A farewell from the Editor: It’s science fiction, until it isn’t.

Andrew Thaler for the DSM Observer Four years ago, I took over the Deep-sea Mining Observer from my predecessor, Arlo Hemphill. Conceived by the Pew Charitable Trust in 2016, The DSM Observer was created to be an online trade journal for the emerging industry as the International Seabed Authority navigated through the creation of an […]

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A new species of the sea-anemone-like Relicanthus clings to a sponge stalk on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.Credit: D. J. Amon & C. R. Smith

Deep-sea mining’s rapid technological progress is met with increased calls for a precautionary pause at the closing meeting of the 27th session of the International Seabed Authority.

Andrew Thaler for DSM Observer The Council of the International Seabed Authority gathered for a rare third meeting in Kingston, Jamaica this November to continue hammering out details of the Deep-sea Mining Code ahead of the July 2023 deadline. As has become customary over the last year, negotiations began with condemnations of Russia’s ongoing invasion […]

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The Metals Company completes a world-first test of deep-sea mining system.

Andrew Thaler for the Deep-sea Mining Observer The Metals Company capped off 2022 by setting a historic milestone in the development of deep-sea mining technology. As the International Seabed Authority Council convened in Kingston, the crew of the AllSeas vessel MV Hidden Gem completed the first successful recovery of polymetallic nodules from the abyssal plain […]

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Mining the Ocean

The Price We’re Willing to Pay: trade-offs and balance in the deep-sea mining industry

Andrew Thaler for the DSM Observer “To build a green future,” said Gerard Barron, CEO of The Metals Company in a May 2022 press release, “our generation will need to mine more metal than we have mined in our entire history. This will lead to more emissions, more social displacement, more habitat destruction and more […]

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“Let us be up to the task that has been given to us” – Four key takeaways from the summer meeting of the International Seabed Authority

Andrew Thaler for the DSM Observer After nearly a month and a half of meetings, including of the Legal and Technical Commission, the Finance Committee, the Council, and the Assembly, the Second part of the 27th Session of the International Seabed Authority came to a close on August 4th, 2022. Though a critical moment for […]

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The “Sword of Damocles” hangs over the future of Deep-sea Mining

Andrew Thaler for the Deep-sea Mining Observer Twenty-eight years ago, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) gathered in Jamaica for the first time to establish the regulations, standards, and guidelines governing how mineral resources—resources that under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea are the “common heritage of mankind”—would be mined from the ocean […]

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This Week in Deep-sea Mining: July 12, 2022

Headlines The Guardian: One deep sea mine could send noise 500km across the ocean – report Japan Today: Outgunned island states vow to fight deep-sea mining Reuters: France’s Macron says deep-sea mining must not go ahead Asia Pacific Report: Fiji, Palau and Samoa call for deep-sea mining moratorium at UN conference Eco-Business: Singapore affirms support […]

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This Week in Deep-sea Mining: June 7, 2022

Headlines Radio New Zealand: Pacific civil society groups urge NZ to support a moratorium on deep sea mining Reports UN Environment Program: HARMFUL MARINE EXTRACTIVES: DEEP-SEA MINING Training Opportunities ISA: Deep Ocean Resources Development Co., Ltd. (DORD) Videos

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This Week in Deep-sea Mining: May 31, 2022

Headlines The Week: All you need to know about Varaha-1, a seabed mining machine India is developing Reuters: G7 countries say strict environmental rules needed for deep-sea mining Eco-Business: Credit Suisse joins growing list of banks shunning deep-sea mining Mining Dot Com: The Metals Company deep-water tests polymetallic nodule collector vehicle in Atlantic Daily Beast: […]

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Nothing is Agreed Until Everything is Agreed: the Financial Model dominates the first meeting of the 27th session of the International Seabed Authority

Andrew Thaler for the DSM Observer While environmental impacts dominate the public discussion surrounding deep-sea mining, another highly contentious barrier to the implementation of a deep-sea mining code carries equal, if not greater weight within the International Seabed Authority. The financial regime, a novel payment structure which establishes the mechanism by which proceeds generated from […]

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