UN Global Compact meeting on Oceans outlines rising demand for responsibly sourced deep-seabed minerals and related opportunities in delivering on the Global Goals

Deep seabed mining has the potential to accelerate progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by increasing scientific knowledge of the deep ocean whilst at the same time providing opportunities for economic growth on the basis of fairness and equity , highlighted Mr. Michael W. Lodge, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) […]

Read More
A nodule harvester. Image courtesy DeepGreen.

DeepGreen closer to ocean mining battery metals after Swiss cash injection

Cecilia Jamasmie for Mining [dot] Com | 10 June 2019 Canada’s DeepGreen Metals, a start-up planning to extract cobalt and other battery metals from small rocks covering the seafloor, has secured the bulk of the $150 million it needs to carry out its first feasibility studies. The financing, provided by Switzerland-based offshore pipeline company Allseas […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More
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 […]

Read More
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, […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

GSR Patania II suffers a set-back

During functionality testing ahead of the proposed launch of Patania II— GSR’s purpose-built prototype nodule collector —damage was caused to a critical cable, resulting in power failure. The cable, known as an umbilical, is 5 kilometers in length and contains specialised wiring to power, control and communicate with Patania II from a surface support vessel, as well […]

Read More
Venting fumeroles just from the crown of Godzilla hydrothermal vent. Ocean Networks Canada.

Deep-sea mining: regulating the unknown

Amber Cobley for The Ecologist | 15 March 2019 If you ask someone to describe the deep sea, the response is often a depressing description of a barren landscape devoid of life; one of such crushing pressure and eternal darkness that the chance of life surviving here seems only possible in stories of science fiction. […]

Read More