional issues” no matter their position.

Brown doesn’t expect to receive an application for a mineral harvesting licence for at least several years, and says his country needs more information and data before it makes a decision about whether or not to proceed.

The prime minister told the Guardian that as a small island nation vulnerable to external shocks, deep-sea mining offers the long-term prospect for development, diversification, and future prosperity.

“We are the ones in charge of our destiny, and it is Cook Islanders that will continue to make decisions about how our Cook Islands resources are developed,” he said.

This article was amended on 8 July 2023 to remove the statement that Tuvalu has joined other Pacific nations in demanding a moratorium or pause on deep-sea mining.

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