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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Krypton Ocean: big vision and small steps towards mining the seafloor.

One of the fascinating aspects of the deep-sea mining community is how much history is shared among contractors. Nautilus Minerals, GSR, DeepGreen, and, especially, Lockheed, have expertise among their staff stretching all the way back to the early days of the Glomar Explorer. During our investigation into nodules for sale, we interviewed several people who […]

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International Seabed Authority internship associate legal officer environmental management plans Women and girls in science ISA Releases Stakeholder Submissions to Draft Exploitation Regulations

From the Editor: Following up with Nautilus Minerals and the release of the draft mining code.

The slow decline of Nautilus Minerals continues without much change. I reached out to several contacts both at Nautilus’s corporate offices and to colleagues within Papua New Guinea. Since last month, most of the board of directors and the current CEO have resigned, Nautilus was delisted from the Toronto stock exchange, and previously responsive sources […]

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Negotiations continue for Biodiversity Protection in the High Seas

From March 25th to April 5th, hundreds of delegates gathered at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan to continue work on one of the most consequential ocean-based treaty negotiations in recent memory. It was the second of four planned intergovernmental conference sessions to establish a new, legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use […]

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Michael W Lodge

Regulating deep sea mining

Secretary-General Micael Lodge for the Economist | 2 April 2019 Deep sea mineral exploration is one of the most tightly regulated activities in the ocean. Under international law, exploration, as distinct from marine scientific research (which is open to all States), may only be undertaken under a contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an […]

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Future marine sanctuaries? Image: Greenpeace

This is what a planet-wide network of ocean sanctuaries could look like

Emma Charleton for World Economic Forum | 10 April 2019 What comes to mind when you think of the high seas? Pirates, whales, giant squid and great white sharks? Long the subject of stories and myths, life in the oceans beyond territorial waters is far from picture perfect. Under threat from climate change, acidification, overfishing, […]

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Directors exit seabed mining company

Radio New Zealand | 9 April 2019 Last week, Nautilus Minerals had its common shares delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) even as it seeks to sell off its assets. In a note to the TSX last Wednesday, the company said four of its directors had resigned, including chief executive John McCoach. Read the […]

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