Diamond mining moves offshore and into the deep.

Of the coast of Namibia, in barely 200 meters of water, an entirely different kind of deep-sea mining is taking shape. The target is neither precious metals, rare earth elements, or the minerals destined to supply next-generation batteries and power cells, but diamonds. The company is De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, and they […]

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The Triton 36000/2 Hadal Exploration System. Photo courtesy Triton Submarines.

Privately funded human-occupied vehicle returns from Challenger Deep

For only the third time in history, a human-occupied vehicle made the 11-kilometer journey into Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the ocean, and, more importantly, returned. Its occupant, investor Victor Vescovo, became the fourth person, behind Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard in the Trieste, and James Cameron in the Deepsea Challenger, to reach the […]

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Delegates for the Development of Standards & Guidelines Multi-stakeholder Workshop. Photo courtesy ISA.

Setting the Standard: Progress on the development of Standards and Guidelines for the ISA Mining Code

In the impressive Department of International Relations and Cooperation in Pretoria, over 80 national delegates, members of the International Seabed Authority Secretariat, contractors, industry professionals, NGO representatives and academics, covering a wide range of skills and expertise, gathered last week. They were tasked with not only prioritizing the list of Standards and Guidelines to support […]

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China pledges extraordinary support to ISA for the Endowment Fund for Marine Scientific Research, the Voluntary Trust Fund and 25th Anniversary

Press Release To mark the 25th Anniversary of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the Government of the People’s Republic of China pledged extraordinary support to the programmes and initiatives of ISA that encourage increased participation of developing States, including in marine scientific research activities, and promote the sustainable development of mineral resources in the international deep seabed […]

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